38. Thursday Week Fifteen (the meal.)

I was sat in the lounge playing with the girls when the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of the all-important guests. The girls seemed to hear it also as they jumped up and ran to the door screaming, "Mikael!"

No fucking way.

Dumfounded, I rose from my seat on the floor and turned to see none other than Eli's dad and Vincent standing in the doorway. Why in hell were they all getting so dressed up for these pricks?

Vincent spotted me in the lounge and a dirty smirk graced his face, wonderful. He side-stepped Mikael, who had crouched down so that he could speak to the girls, and made his way over to me.

"I see you dressed up for me."

"And I see you're still as delusional as ever," I gave him a sickly sweet smile before storming past him and into the kitchen, I needed a drink.

When I emerged from the kitchen, now plied with alcohol at Rosemary's discretion, I was greeted by none other than Mikael himself.

He reached for my hand before kissing the back of it, I had to consciously hide my grimace, "you looking stunning, Miss Cole, although I have to say it is a surprise seeing you here, given the circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Debbie questioned, I used the distraction of her question to rip my hand out of Mikael's.

Mikael raised a brow, just like Eli did, before looking at me in question. He contemplated whether to spill the beans of not but I guess he decided against it, "nothing, I just got confused. Shall we?" He motioned to the dining room and everyone made their way out of the entryway. I was stopped, however, by a hand on my arm.

"How's the single life treating you?" Vincent asked me, cutting straight to the chase.

"How's the kick to the balls treating you?" I sassed before going walk away from him but he grabbed me and turned me to face him. I frowned at his tight grip, attempting to tug out of his hold.

"You're fair game now," he stated with a sickly smile, what a pig.

"Get the fuck off me, Vincent, before I show you how this 'game' can kick your arrogant ass. Again."

He merely smirked at me before he released me, allowing me to follow him into the dining room where everyone was seated. Eli sat at the head of the table with Riley to the left of him. Vincent was to the right of Mikael which meant the only spare seat left was between Riley and Vincent, this just got better and better.

Eli's eyes were burning holes into my head, likely wondering what happened with Vincent in the hall, but I ignored his look and instead took my seat and waited for dinner to be served.

It was a strange family dynamic, as they all sat around the table making idle small talk as if this wasn't a table with drug dealers and psychotic assholes.

Nonetheless, everything was going smoothly, until dessert. Rosemary had just brought out chocolate cake when Mikael asked me, "so, how are things at home, Rei?"

"Everything's fine, thanks."

"That's good, everything okay with your Nan and brother, Tyler was it?"

It shouldn't have surprised me that he knew the name but my heart still jolted in my chest when his mouth uttered Tyler's name.

"Mikael," Eli warned.

Mikael merely chuckled, "I'm only asking Ryker, I don't see why you would care anyway."

Debbie looked confused but before she could input, Vincent decided to open his big ass mouth.

"Yeah, Ryker, she's up for grabs now. Anyone could have her," Vincent gave me a sick wink at the end of his declaration.

Eli didn't say anything for a moment, he didn't move, didn't utter a word, didn't make a sound. And then quietly, almost at an imperceptible volume he spoke, "that wasn't the deal, you sick fucker, stay away from her."

Vincent finished chewing his mouthful of chocolate cake as he leaned back in his chair. He then proceeded to smirk at Eli before daring, "Or what, Ryker?"

Eli's glare was downright menacing as he stared down Vincent from across the table.

A furrow formed between my eyebrows, "what deal?"

Vincent smirked at me, "oh sweetheart, sometimes I forgot how completely clueless you are," he raised a hand to stroke the backs of his fingers down my cheek and I shoved his hand away.

"What deal?" I growled.

Mikael stopped eating his cake and looked over at me, contemplating something in his mind, "how about this, girl? I'll tell you about the deal if you tell Ryker how you got that bruise on your pretty little face."

My lips parted and millions of scenarios rushed through my mind. I wanted to know what was going on but I couldn't risk Eli finding out what had happened. He couldn't know that I had visited Mikael alone, he would be furious. And even though he claimed to no longer care about me, I highly suspected that if he knew that Marcus did this to me, he would lose his shit and I feared the lengths he would go to.

"Thought so," Mikael uttered, "enough of this bullshit." Everyone looked over at him as he pulled a slick black gun from his pocket and casually placed it on the dining table. The black shine of the barrel gleamed in the light of the dining room and Mikael's finger casually tapped the trigger as if he was waiting for the right time to apply just a little more pressure.

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