Page 76 of Anathema
“If that’s not the reason, then why?” I pressed, setting down my glass.
Derek gestured his chin over my shoulder with a smug smile, and I turned around, seeing three all-too-familiar faces.
Fuck. He fucking trapped me.
“Derek,” I growled, turning to face him and giving him a fuck you glare. He chuckled, standing to greet Atlas. The two of them had their guy hug moment before walking to the bar together, and Madison and Chyler took seats at our table.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I squeezed my eyes shut in annoyance.
“You’ve ignored us long enough. It’s time to grow up, Lex.” Madison started. “We’re sorry, and we owe you an explanation. Quite a few, if I’m not mistaken.” Her eyes narrowed on Chyler,who just shrugged and grabbed my drink, taking a long sip before setting it back down in front of me.
“Where should we start?” Chyler sat back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Anathema sounds like a good place… Or Abigail… Oh, how about we go all the way back to Adrian and his marriage proposal?” I ground out with sarcasm, glaring daggers at both of them. Madison stiffened in her chair at the sound of his name.
“Anything you want, Lex.” Madison paused before sighing. “We might be here a while.” She added, and Chyler snapped her fingers to grab Atlas’s attention, signaling him for drinks.
“Good thing this bar has plenty of booze then.” She chuckled. “Let the evening begin.”
And for the next six hours, we sat there as the heaviness between us was slowly cleared away.
Madison admitted to knowing what Adrian was up to with Anathema long before they had broken up, how she had every intention of marrying him and running the organization at his side.
“I was so stupid and reckless with my decisions. But I fully believed Adrian was everything I wanted and needed in my life. It took you, Chy, to make me realize just how blinded I was by his pretty words, promises, and lies.”
She apologized to Chyler for letting her take the fall for what had happened between her and Adrian. Madison acknowledged that it was never her fault and shouldn’t have hung it over her head forso long. It was a mistake that she would never make again, and would spend every day moving forward making up for it.
Chyler and I reassured Madison that no harm had been done and that we were all at fault. We should have stepped in at the first sign of what Adrian was doing to her instead of letting things escalate as far as they did.
The entire situation involving Adrian became water under the bridge, and by the end of our long heart-to-heart, all three of our consciences were cleared.
Regarding Abigail Brit, Madison and Chyler knew about her and who she was but felt she wasn’t significant enough for me to know her identity. Abby stayed far away from all of us as she worked for Adrian. She knew what we were capable of and was honestly scared to cross paths with us for fear of retaliation on Charlotte’s behalf. There was no doubt about it: Abby was, in fact, Charlotte’s half-sister, spending most of her life in her shadow and attempting to sabotage her work every chance she got.
“A family feud that ended with bullets in both of their heads. Couldn’t ask for a better ending there.” Chyler chuckled.
Anathema was no more. With Adrian behind bars and the entire Minneapolis hideout gunned down, no one was left to run their operations. I’m sure they are reforming under new leadership in some other state, but as far as we were concerned, our city was finally free of them and their corruption.
The Minneapolis PD and SWAT involvement with Anathema was another story that neither of them knew about—a question Iwould have to ask Derek another time seeing as he had a connection with Sergeant Drake.
“If you ladies are still busy catching up, Derek and I are going to meet up with Dean and Marcus for drinks down the street.” Atlas cut in as they both approached our table.
The sun had set hours ago, and the stars lit up the night sky. With the air between us free and clear, I could sit here for hours, catching up with Chyler and Madison and the last year that had passed us by in what felt like the blink of an eye.
“Don’t let my boys get into trouble tonight, Atlas,” Madison smirked, narrowing her eyes on him—a warning.Oh yeah, a lot more catch-up…
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mads.” He chuckled, planting a kiss against Chyler’s temple. “I’ll see you back at the house, sweet thing.” He whispered, and she beamed up at him.
House huh? I wonder when that happened.
Derek’s hand squeezed my shoulder from behind, jolting me from my thoughts as he lowered his head beside mine.
“Don’t drink too much. We havecatching upof our own tonight.” He murmured into my ear, and I sucked in a sharp breath as my thighs pressed together under the table. I hated when he did this to me, especially when I was several drinks deep. He chuckled, noticing the sudden movement, and pressed a kiss to my ear. “I’ll see you later, pretty viper.”
“Be good.” Madison reiterated as the two of them made for the bar’s exit.
“The house?” I raised a brow at Chyler with a grin.
“Not just playing anymore? Actually living in one?” Madison chimed in with a smirk.
