Page 75 of The Fortunate Ones
MATTY
Something was wrong.I could tell the second I walked into the locker room. There was this eerie silence, the type that felt almost loud with how profound it was.
The door barely closed behind us when I saw him. We should be alone. My adopted dads were always insanely careful when it came to my protection, but it had become even more intense after our house had been raided before the holidays. Now, I had to wait until the rest of my team was done before I could even use the locker room. It was awkward and annoying, but at least Harley had volunteered to stay back with me. Maverick was the one who’d given us the all clear. He never would’ve if he’d known, but somehowhe’dmanaged to evade him.
Bradley Fieldburg. My sperm donor. I’d never met him before, but I had seen his picture enough since my dads had taken me in to know that it was him without question. And even if I didn’t, I looked enough like him to figure it out.
He was sitting on one of the benches like he belonged there. I immediately stepped in front of Harley. Like fuck was he getting to him.
“Go. Get Maverick, Lee. Now.”
“Matt, who is that? I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Lee, please.”
“Go on, listen to your boyfriend and run along.”
I ignored the boyfriend comment, not even blinking as I stared down my bio-dad. “Lee.” My tone brooked no argument. I’d learned it from Luca.
I could feel the hesitation in Harley’s body as it pressed against his back. He didn’t want to leave me. I didn’t want him to leave me either, but I would not let Bradley hurt him. No matter what.
I blindly reached behind me and got a hold of his fingers. I squeezed them twice.Go. I’ll be okay.I didn’t know if he understood or realized getting Maverick here was the best option. Neither of us had our phones on us. I had the tracker that had been injected under my arm and that was it. We needed Mav.
Harley ran out after returning my squeezing once, and I was alone with the man I had been hiding from for my entire life, even before I’d known I was hiding from him.
“What do you want?” Fuck, I hoped my voice wasn’t shaky. I tried to slip my hand under my pads where I kept a knife. I would likely be kicked off the team if anyone found out, but it was one of the concessions Luca had demanded to let me play.
“Keep your hands where I can see them, kiddo. I’m not here to hurt you.”
Fuck. I didn’t see a weapon, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have one, and he was probably much more skilled with his than I was with mine. I couldn’t grasp throwing knives, so I’d have to be close for it to be of any use to me anyway. I put my hands to my sides. “Don’t call me that.” It was probably childish, but I hated hearing anything fatherly coming from him.
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. “I just want to talk, and this was the only place I could get you alone.”
“I-I’m not coming with you.” Where the fuck was Maverick?
“No, I didn’t think you’d want that. I’m not here for that, not today anyway. I’m here to give you a present.”
A present? What the fuck? “What do you mean?”
“You’ll see.” There was sound right outside the door. Finally.
Bradley raised his eyes toward it and then smiled coldly at me. “That’s my cue to leave. I wish we could talk longer, catch up. But that will have to wait. Don’t worry, I’ll be back for you. For now, I hope you enjoy your surprise. Think of it as a peace offering. Tell you bulldogs to back off looking for me. Bye, Matthew. I’ll see you soon.” The door flew open, but Bradley was already up and getting lost among the rows of lockers.
“Freeze!” Maverick yelled, throwing me behind him. Bradley laughed. We couldn’t see him anymore, but it echoed through the room.
“Oh, tell Brooks and Diego I’m sorry for destroying their home and sending mercenaries to kill them. I thought they’d been hired by Covington and had to clean up loose ends. You understand.”
“Go, find him,” Maverick snapped at two of Leo’s team, who were with him as security today. They ran off, but I knew they wouldn’t find anything.
“Where’s Harley?”
“He’s with Brooks. He’s safe. Are you okay, Matty? Did he hurt you?” Maverick’s grip was tight on my shoulders but it was welcomed, as I’d likely collapse if he wasn’t holding me.
“N-no, he didn’t touch me. He said he was leaving me a gift. H-he called it a peace offering.”
Maverick’s face scrunched. “A gift? What gift?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know. Just then, one of the guards popped her head around the corner. “He’s gone, boss.”
