Always?

Chapter 20

Atlas’s mini apartment underneath the main house had essentially become the universal hangout space. Perhaps it was because they had everything they needed in one single space, or the overall vibe of it was spectacular; you could smell the richness seeping through the space, the large fireplace, the expensive-looking furniture. Hell, even the clutter oozed rich. The light colour scheme isn’t what Alice had imagined for Atlas and the brand he had curated for himself, but the sage green, light wood, and white palette truly helped one ease into a relaxed mindset.

Wendy was over Thea and Melody, and the three women were looking around in wonder, as they had taken seats on the sage green sofas. It was their first time coming down here, now that Atlas had said his home was finally ready to show others, even though Alice didn’t see much of what had changed from the last time. “God, this place is amazing. I wish our basement were livable,” Wendy said, looking around in awe. “Does that fireplace work? Or is it there for decoration? And that TV? Is it actually built into the wall?”

Matt grinned as he moved from the couch to light the fireplace. “Awesome,” Wendy muttered.

“Is your basement not livable in?” Alice asked, stretching a little. Her eyes landed on Cai, who was on the ground near the fireplace, scrolling through his phone. Ugh, even though they had somewhat bonded over their love for true crime, there was still something about him that was off-putting. And she would get to the bottom of it, eventually.

Wendy stared at Thea and Melody before shrugging. “No comment.”

“Should we ask?” Ani muttered, staring at her in confusion.

Melody snorted. “You really shouldn’t.”

“Where are Max, Alec and Amber?”

“Max is in his room; he’s got a deadline, and Alec is keeping him company. Amber is at home,” Ani muttered.

“I assume things aren’t doing too well with you two, then?” Melody asked, frowning.

Ani groaned. “It’s a whole thing, don’t even.”

“So,” Wendy said, grinning. She stood up, going over to one of Atlas’s white bookcases, staring at the books he held on there. Alice didn’t recognise a lot of the titles, but Oliver had, and he had been fuming that the two held similar interests in reading, which she thought was pretty funny. “Helly texted me the other day, said Damian woke you all up at the ass c***k of dawn for a job?”

Matt groaned, walking over to the small kitchen and turning on the kettle. “I’m making coffee, you guys want some?” Alice, Cai, Ani, Oliver, Melody and Thea nodded. He began moving around, getting the mugs ready. “Don’t f*****g remind us of that fuckass job. We had to sign NDA’s, so we can’t say shit.”

Thea, of course, had a field day with this information, laughing until tears ran down her cheeks; her laugh was contagious, and soon the entire room was filled with laughter at how ridiculous the whole situation was. Mercenaries did not sign NDA’s. The entire relationship was built on trust, as silly as it was, NDA’s were a contract that eventually ran out, but trust? No, that s**t was for life. Especially in their line of work, all it would take was one bad apple to spoil the entire bunch; being picky about who you worked with was key. Any mentions of NDA’s were the same as screaming, ‘I don’t trust you’. And they had been the fools to trust Damian and sign them before finding out what they had gotten themselves into.

“Who the f**k makes mercs sign NDA’s?” Thea asked, when she finally got her breath back, she sighed, wiping away tears from her eyes.

“Someone who really doesn’t want their s**t spilt,” Oliver muttered as Matt brought over the coffees. He was about to place the mugs on the table, but Oliver obnoxiously cleared his throat before motioning to the sage green coasters. Matt rolled his eyes, but understood as he arranged the coasters before putting the drinks on them,

“Happy?”

“You’re not the one who would have to listen to Atlas b***h about it,” he retorted.

“Back to the secrets our new boss is hiding,” Ani grumbled, “I think he’s being ridiculous. We’ve never told anyone besides the brothers, and even then, we leave out the messy and incriminating details.”

Alice noted that even though Thea had been having the time of her life, Wendy had been awfully quiet during the entire time; she was thinking about something, and Alice would have to get information out of her later.

They spent a little bit more time together, as Oliver finished his coffee, and then groaned, standing up, scowling. “I hate all of you for agreeing to this.” He went into Atlas’s bedroom, and the man soon followed in behind him. Even though the group outside was talking, they could quietly hear Oliver yelling at Atlas, and whatever he was saying was too quiet for them to hear.

The two came out of the bedroom, Oliver storming over to the couch to grab his coat, as he turned to glare at the group. “I hate all of you. I hate all of you for letting this happen.”

“On the bright side,” Melody said, grinning. “Since you’ve been in the picture, there’s been no sketchy mail or anything like that.”

“I don’t care,” Oliver stomped over to the glass doors, turning to stare at Altas. “Let’s go, we’re going to be late.”

Alice watched the duo leave, a slight grin on her face, and when Atlas waved goodbye, closing the door behind him, Wendy burst out laughing. “I still can’t believe it worked. Man, maybe I should become a professional schemer.”

“Please don’t tell him this was your idea; he would kill us all,” Matt muttered, taking a sip of his coffee that should have been cold by now.

“Oh, god, no, I value my life,” she said, grinning.

~*~