“Just wait, Juno,” Jack says, sitting down at the kitchen table. “Until the next part of initiation.”
“Care to clue me in?” I let my words drip with sarcasm.
“We’re all going to have a chance to make you scream the way we know that Malcolm does.”
The blood drains from my face and I turn to face him. “That’s not even remotely funny. I get the initiation. I’ll do it, but that? Not a good joke.”
A couple of the guys in the peripheral fade away. Jack stands and comes over to me. “What makes you think it’s a joke? Why do you think Malcolm let you live here? Did you think that he wasn’t going to share you?”
I step away from him for distance and start to actually work on the stove. I don’t say anything, resolving to ignore him now.
“Juno, you live here because you’re going to be our little toy. I’ve heard Malcolm call you ‘pet.’”
I turn and slap him, my aim true. It cracks across his face and elicits gasps and laughter from the other witnesses. “You think this is funny too?” I look at them. The only few that are left disappear almost instantly, leaving me with Jack and the fury that’s on his face.
“How dare you, you bitch. I’m only telling you the truth. Might as well start right now, get you used to how things are going to be.”
He reaches for me, and instinct kicks in—as well as the self-defense classes that I’ve taken. I step in, grab his shoulders, and thrust my knee directly into his balls. He grunts with the hit, and stumbles away. I hear a slamming noise, but I don’t register it because I’m busy putting distance between myself and Jack.
I fling myself out of the kitchen door and directly into Malcolm’s chest. He’s here. He’s early, but he’s here. I don’t know how or why, but I’ve never been more relieved.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Malcolm says, rage on full display. It takes me a full second to realize that the words aren’t aimed at me. On the contrary, his hands are gentle on me as he moves me to the side. His eyes are on Jack.
The asshole just grins, though that falters as he tries to stand up straight. “What both you and she deserved. You can’t just change shit, Malcolm.”
Malcolm smiles, and I’m glad that I’m not on the receiving end of it. “Oh, I can. I’m the head of the house, and my family owns it. There are no fraternity rules here, so I can, by definition, do whatever the fuck I want.” He stalks over to Jack and grabs him by the shirt collar. “She is mine. No one else’s. My girl. If I ask her to clean this house and she agrees, that’s between me and her. If I decide that I have a pet name for her, again, that’s between us. Got it?”
Jack looks pissed, but he doesn’t argue. “Got it.”
“Good.” Malcolm throws him towards the door, making him stumble. “Now get the fuck out of this house.”
“Excuse me?”
“You no longer live in Granite House. You are no longer welcome on the property. Get the fuck out, now, and we’ll dump your shit on the lawn of wherever you decide to shack up next.”
Now Jack looks stunned. “You can’t be serious.”
“I have no reason to joke about this,” Malcolm says. “Get out of my house, or I will have the police remove you. And don’t come back here, ever. Setting foot off the sidewalk is grounds for any member of this house to rearrange your face.”
The anger is back, and for a second I think that he’s going to pounce on Malcolm, but he turns and stalks away, face absolutely terrifying. Malcolm follows him, I assume to make sure that he leaves the house. And he does, slamming the door so hard that the walls shake.
And then I hear him speak. Voice deadly smooth and steady, like a snake ready to strike. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you?”
There’s silence in answer.
“I’m actually expecting a response.”
There’s murmurs that I can’t hear from my place in the kitchen.
“Are you serious?” Malcolm says. “We don’t have many rules in this house. It’s college, you want your freedom. So there’s only a couple ones that are unbreakable. And I expect those to be followed or there’s the door, you can follow Jack. What exactly would you have let happen in this house if Evan hadn’t texted me to come back from class early?
“If Juno still wants to live here after this, she’ll pull her weight just like every other member of this house. If she chooses to do extra, that’s something she’ll choose to do.” He pauses, and sighs. “By tomorrow you all better have your shit together. Tomorrow, if you have questions, ask them. Right now I have some damage to undo.”