The library session didn’t last much longer after my run in with my old cellmate’s brother.

Just seeing him, the spitting image of Eddie, was bringing so many unwanted memories crashing back. I’d packed away my laptop with vigour and strode out of the building with hunched shoulders. As if to spite me, the old scar down my side started to twinge. It rarely ever hurt anymore, so it was just ironic really. Driving home had been a five-minute blur, and I found myself back inside and standing in the living room as I watched the triplets trading old knives on the carpet.

“Why do you still bother trading knives?” I asked them. “You shouldn’t use them anymore. At all. Don’t even – ”

“Don’t even carry them on you, yeah, we get it,” Gomez cut me off, rolling his eyes. “We’re not carrying them on us.”

“Then again, what’s the point of trading?” I frowned.

“It’s just fun, okay?” Gomez looked up at me. He heaved a sigh. “It’s just a bit of our old life that we still miss.”

I looked between Giovanni and Severn, wondering if Gomez was voicing their thoughts too. Severn shrugged lazily.

“I mean, Gomez is being a little dramatic, but he is kinda right,” Severn said. “We do miss some of the good old stuff.”

“Like beating the shit out of the Santiagos,” Gio grinned.

“And what about when they did the same to you?” I questioned.

“Oh,” Gio shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t say I miss the feeling of being punched in the face, but it was all part of the same game.”

I huffed in mild amusement. These boys were treating stab wounds and broken ribs like they were nothing. But I supposed they’d learned from the rest of us. We were lucky none of our injuries had killed us. It had almost come to that, too many times, but we were all still here. Peppered with bullet wounds and old scars, but still here. The same couldn’t be said for the Santiagos, who were now missing one. Diego’s death at the hand of a rival gang, the Zikas, was still fresh. It may have been a few months ago, but I knew how Carlos and the others were feeling. The death of a sibling was almost impossible to heal.

I walked to the armchair, sitting myself down and leaning back. It was the same one from our old house. In fact, nearly all of the furniture was. Why buy something new when we could keep the same ones for the memories they gave, both good and bad. Many times we’d covered the long sofa with plastic sheets and laid one of us down for Landon to stitch up. And if it was Landon who needed help, I would do it. Or the person whose hands weren’t shaking the most.

Watching the bowed blond heads of my youngest brothers, I was glad that I didn’t have to worry about them getting hurt like that again. It was the whole reason I put the gang life to bed. Death had knocked on the door too many times, and soon it was going to barge in.

“How was the library?” Gio asked me.

“Uneventful,” I answered automatically.

It only made me immediately remember Jazz, and how there was so much we could have talked about. Should have talked about. But instead he’d chatted to me about business and skirted over the elephant in the room. I sighed deeply and rubbed my face. I didn’t fancy bringing up the past either, so I wasn’t exactly complaining. 

I realised I hadn’t asked Gio and his triplets what they’d been doing up until this point today, but he wasted no time filling me in.

“We were at the beach, again. It was quite cold today, there was a breeze so we didn’t go in the water.”

“We rarely go in the water anyway,” Severn butted in.

“Correction, you rarely go in the water – ”

“I can’t wait for you guys to go back to school in September,” I said.

All three of them looked at me with identical expressions, mouths open as if they were surprised such a thing was coming from me. It made me smile.

“Gee, we love you too, Phoenix,” Severn said sarcastically. 

I didn’t respond, but the smile stayed planted on my face. They may have been seventeen now, but it was the same thing with them. The three of them were the life of the party. And between them, they always had each other’s backs. That was one thing I could count on. If none of their older brothers were there if they needed us, they had each other.

A knock at the door made me frown.

“Anyone expecting a delivery?” Gomez looked between us.

I shook my head, as did the others.

“Okay, nobody rush at once,” Gomez scoffed as he dragged himself to his feet to answer the door.

My hands curled into fists, distrust filling my mind. I was never a fan of unannounced visitors. Knocking at the door was either unwanted salespeople, unwanted neighbours, or extremely unwanted police. We’d had two out of three of those things since moving, and it was irritating to say the least.

“Who is it?” I called once Gomez had opened the door.

“It’s Maisie,” Gomez’s voice was already coming back to the living room. “Something about her hot water.”

I frowned, not understanding what he was going on about, only to widen my eyes when he was followed in by a girl wrapped in a dressing gown and clearly nothing else.

“Who the hell are you?” I sat forward, resisting the urge to stand up and throw her out.

“Maisie,” Gomez shot me a look. “I just said that.”

“Hey, Phoenix, we’ve met already,” she sent me a smile, her teeth chattering slightly as she shivered. “I’m your next door neighbour, Number 24.”

“What’s going on?” I blinked at her, keeping my eyes on her face.

Landon was right. This was a younger girl. Similar age as the triplets. Not the girl who keyed my car, but still. There was no good explanation for being in my house, wearing just a dressing gown.

“The boilers gone, and I was hoping to get a quick shower here?” she smiled sheepishly, her Northern accent coming through with her not pronouncing her ‘h’s. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but my parents are on holiday and I have no idea how to fix the problem. I called them and they gave me the plumber’s number, but he won’t get here for another few hours – ”

“Yes, of course you can use our bathroom,” Giovanni rose to his feet.

“Excuse me?” I flicked my gaze to him.

“She’s cold, Phoenix,” Gio gestured to her.

Despite her fluffy white dressing gown, Maisie’s arms were wrapped around herself, and her red hair was hanging around her face, limp and wet.

“I’m really sorry for intruding,” she said, looking at me before her gaze dropped to the floor. “Wait, are those knives?”

“No?” Severn tried to brush them all aside, but only ended up getting nicked by a switchblade that had popped out.

He must have started bleeding because Maisie’s eyes widened.

She started to ramble as horror filled her face, “I mean, if that’s what your hobbies are about. Collecting pocketknives… ”

Her words trailed off as her knees started to sink.

“Somebody catch her!” one of the triplets called.

Gomez reached for her arm, holding her up by the elbow. Maisie blinked herself alert again, her breathing uneven as she only just managed to stay standing.

“Are you okay?” Gomez asked her in concern.

“Yes, yes,” she said, averting her gaze from the weapons. “It’s just…I’m not a big fan of blood.”

“Sorry,” Severn grinned, sticking his bleeding finger in the corner of his mouth.

“You won’t last long in this house then,” I grumbled lowly, then I stood up. “You can leave now.”

“Phoenix,” Gomez frowned at me.

“I’ll show you the bathroom,” Gio lightly took her other arm, leading her away.

“Only if it’s okay with Phoenix –”

“Forget about Phoenix,” Gio backhanded her worried words as if my orders stood for nothing.

“I still can’t tell the difference between you three, but thank you…Severn?” Maisie chuckled gratefully as they walked out of the living room.

“It’s Gio,” Giovanni corrected her with an easy smile as she followed him in her pink fluffy slippers.

Once they were upstairs, Gomez rolled his eyes and sat down with the haul of knives again.

“She’s nice, you should cut her some slack,” he said to me.

“Are you serious?” I raised my brows. “Are we running some sort of hostel here? A neighbour’s hot water stops, and we’re just supposed to let them shower here? How is that normal?”

“Sounds pretty normal to me,” Severn unhelpfully stated, his finger still in his mouth.

I huffed and shook my head at them.

“If it was a guy, would you say the same thing?” I demanded.

That stopped them there, the pair of them pausing to think about it. Before they could come up with a smart answer, Eli’s angry shout came from upstairs. By the sounds of it, Gio had walked in on Eli in the bathroom, with a girl in tow.

“Well next time lock the door!” Gio was yelling back, but I could tell he was on the brink of some serious laughter.

Eli, however, was not. He cursed at his brother, not responding to Maisie when she apologised. It probably didn’t help that she was laughing herself.

“I like her vibe,” Severn chuckled.

“Same,” Gomez was grinning. “She’s down to earth.”

“I thought you liked girly girls?” Severn arched a brow at him. “She’s not exactly into makeup and fake nails.”

“True,” Gomez nodded. “And aren’t you into sweet, shy girls? Maisie is sweet, but she isn’t that shy. Not of Phoenix, anyway, given the fact that she’s still here after he told her to leave.”

“Also true,” Severn admitted. “…But I’d still do her.”

“Same.”

The pair of them shared a grin that only they could understand, and I got up from my seat with a heavy sigh. My youngest brothers looked up at me, amused smiles still on their faces, but I barely glanced at them as I walked out the room. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to that rubbish.