I place my hand on his chest, trying to bring the caring man I have come to know back to me. Because right now he looks different, defensive and just a little bit evil. “Orlando, those men all mean something to me. I don’t want any trouble between you.”
His dark eyes meet with mine, boring into me uncomfortably. “As long as they do everything I say, there won’t be trouble between us.”
“See, I don’t know what you mean by that. What do you want with them? I thought you wanted them as far away from me as possible.”
The wicked gleam in his eyes sends a shiver down my spine. “Only until you fell for me as well, now we have an even playing field.”
My eyes flare with anger. “What the fuck! This isn’t a competition! I’m not some prize to be won over,” I seethe, with a fresh wave of fury coming over me.
“We will see, treasure. Hurry up and get dressed so the fun can begin.” He chuckles, way too pleased about our current situation as he walks away from me, leaving me glaring daggers into his back.Trust me, the words he’s constantly banging on about, and then he goes and does something like this and doesn’t even explain to me what the hell is really going on. He’s so fucking infuriating. Probably even more than his brother, and that’s saying something.
Chapter 20
Freshlyshoweredandwithmy ankle brace firmly back in place, I move cautiously back into the main living space, wondering what I’m going to find with all of them together. The soft fabric of my baby-blue cotton wrap dress flows around my knees, and I fiddle with the tie at the side, not quite sure what to do with myself.
Reef and Onyx are the only ones in the living room. Onyx stands by the window looking out over the ocean, watching the clouds roll in. He has his arms crossed over his chest, the muscles bulging out of his T-shirt. For a moment I just watch him; he’s not his normal self. Yeah, he’s always broody and tense, but this is different, I can feel it. He seems angrier than normal, like he’s about to snap.
Reef glances over his shoulder and smiles warmly when he sees me, motioning with his free hand for me to join him on the sofa. The other has a glass of Coke in it, making him look too relaxed and comfortable for where he is. At least nothing has changed between us. He’s as warm to me as the first day we met, and I’m so fucking grateful.
As I approach the sofa, I look past Onyx, seeing an empty jetty, and feel the ping of disappointment. “Where is the boat you came here on?” I ask Reef, taking the seat beside him.
He places his drink down on the coffee table and pulls me into his solid body, kissing my hair as he inhales deeply. “Gone. We’re staying until a least tomorrow, and Orlando didn’t want a boat docked overnight.”
I pull away from him just a little, my brow raised in question. “In case I got out of this place and took off?” I sass.
“Probably.” Reef smirks back at me, his hand trailing up my neck and into my hair. “How many times have you tried to escape?”
“A couple.” I grin cheekily back at him, letting him pull me in for a proper kiss.
“Then what, you just gave up and decided to have some fun instead?” Onyx snips from his place by the window. It pulls me back into the room and out of my second of happiness with Reef.
I glare back at him as he leans into the window, his posture stiff. There is only one way to deal with Onyx when he’s like this. Fight fire with fire. I stand and move toward him, hobbling a little on my sore ankle, even though I’m trying to come across as tough. “And then I realized hurting myself to try and escape an island with no fucking boat and no way of swimming the eight miles back to the mainland was just plain stupid. That’s why I emailed Romeo.” I growl out the words through clenched teeth.
“Took you long enough,” he huffs, and I want to slap him for his snippy attitude. He’s infuriating.
My glare turns icy as my hands land on my hips. Fuck him, he doesn’t know what I have been through trying to get back to them. “His computer is in the lighthouse tower. I had to wait until he was distracted for long enough that I could get in there. Because he’s a controlling asshole like you! He’s practically been my shadow since I got here. It wasn’t like I had lotsof opportunities. You can’t hate me because I didn’t try hard enough. I fucking did everything I could. I have been desperate to get back to all of you and the club.” My words are sharp and cutting, but the desperation in my voice isn’t easy to hide. His hate toward me hurts when none of this was my fucking choice. I didn’t ask to be kidnapped and brought back here. I never wanted to be away from him, so why is he acting like I did?
Reef comes to stand by my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “It’s okay, I’m sure you did.” He kisses me, trying to comfort me, and I know we’re okay. He believes me. But it’s Onyx who worries me. He won’t even look at me properly. I have never seen him like this before. “I bet that cut on his forehead was from you.” Reef grins cheekily.
I smile back, not able to help it. “Crowbar. Admittedly I thought he was Romeo at the time. But either way, you kidnap me and lock me in the trunk of your car and I’m going to come out swinging with whatever weapon I can.”
Reef chuckles lightheartedly, cutting through the tension Onyx is creating, and it’s the best sound ever. Exactly what I need to hear. “I’ll remember not to try it.”
I glance back at the big guy and see the flash of pride in his eyes at that idea. I raise a brow toward him, sayingSee? I fucking tried. But he doesn’t give me anything else back. Tension swirls through the air, so damn thick I could carve it with a knife, as the silence between us hangs heavy. There are so many things I need to say to him, but I can’t when he’s like this.
“Right, let’s get started,” Orlando announces from the doorway of his den. He and Romeo must have been in there together. Strange but intriguing. I was wondering where the two of them had gotten to. As they walk toward us, I can see they both look a little roughed up, Orlando’s hair tousled and Romeo’s shirt all askew. I guess they had catching up to do, a deal of no violence or not.
Orlando takes a seat in the armchair closest to the window and motions for the rest of us to do the same. It’s pretty damn obvious he wants to run this, whatever this is.
Reef’s arms are still wrapped around me, and the two of us move back to the sofa together. It earns me a bitter look from Orlando, but fuck him. He set me up this morning, I’m not going to make this meeting comfortable for him. I haven’t seen Reef in a week, and right now, I want his hands on me. So bad fucking luck, Orlando, you play me, and I’ll make you suffer.
Onyx doesn’t move from his spot standing by the window. Instead, he adjusts his posture so he’s facing Orlando and leans into the glass, watching over us all, arms still crossed over his chest.
Romeo comes to sit with me and Reef on the three-seater sofa. The two of them share a serious look I don’t like. He appears on edge, ready to fly across the room and kill his brother at any second, so maybe it’s a good thing he’s sitting at my side. I might need to defuse this pressure before too long. “Enlighten us, Brother,” he snips angrily, like he already knows exactly what’s about to happen.
“Yesterday I was sent a new hit job,” Orlando explains, his eyes coming to me in a way that instantly makes my palms sweaty.
My eyes shoot toward him. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”
