I nod, agreeing with him, my head swirling with all the possibilities of how bad this is going to get. “Can’t I just go back to the mainland with Onyx and Reef? They can take care of me there,” I suggest, thinking my idea is pure genius.
“Is she always this persistent when she wants something?” Orlando snips at his brother.
“Persistent, stubborn, tenacious, aggressive… the list goes on,” Romeo mutters.
My angry gaze flicks back to him. “Um, can we not talk about me like I’m not here? I might be all those things, but that club is important to me. I need to talk to the girls, at least let me call Sally and check in,” I ask a little more desperately.
Reef takes my hand, gripping it firmly. “I know how much you love that place, wildcat. But it’s best if you don’t talk to anyone outside of the four of us. Any contact with the outside world could alert someone to your whereabouts, and we all know how catastrophic that could be. This won’t be for long. Romeo and Orlando will sort it out, and then you can go back to your normal life.”
I pull out of his grip and stand in a rush, a sudden surge of adrenaline pumping through me because I don’t believe him. “I’m going to have no business to go back to. Asher is going to fuck every staff member I have, and Sally’s going to have a nervous breakdown and quit on me,” I mutter almost to myself. None of them get it, without that club I have nothing. My life isn’t worth living. I know I’m being dramatic, but fuck, it really feels like it’s not. The walls start to feel like they are caving in. What’s worse than being stuck on an isolated island with one overprotective, possessive, controlling asshole? Being stuck with four of them.
With my heart hammering in my chest and a fresh burst of adrenaline pumping through me, I march out the front and go and sit down on one of the sandstone steps, needing space and time to wrap my head around it all without their opinions in my head.
Why does their papa want me dead? How would it benefit him? It doesn’t make any sense. But maybe he’s cut a deal withSyd and he’s the one behind it all. I can’t shake the feeling that there is more to all of this. I’m no good to him dead. Originally he wanted me and my bloodline for his son, he wanted me married into the family having their babies. Why kill me?
Chapter 21
Darkominouscloudsrollin quickly, joined by the rumble of thunder. This place is beautiful even with the threat of a storm. The truth is I’m more worried about the destruction that’s going to happen inside this place tonight, than what’s going to happen out here with a bit of wind and rain. With the crazy tension building, there is only so long they can hold off before World War Three erupts and someone gets killed. Reef can’t take his hands off me, and as much as I enjoy him so close after not seeing him for a week, it’s only a matter of time before he causes Orlando to snap. Onyx is a ticking time bomb; I have never seen him like this before, filled with so much rage. Romeo hasn’t seen his brother in years, and we all know there is no love lost between the two of them. He would kill his brother given half the chance, and I know Orlando is putting on this whole controlled front, trying to bring them all together to help me, but he’s jealous as hell and the most psycho one of them all. If he loses control, we’re all fucked.
I feel one of them behind me and turn to find Onyx approaching, hands in his pockets. “It’s not safe for you to sit out here in this storm,” he grumbles.
“It’s safer out here than in there,” I mutter, with a roll of my eyes.
His glare intensifies at my disobedience.
“It’s not raining yet. I’ll come inside when it starts,” I huff, before he has a chance to jump down my throat. Not needing his attitude right now, I look away from him, concentrating on the waves now crashing against the jetty so I don’t have to see the disappointment on his face. Fuck, he’s an asshole sometimes.
Silence hangs heavily in the air, but I know he’s still standing behind me, probably with his arms crossed and his glare aimed at me. But I’m just as angry. He’s been in my life for years, and he might be the one protecting me, but he has also kept shit from me, lied to me, and made me fucking fall for him even though I knew I shouldn’t. He warned me not to fall in love with him, but I couldn’t help myself. I did anyway, and now he’s back to business and I’m left feeling empty and all torn up inside. I close my eyes, trying to get my shit under control before I snap and tell him what I’m really thinking.
“I can’t believe you,” he growls bitterly.
I flick my attention back to him. “What the fuck?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” His eyes narrow. “You know what I’m talking about. You and him.”
My heart aches all over again, for a completely different reason this time. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt any of them, and I can see right now this anger toward me is more than that. I hurt him. “Onyx, it’s more complicated than you think.”
“I can’t see how, we both know what he tried to do to you. Now what, you’re fucking him? Have you no self-preservation, Sloane?” The disappointment in his voice is crushing.
I stare up at him, not sure how to explain this situation but knowing I have to if Onyx and I are ever going to get past this. Taking a deep breath, I stand up, looking at him eye to eye. “He’s not the man you think he is. That night changed everything for him as well. He’s a different person now,” I try to explain, but my words feel weak. This thing I have with Orlando can’t be explained in words; it’s just a feeling. A knowing that he’s not the man he used to be.
Onyx’s jaw tightens, and he glares back at me. “You really believe that bullshit?”
I blink back at him. “Yes. I’ve seen it. If he wasn’t, why would he be helping me?”
His anger is a tangible force, a heat radiating off him that makes the hairs on my arms stand on end. Because I know why, I know where he’s gone back to, and I don’t even blame him. “Maybe he wants something else from you, and this is all just a way to manipulate you,” he growls, hate in every one of his words.
I sigh heavily, feeling like we’re going around in circles. He’s so angry, and I don’t know how to get through to him. “I can’t blame you for thinking that about Orlando. I have considered the same myself. But I don’t think he is.” I try to reach for Onyx, taking his hand in mine, and I’m surprised when he lets me. “Onyx, we both know things aren’t always what they seem. But Orlando has done nothing but try and help me this past week. I have seen another side to him than what he shows the rest of the world. And right now, he came to the three of you for help to save me, knowing the risk it posed to what we have started. He’s jealous as hell of you three, but he put that aside and he came to you for assistance when he knew he needed it. Let you into his home, instead of handing me over to his fucking papa and taking the cash. That says something, doesn’t it?”
His eyes run over me, searching my face desperately. “You should hate him for what he did to you. The years of pain he inflicted on you, the nightmares, the fucking panic attacks. I was there by your side the whole-time, trouble, I know how bad it gets.”
The weight of his words rests heavy on my shoulders. I get it, I know exactly how Onyx feels. “I do hate him, but I’m pretty sure he hates himself more. You have to believe me when I say that man in there trying to help me isn’t the man who hurt me. He died that night and woke up in a hospital bed alone, away from his fucked-up family. What happened to him changed him.” My hand moves to the back of his neck, and I stare up at him, pleading with him to trust me on this. “Onyx, please, I missed you like crazy. I can’t stand the way you’re looking at me right now like you can’t forgive me. This past week has been hell without you. I can’t live with you looking at me the way you are.”
His head drops, and I feel his pain. “I fucked up, Sloane. I never should have left you in your office alone.”
My heart aches for him. Now it makes sense, he’s angry with himself. “None of this is on you. You three did everything you could that night. How were any of us to know Orlando would show up pretending to be his brother just to get me out of there? But the truth is, if he didn’t, Syd would have gotten me that night. He was closing in, I was about to be his next victim.”
“I know,” he agrees, his voice heavy with regret.
