I had a James Bond vibe, considering what I and my kings were supposed to do next, so I picked up a black pair of skinny jeans and a tight black shirt that made me look like a cat burglar. I had the perfect outfit to sneak into anywhere, slipping in the shadows of dark walls to wherever I needed to be. Ok... I wasn’t exactly invisible to any of Ferris’s twenty-something guards, especially with me showing up in his limousine. But a girl could dream. Couldn’t she!?
It had just gone dark outside, so I considered I had arrived early. At least early enough to catch Ferris alone. But that wasn’t the case since theking of EMAseemed to have beaten me to it. I could recognize his husky voice ever since Alfred opened the front door for me.
Both Ferris and Cole were laughing and talking so loudly that I didn’t need any directions regarding their location. Just followed the sound for a few corridors down to the left and entered a room where I’d never been before. The place was magnificent. A massive living room, so gothic that it seemed like an old cathedral, only no angels were in the room. Just two of my devils relaxing on an extra-large couch with glasses of vodka in their hands, reminiscing about some long-lost memories.
‘And the time we trashed that party in Azur City-’ Ferris was the one talking.
‘Christ, I remember. They ended up drinking beer out of the bathtub,’ Cole continued.
‘We were so drunk....’ The joy in Ferris’s voice was making me realize just how well they got along, but more importantly, how similar they were to one another.
‘And remember that cheerleader? The one who could open beer cans with her-’
‘Mhhhhmmm,’ I didn’t let Cole continue. I didnotwant to find out where the conversation was going. ‘What’s with the glasses?’ I was under the impression we were here to set out a plan and not to enjoy some reunion party.
‘Relax, Mouse. You know I need a bottle of whiskey just to get tipsy. We’re still here to talk business.’ Cole must’ve sensed the annoyance in my voice, although I was surprised he gave a damn about it. ‘Sit,’ Cole tapped on a free spot on the couch between the two of them, which I was not planning on occupying.
At least not until Ferris made the same offer. ‘Come,’ he extended an arm, gesturing me to join him.
I felt like I was walking into a trap, but there was no way around it. I couldn’t let him wait with his arm outstretched towards me for long. So willing, or unwilling, I joined him.
In reality, I figured it out to be a small display of their hierarchy and even if Ferris used a trick to get me next to him, my gesture made Cole come in second. And that was going to cost me. The evil smile tugging at the corners of his lips was assuring me of exactly that!
My sight was tightly locked to the front of me, staring at some gothic painting of death claiming a miserable soul on its death bed. I was gazing at the art so intensely as if I was trying to learn every single one of its lines. In reality, I was just avoiding the two uncomfortable pairs of eyes gazing straight at me. I was being studied, as I was becoming the main asset of a power game.
Obviously, I wasn’t the only one who sensed my distress. ‘You can breathe, Bea,’ Ferris’s warm voice seemed to be echoing from the back of my neck, but my eyes didn’t turn to acknowledge his location.
‘I’m fine,’ I answered as I was still gazing at the painting, encrypting the horrible view into my mind.
‘You don’t seem fine,’ Cole’s hand twisted to play in my hair, arranging some loose locks. The surprise of his touch made me jolt from my seat and land straight into Ferris’s arms.
‘Bea, what’s wrong? Relax.’ The all-too-calm order Ferris gave me was urging me to do exactly the opposite. How could I ever relax, being imprisoned between two of the most devious men I had ever met. I had a chance if I were dealing with them one at a time, but having them both in the same room, at the same time, was leading me to become the deer who was trapped in front of the headlights.
‘I’m relaxed, I just need a glass of water.’ I was up, pacing the length of the room even before they could figure out what was happening. My hands were shaking on the water bottle, barely able to even feel a glass.
‘I think we’ve scared her,’ Cole was mocking my timid reaction to their combined presence.
But Ferris didn’t seem to be in a laughing mood anymore ‘No. I’ve scared her.’ He spoke as if I wasn’t even in the room. ‘I lost it a few nights ago. And I did something I regret.’ He turned to look at me with a repenting gaze, though it wasn’t his apology I was interested in those moments. Something else was winning my attention. Ferris was opening up to Cole, even if his confession was regarding the time spent with me.
All I could hope for was that he wouldn’t go into too much detail about what happened. Not that Cole would pity me, but he would probably get ideas out of it.
Contrary to my belief, the king of EMA was showing concern ‘Did you hurt her?’ The tone of his voice changed as if his question was loaded with a disguised warning.
Why did everyone keep asking Ferris that question?
‘No... Not physically,’ Ferris rose from the sofa and took a few steps in my direction though before he could reach my side, the wooden door opened.
For the first time in my life, I was glad to see Brax.
‘You started without me,’ he uttered with a cracked voice, probably because the bullet wound was still giving him trouble.
‘Now, how could I ever start something without you?’ Ferris’s attitude improved in just a few moments as if his personalsunhad just walked into the room. His dark eyes lit with some lost hope, watching over the man that probably still had the power to revive him.
‘You never know with Bea around.’ I wasn’t sure what Brax was implying or where he was going with his words, but I wasn’t going to let the conversation drift off to one of a more intimate nature. We had matters much more important to attend to than his sexual drives.
‘Then, if everyone is present, I think we can begin,’ I cut off any other chance they may have had of taking the discussion elsewhere. ‘I hope no one has changed their mind....’ Though how could they since they all consumedmypart of the agreement. ‘Thought so.’
‘We all got the same deal after all, didn’t we?’ Ferris was either checking to see if his thoughts were correct or bantering the way I chose to handle this. I couldn’t decide. In any case, it was a compromise he had to accept. Besides, he said it himself, he had no problem with it.
