Authors: Stella Rhys
“I’m here for her. That’s it.”
I heard his seething but steady voice. Abram had finally caught up to us.
Shit.
Before it could escalate, I offered myself, rushing to the door and repeating the words “
I’m fine
”
in hopes of calming him down. I was already tired of this, worn and frayed like the rope in a game of tug of war. All I wanted at this point was to be curled up on the couch with Rhode, drinking a cheap bottle of wine from Trader Joe’s and watching some stupid reality show about cupcakes or weddings or both. Instead, I found myself suddenly the only person equipped to work damage control between the two biggest, most testosterone-fueled tempers in all of New York. And with exhaustion, I realized that the constant back-and-forth was nowhere near an end because after a hasty goodbye to his family, Jesse followed me out the door, helping himself to the front seat in Abram’s car and slamming the door just as the driver took off.
“Yeah, just so you know,” he turned to Abram with a big grin but a dead stare. “Nothing you plan regarding Stefan is ever gonna happen without me, so don’t ever try that fucking shit again. Now let’s roll.”
“There would’ve been a flat-out brawl in the middle of the bar if I didn’t leave that second,” I muttered to Abram as he watched Jesse walk in front of us through the Monarch. Arms crossed, I wrapped my poncho cardigan tight over my cocktail uniform, my heels clicking neatly across the floor as he remained silent. “In case you forgot, Abram, I was instructed by your handlers to keep all of this a secret and Rhode would have figured it out in a second if your security guys wound up beating Jesse to a pulp in the middle of our dining room.” Through the corner of my eye, I peered up at Abram, whose eyes were still glued to Jesse as we made our way to Genevieve, the French restaurant on the thirty-fifth floor of the hotel. I watched the thin grey fabric of his T-shirt rise and fall as his chest muscles flexed and un-flexed.
“If you knew those were my men, Isla, you should’ve gone to them the second Jesse walked in the door. Just because he didn’t kill Gavin doesn’t mean he’s never killed. He’s dangerous. He’s not someone you should ever want to be alone in a room with.”
My gaze trailed up from his balled fist to the vein lining his forearm, which flexed against the sleeve of his white button down, rolled up just below his elbow. “You’re dangerous too,” I pointed out, holding my ground when he turned his wolfish stare on me. “You’ve killed men before. But I know who you are inside – at least I think I do – which is why I trust myself to be alone in a room with you. I’ve tried –trust me, Abram, I have tried but I can’t seem to define you by the people you’ve hurt. Because you don’t do it for fun. I know you. There’s a story to explain you and everything that you do.”
Abram stopped in his tracks. For a moment, his gaze lingered on me, hot, intense but unreadable. “Are you saying you know Jesse as well as you know me?”
It was my turn for silence. But I did a good job masking the sudden racing of my heartbeat. “No,” I answered simply. “But I know he’s not just some killing machine. He’s a person. With emotions and feelings and things at stake. We’ve all lost somebody at this point, Abram – you, me, Jesse, Nate. We’re all hurting and just trying to figure out how to move on, and for you guys, Stefan is the key to that, so just make this easier on all of your hearts and help each other. You all want the same thing, you’re just letting your big man egos get in the way of working together.” I held my breath when I was done, anticipating Abram’s reaction. I watched, my heartbeat in my throat as I waited for him to speak. Outside the restaurant doors, the hostesses flat-out stared at us as he simply stood there before me, six feet and four inches of dauntingly rigid muscle. But to my surprise, his stance relaxed just enough for me to notice and with a hand in my hair, he pulled my face up for a kiss.
"I know you’re right but give me a second to cool off before I give you the proper credit you deserve for that speech,” he muttered, finally offering a little grin before pressing his soft lips to mine. “Thank you for being here,” he murmured before we went inside.
With an irritated call of his name, Abram got Jesse away from the flirty bartender and had him follow us to the table at which Nate already sat having dinner. Only then did I realize how long I’d gone without sitting down and having a proper meal. More than twenty-four hours. At the sight of the feast Nate had ordered – scallops, pasta, charcuterie and steak frites – my stomach finally started to rumble. But like a child, Nate eyed me defensively and pulled his plates closer.
And the cherry on top of it all: this dickhead who will never stop hating me
.
“We have a surprise guest,” Abram said as we sat down.
Nate glared at Jesse while shoving a forkful of fettuccine into his mouth, clearly too hungry to make a fuss. There was no time to anyway, with two waitresses suddenly rushing to the table, jostling for position till they were eventually both pushed aside by the leggy brunette manager. As she asked to get us drinks, giggling endlessly at Jesse’s request for “all of them,” I looked around, realizing what a complete and utter spectacle we were. It was my first time in public with these guys and for those who didn’t recognize Abram, Jesse or both, we were still a table of three handsome men, two of them impossibly so. Male or female, it felt as if every set of eyes in the restaurant was glued on us. I even noticed a few familiar faces in the crowd – the ladies of the bachelorette party, dressed to the nines, nudging each other with their fluttery eyes wide and their jaws on the table. I took comfort in everyone’s attention. Unlike last time, I had a feeling that being in public would keep the guys calm while discussing business.
After our wine arrived, Jesse broke the silence. “Well, since I suspect you gentlemen aren’t interested in making a toast right now, let’s get right to it. Clearly, the first order of business is finding my piece of shit brother so how about you tell me what general area he might be right now. I know his spoiled ass could never do a proper government relocation so what half-baked method did he end up choosing to try and hide forever?”
I sipped my wine and eyed Abram over the rim of my glass, zipping my lips and trying to simply follow the conversation.
“The deal was that he cooperated with our plan and let us make his death look believable,” Abram said, briefly looking toward me. “Which we made sure of. But his end of the deal was that we’d get no details of his relocation. Where he was going or what name would be on his new papers. He knew who he wanted to approach to have them made and all we did was ensure that that person was experienced with forging these kinds of documents.”
“You’re telling me you entrusted my idiot brother with some sort of responsibility? You realize this was a kid who still called our mom to make his dentist appointments, right? He doesn’t even have his own credit line.”
“Well, he had cash hidden somewhere because he took off with it,” Nate said. “And now we’re hanging our hope on the guy who made his papers. Hopefully, we can get some sort of information out of him.”
“And what’s his name?” Jesse asked.
“We don’t have it.”
“You guys are great at this.”
“A name should hardly ever stop you from finding someone,” Abram said in a clipped tone. “We know where he is.”
“Yeah? Where’s that?” Jesse asked, drumming his long fingers on the table as we waited for Nate to pull up the information on his phone. In the silence, I kept sipping awkwardly on my Cabernet, only realizing I’d gone too fast when my skin got suddenly hot. Setting my empty glass down, I shed the poncho cardigan I’d thrown over my short uniform before leaving work with Jesse. The second it slunk into a heap behind me, Abram’s eyes lifted. As they settled on my body, he set his wine glass down, his thumb running up and down the lower part of its stem as he studied every line and seam on my little black dress. A little smile twisted both his voice and his lips.
“Is that what you wear to work?”
Jesse and Nate looked over. But while Nate instantly sneered and returned to his phone, Jesse’s stare remained. I swallowed. With both his and Abram’s eyes on my body, at once and at the same damned table, I felt suddenly naked. More exposed than if I was actually sitting there without my clothes on. With a stiff nod, I answered Abram’s question, unable to act naturally around him with such an audience – certainly not one that included Jesse. I bit my lip as Abram gave the slightest tilt of his head while eyeing my thighs under the table. Never meant for sitting, the dress only just covered my panties. From the corner of my vision, I saw Jesse’s drumming fingers curl into a fist as Abram leaned slowly into me. “I’ll let you know now that I’m going to need to fuck you hard tonight,” he murmured in my ear. I pushed his hand off my knee.
“Let’s not talk about that here,” I whispered breathlessly.
And in a flash, his attention diverted. I exhaled, lifting my hair off the back of my neck as Nate began talking to him about something or another. I knew Jesse’s eyes burned on me but I decidedly kept my own stare forward, focusing on my empty wine glass. When I finally caved and flicked my gaze toward Jesse, I caught an expression I’d never seen on him before. His square jaw was tight, his green eyes serious. There was no hint of amusement on those constantly grinning lips. He was an entirely different person and his demeanor both smoldered and suffocated me, even when he finally looked away to speak to Abram.
“I’ve had enough, thank you so much,” I breathed anxiously when the server came by to refill my wine. “Could you just tell me where your restroom is?” I asked quietly, so I couldn’t be heard. And with a point down a flight of steps, I quickly left, in desperate need of air.
Downstairs, I found myself in a crimson red corridor of dim lights and a half dozen doors. I picked the one vacant room and rushed in, shutting the door behind me and splashing cold water onto my face. Gripping the sides of the cold black sink, I stared at my reflection, almost wanting to laugh at how I looked. Like I was hot and bothered when in reality, I was just bothered. My cheeks were pink, my lips red and swollen. On top of that, I’d apparently messed with my hair enough to give myself a post-sex kind of look look. Gathering it up, I piled my waves onto the top of my head, winding a stray lock around the knot to keep it all in place. Breathing steady, I fanned myself with my hand till I felt calm and cool enough to return to the table.
But the second I opened the door, I gasped, feeling two hands grip my waist before my eyes could even process the sight.
Jesse.
He pushed me back into the bathroom, kicking the door shut, his breath hot on my neck as he pressed me up against the wall. “I have no right to feel possessive over you,” he whispered hoarsely, propping my jaw up so I could look at nothing but him. Unblinking, I panted, my lips parting as his other hand slid slowly from my waist up to my ribcage, finally settling on the outer curve of my breast. “But for some reason, I can’t end this night and send you off to Abram without getting to touch you one more time. I’ll fucking explode if I don’t.” His every word lashed like a hot whip over my skin. If I felt suffocated before, it was nothing compared to now.
“Jesse, we can’t do this.”
“Unless I’m mistaken, you aren’t taken.” He parted my mouth, drawing his thumb over my swollen lower lip. “He hasn’t asked you to marry him. You’re not so much as dating. So what exactly is the problem here?” And there it was again – that wicked little grin. “Times are changing, Isla. You’re allowed to be interested in two people at once. Nobody owns you, babe, contrary to what Abram may think.”
Through my breathlessness, I managed a retort. “Hard to paint him as controlling when you just called yourself irrationally possessive.”
Jesse pushed up against me, rubbing the front of his body against mine. “I’ll remind you that he had me listen to every hot sound you made while he fucked you this morning and I let that shit roll off my back. If we ever switched places in that situation, he’d team up with Yappy Dog and break my legs. Tell me I’m wrong.” Jesse lifted his brows in a challenge. When I said nothing, he laughed and dropped his hand from my jaw. I breathed out hard, my eyes still fixed on his as he ran his hands all over the front of my body. “Tell me you want nothing to do with me.” He eyed me as he tugged at my dress, waiting to be stopped. But I was frozen silent and with a short yank, I felt the cold air gush onto my skin. “Come on, Isla, tell me. Tell me you don’t want me to fuck you again.” Stepping back, he watched me as I simply stood there for him, unmoving, my dress pulled halfway down to my waist and my naked chest heaving as I breathed in and out. I felt my hair falling out of its knot, soft locks cascading down the sides of my face, onto my neck. Inside, I unraveled with them. Because I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t something there with Jesse. I wasn’t sure what it was but I knew it was wrong and all I wanted was to reject it. I was doing perfectly fine until this moment.
“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Isla,” Jesse cursed, tugging on his lip as I stood exposed for him in every way. “I need to feel you again.”
“You can’t.”
“But Abram can. Why?”
“I’ve been through a lot with Abram.”
“So you owe him sex.”
“
No
, I want to… I
want
to be with him.”
“And you don’t want to be with me?”
“I barely know you.”
“You barely know him.”
“Maybe not but I know him differently than I know you. And I want him differently than I want you,” I answered through my teeth. “Whatever we have Jesse, whatever you have, it’s just lust. I promise you that.”
“And you’re against indulging lust.”
“I am when it’s with you.”
It was silent as the air grew suddenly dense. Muggy. Jesse’s hollow cheeks flexed as his store bore straight into me. “Fair enough,” he murmured. I exhaled but tensed as he came close again. I watched him closely.
“I know you’re not letting me off this easy.”
Jesse grinned. “Smart girl,” he murmured. And in one swift motion, he bent down and took my nipple in his mouth, sucking hard before tugging my dress back up to cover my chest. My mouth remained wide open as he then cupped my ribs, running his thumbs over my bust, over the shape of my stiffened peaks. “You’re going to think of me tonight while he’s fucking you,” Jesse said. “And I’ll be thinking about you while I fuck whoever it is I fuck tonight. And we’ll both be wishing we were in bed with each other.” He buried his face in my neck. I felt a kiss and the quickest lash of his tongue against my skin.