Page 5 of One Last Rainy Day
“Andthissituation?”
“I’ll think on it.”
“Sure you don’t want to put in another call to France?”
And risk my brother’s life as he plays a dangerous round of roulette with a French thug sporting a God complex?
Fuck no. I earned and deserve the position I’m in. It’s my call, and we both know it. He reads my decision.
“Choice is yours. I’ll go feel her out.” I give him a slow nod before he disappears, the promise of a future argument apparent in the tight snap of my door behind him.
Standing, I light my blunt before walking over to the blinds. Lifting one, I spot her lingering at our fence, her back to me, outlined and illuminated by the sinking sun. Pulling from my blunt, I watch her take in her surroundings, scanning the mountain ridge just as Tyler approaches her. When she turns to him, I drop the blinds in lieu of getting my first real look at her.
There’s no point. I can’t and won’t appreciate the beauty of any complication that threatens our agenda. We’ve worked too hard and waited too long for the days, weeks, and months to come. Our plans aren’t changing for any reason or anyone, especially Roman Horner’s teenage daughter.
Despite what some say, not all birds are attracted to shiny, spinning things.
Chapter Three
AFTER SMOKING THEwhole blunt to calm my shit to the point I can face my fuck-up, I mimic a progress report under the bird who’s been on Cecelia’s detail for years on the off-chance Tobias checks in. Reasoning with myself that it’s the only way to keep my brother’s focus where it needs to be, I shake off the accompanying unease as I hit send. Pushing away from my desk, I stalk downstairs and am caught halfway by Jeremy making his way up with one of his regular girls in tow.
“Sean’s room, motherfucker,” I warn as he flashes a buzzed smile while sweeping his conquest past me. Spotting me as they brush by, I ignore her drawn-out stare and any others I attract as I cross the living room toward the sliding glass door.
In the next instant, I’m surrounded by bass and mixed smells of smoke wafting through a once-familiar crowd—people I grew up with, who now feel more like strangers to me. Mixed greetings die on their collective tongues with one glance in my direction, and I’m thankful for it. It should bother me that I instill that hesitance, but I prefer it.
When I first arrived home from MIT, I found myself in the position to defend my place amongst some of the inked due to my four-year absence, despite my summers spent at home. That lasted a matter of days because I made it so. It had nothing to do with flexing but an obstacle in the way of getting to what’s important, which brings me back to the matter at hand—my current hindrance. Scanning the yard, with a few twists of heads and moving bodies, I catch sight of the interloper standing next to Sean, their posture intimate.
As if shefeelsmy summons, she turns her head, and our eyes collide. The second it happens, an odd premonition runs through me as a whisper snakes its way into my psyche. Shaking it off, I stalk toward her and enter her personal space, refusing to mince intent with useless words. Sean’s attempt at interception does shit to dissuade me from making my point, and before uttering a word, she already knows her place with me.
Our sparring begins and ends with a brief back and forth in which I make it a point to embarrass her. It’s only when I make it crystal that she’s not only uninvited but unwanted that she drunkenly acquiesces. “Whatever, I’ll go.”
Turning to head back inside, she grips my forearm to stop me. Her invasive touch feels like a burn as I resist the urge to rip my arm away while whipping my head in her direction. Defiant dark-blue eyes—matching those of my enemy—clash with mine while she downs the rest of her bottle before dropping it at my feet. “Oops.”
It’s then that my mission runs with clarity through my veins as we continue to stare off. As it happens, a slight remorse brews because she’s completely unaware of the threat she poses.
Tyler was only partially right in his assessment but missed something vital.
Her beauty is fucking tragic.
If her presence here so much as alters any small part of the ground plan that has to roll out in the next few months, I’ll have no issue doing whatever it takes to erase her from the equation.
Just as the thought crosses my mind, she ends her tirade, intent on having the last word. “You know, you could say it was nice to meet me. You are kicking me out of your party. It’s the polite thing to do.”
“Never been accused of being polite.”
“It’s common decency, arsehole.”
The feel of her fingers wrapped around my forearm begins to gnaw away the last of my patience. Sean reads my rapidly changing demeanor, cursing before scooping her over his shoulder. His eyes linger heavily on my profile for some acknowledgment while mine remain locked on Roman’s daughter.
“And what a pretty arsehole you are,” she slurs out. Laughter spills out around us, cutting through some of the thick tension, and despite myself, I can’t help the slight upturn of my lips in response. That is until she makes her last declaration. “I am trouble, you know...just ask your brother.”
Dangling over Sean’s shoulder, she keeps her steady gaze on me as Sean hauls her through the sliding glass door to protect her from getting the worst of me. When she’s out of sight, Tyler sidles up to me, putting voice to the question we both already know the answer to. “What was he thinking?”
“That he’ll get his dick wet while convincing us he’s doing us a solid,” I clip out, staring in the direction Sean fled.
“And no one thought to tell him otherwise?”
“We did.” I glance over at Tyler. “He just wasn’t paying attention.”
