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WEEK FOUR
It took two days in Madrid with Summer to realize she had most likely overreacted to Shane’s bad manners. Not that he’d been right to act such a way, she defended herself. He hadn’t. Still, the panic that flooded her at the time had sent all her emotions into a tailspin.
And it was all her mother’s fault. Margot was such a strong, controlling person, especially where her daughter was concerned, that Alyssa often lived in a state of caution, knowing her mother could act with such rudeness at any given moment. It was one of the reasons she was still a virgin, Alyssa had often thought. She was too terrified of her mother humiliating her in such a way, so she’d rarely dated any one young man for more than a few weeks, a month at the most.
Friends were in the same category. Only Summer had remained a steady presence in her life. They had been fast friends from age five, their first year together in school. And though Summer’s family wasn’t liked by Margot, still Summer herself had somehow managed to endear herself to Alyssa’s mother. So much so that when Summer had needed help the year she’d turned sixteen it had been Margot who had moved quickly to ensure Alyssa’s friend had that help.
Now, though Alyssa counted the other woman as her best friend, she didn’t tell Summer about Shane and Sebastian. She didn’t dare. Far too often in past years she’d suspected her friend was too close to Margot, and she couldn’t risk her mother learning of a relationship Margot would be certain to move quickly to end.
Instead, Alyssa used the time away from the two men to put them, as well as the relationship itself, in perspective.
It would have been sufficient, she thought, to leave the situation in Sebastian’s hands in this case. The two men had a way of balancing each other, of each countering the other’s less than appreciable traits.
She wouldn’t tolerate having it happen again, but the situation should have been dealt with differently. The differences she should have used she wasn’t quite certain, she thought in amusement as she slipped into her apartment, via the window above an iron trellis that supported a lush assortment of blooms.
She came to a stop when she moved into her bedroom, tears filling her eyes at the sight of an envelope taped to the mirror. Her name was written on it, Shane’s scrawled handwriting bold and as forceful as he was himself.
Moving to it, she removed it from the glass and pulled the card inside free. As she did, a gold chain with three gems fell to the cherry top of the chest of drawers. Lifting it, she saw the sapphire, her birthstone, suspended between two beautiful diamonds.
The necklace isn’t a gift, siren, it’s a promise. We’re bound to you, and nothing matters more than ensuring you’re a part of us. I’m sorry. I behaved like an animal, fearing the presence of another man you gave your smiles to. I forgot, your smiles aren’t gifts, they’re a part of you and a part of the warmth that radiates from you. I swear it won’t happen again. Shane.
P.S. I’ll break his legs if it does. Sebastian.
Holding the necklace, Alyssa closed her fingers around it before turning to find her phone. At that same moment, it rang, her neighbor Marissa’s number showing in the caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Please, Alyssa,” Marissa all but moaned. “These two assholes have just about moved in with us. They’re killing my sex life and making Gregory insane. Please God have mercy on me and let them talk to you.”
“How long have they been there?” Alyssa asked, surprised.
“How long have you been gone?” Marissa all but growled. “They even watched you climb back to that window like some damn cat burglar, and I swear they went white when you slipped halfway up.… Alyssa, for the love of God…” She was whimpering now. “Please.”
As Marissa begged, Alyssa walked through the apartment into the kitchen and slid the bolt lock free before releasing the door’s main lock.
“Tell them the back door’s unlocked,” she sighed. “They can come up.”
“I owe you my firstborn child,” Marissa sighed. “I think I want to kill them.”
“Keep the child,” Alyssa assured her. “Thank you for watching them for me. I appreciate it.”
“They’re like two-year-olds,” Marissa informed her caustically. “Check in with me later. After you shoot them. I’ll help you hide the bodies.”
“I’ll be sure to,” Alyssa promised. “Good-bye, Marissa.”
The call disconnected as the door opened and Shane and Sebastian stepped inside the kitchen. They looked haggard. As miserable Alyssa she felt.
They stopped just inside the door, their gazes heavy, watching her silently but moving no closer to her. She would have to make the first move. She could see that in their expressions.
Stepping over to them, the necklace still held loosely in one hand, she drew in a deep breath. “I was angry, but you hurt me, Shane,” she said painfully. “And you made me afraid that would be the means you tried to control me in the future, and I couldn’t bear that.”
“Alyssa,” he whispered her name, his voice rough.
“Let me finish.” She shook her head before drawing in another deep breath. “I overreacted, though, and I know that.” She turned her attention to Sebastian then. “I should have left that ignorance to be dealt with by ‘’Bastian, just as you often deal with his rougher edges. I should have trusted both of you.” Tears filled her eyes again before she blinked them back. “I won’t make the same mistake in the future, I promise.”
Lifting her hand, she held the necklace out to them. “And if you want me to wear your promise, then you have to put it on; otherwise it doesn’t count.”
They stepped to her. Shane took the chain, but she was surprised when they each took one side of it and latched it together.
