“I’m not sure what size your sister is these days, but it isn’t the same as me,” I snip as I adjust the underwire of the bra stabbing me in the side of my boob.
He chuckles to himself, his eyes lingering on my tits way longer than they should. “Noted.”
I go to pass him, but he crowds me, forcing me back into the wall behind as he stares down at me. He has that same damn intimidating look that was always there. “What made you come back, sunshine?” His voice is low, his jaw tight, like he’s not happy about it.
I huff out a laugh. “Yeah, good to see you too, asshole.” I shove under his arm, not wanting to stick around for whatever Slater interrogation this is. He has been hanging round with Kasen too long, he’s picking up on his alphahole energy. It doesn’t suit him.
“There is nothing left here for you…”
I spin round on the spot, a fresh wave of rage bubbling up through me. His words eat into my soul and cause pain I thought I had gottenover long ago, but no one can reject a girl quite like Bodhi Slater. I should know. “No fucking shit. And who made sure of that? The Throne family business and the goons who work for ‘em?” I throw right back at him. If he wants a fight, he’s going the right way about it. I’ve done my research, I know he’s Kasen’s bitch these days. Head of security blah, blah, blah.
He’s chest to chest with me in one step, towering over me in a way that makes my heart leap into my throat. But I don’t shy away, I pin my glare right back on him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you would sacrifice it all to never be that lost boy no one wanted ever again.”
His stone-cold expression says it all. I just hit him where it hurts. But what did they expect, that they could drag me home with them and it would be like the old days? No chance in hell with what I know.
Chapter 4
Bodhi
My eyes fix on her with cold deliberate laser focus. Little miss perfect might not be the picture of the mayor’s daughter while she’s covered in bruises, but she’s still a stuck-up entitled princess who thinks she’s too good for us. Our predicament is Kasen has always had a soft spot for her, and last night was the first time I have seen any signs of life in his eyes in years.
“While you’re under our roof, you will follow our rules. That includes keeping your opinions to yourself. Behave and do as you’re told. We have a reputation to uphold, and what happened last night can never happen again. I’m not about cleaning up your messes, last night was a one-off.”
Her hands fly to her hips in outrage. “I didn’t ask you to do—”
With one swift move, I pin her to the wall, her skin so damn soft under my fingertips it’s hard not to test the water and see how she reacts when I slide my finger down the side of her face. “And yet here I was disposing of two bodies and the murder weapon. Just like in the past, isn’t it, Dove. Us boys are all just tools at your disposal. You will use us then take off when you’ve got whatever it is you wanted.”
She swallows hard, her throat bobbing. “You think I wanted to leave?” she murmurs, seeming surprised by my comment.
“All I know is you did. No goodbye, nothing. Did we mean that little to you?” I don’t even know why I’m pushing it. I don’t care about the past. It’s dead and buried as far as I’m concerned. But when I stare into her broken eyes, it breaks down the armor I have strategically built since I saw her last. And I know it will mess Kasen and River up just as bad. How can it not? At one point in our lives, she was as much one of our crew as anyone could be.
Her eyes go wide, and her cheeks flush with heat and maybe anger. Even though I’m holding her firmly, she stomps her foot in frustration. “You meant everything to me, you stupid asshole. You’re the ones who were ready to ship me off on daddy’s orders. I never would have left you if I didn’t have to. Never.”
Anger vibrates through me because I know it’s all lies. She could have stayed if we really were that important. Whatever trouble she and her dad were in, we would have helped them. We would have done anything for her. But that’s not what people do, they leave when it all gets too hard, just like my parents did.
“Bullshit.” My back straightens. “You knew you had all four of us wrapped around your pinky. The perfect princess.” I shake my head. I have never told a soul how I really felt about her. She would never have wanted me back then anyway, I was too nerdy for her, except when she needed help with her math or science homework. I’m positive no matter how I felt about her, she saw me as an older-brother type at her disposal when she needed my brain. Nothing more. “You strung us along, knowing all too well you had all four of us falling for you. And we both know you were never going to do anything about it, because while we might have been fun to hang out with, we never would have been good enough for your family. Or you.” I keep going when I should be walking away. She’s no one to me, a ghost from our past, and that’s where she should stay. But from the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew that would never be the case again.
Her plump, red lips purse. “Fuck you.” She shoves at me, trying to escape my hold, but I’m not letting her go until I have said my piece. I don’t care how much I upset her. I guess the truth hurts, and she needs to know what she did to me. To us.
“Stop lying to us all and just tell us what really happened that night. You and your dad took off and didn’t look back, on to something better, I’m sure.” My chest heaves, a heaviness I hadn’t let invade it in so long now settles deep and painful.
Tears flicker in her eyes. “You’re so wrong about me, Slater. I never based my decisions on what my family thought. You of all people should have known me better than that. I loved all of you with everything I had, right up until you broke my heart.”
My heart hammers in my chest. It’s like a drumbeat, solid and loud. I have waited a long time to hear those words from this girl’s mouth, but I never once thought they would make me want to rip my own heart from my chest so I can end the pain she’s now lodged in it. My hand moves into her hair, gripping her so firmly I’m sure it’s uncomfortable. But if it is, she doesn’t protest. Instead, she tilts her head up, challenging me to push her. “Like a big brother?”
“What?” Her eyes furrow, confused.
Maybe I misread the signs when I was younger, because the look in her eyes now is unmistakable. And before I can get my brain to find logic, I move, acting on pure impulse. My lips claim hers in a battle of tongues and lips and teeth. She tastes of sunshine and cherry lip gloss, just how I imagined she would all those years ago. But I don’t kiss her like I would have back then. I pin her to the wall, taking control with ruthlessprecision.
She doesn’t fight me off like I expected she might. Instead, she nips and kisses me back, moaning into my lips, needy for more. For me. When I eventually pull back, she’s panting. Her anger toward me hasn’t simmered down, but there is something new in her expression as well. Lust. Well, what do you know, maybe the brat did miss me after all.
“What did you do that for?” she whispers, wiping at her mouth aggressively before she discovers she’s bleeding. She rubs the blood from her bottom lip over her thumb and forefinger in fascination.
My hold on her loosens, and I glare down my nose at her. No response. I didn’t expect to paw at her. Maybe I was trying to prove a point, but I’m not sure who I was trying to prove it to. Because all that did was solidify that there is way too much unexplored chemistry between us. Attraction neither of us can afford to revisit. She needs to stay away from me as a matter of urgency, but that is the last thing I want.
She’s tugged away from me. When I flick my glare back, I find Kasen’s face serious, but he knew what he was doing sending me in to get her. “Get your hands off me, asshole,” she barks at him as she is guided down the hallway toward the kitchen.
