Page 47 of Greed

“I didn’t scare her off.” At least, I didn’t think I had. “Besides, aren’t you going to go after her?”

“Nope, not tonight. Unlike you, I have time with her to make up for this weird evening.” Michael tore a chunk off a bun and sat back smiling as he chewed on it. “I’m pretty sure she saw enough of you in action to ward you off for good. I should buy Skye a thank you gift. I couldn’t have asked for a better sidekick and one I didn’t even have to ask to join in and help.”

“You set this up, didn’t you? You knew I’d come.”

“Honestly, I had no idea if you would or wouldn’t crash my date, but if you didn’t, I’d have an amazing time with an amazing woman and if you did… well, let’s just say you’re an entertaining car wreck that would take care of itself. You just didn’t realize how far you’d driven off the cliff until this moment. Either way, you made me look like a superstar in her eyes.” Michael sipped his wine, the cocky grin returning to his face. “I mean nothing that Skye said was a lie, was it?” He lifted a shoulder and let it drop.

“What is this shit, Michael? What game are you trying to pull with me? Are you bored up there and have nothing better to do than harass me?”

“What are you talking about,” Michael asked, taking a sip of wine and relaxing back into the booth. It annoyed the fuck out of me that he looked as cool as a cucumber, and I was turned inside out.

“Don’t give me that.” I crossed my arms and looked away from him. “Did you send this girl to hurt me? I mean, other than the raven hair, she is the spitting image of Callista. Is this another sick way to show off that I can’t come home?” I said, and even though I was angry, I couldn’t keep the hurt out of my voice.

“Do you really think I’d do that to you?”

“Are you really going to make me answer that? You’ve done more hurtful things, starting with agreeing to toss me out of home.”

“This again. Can we move past it already? You had to know that what you did was going to have consequences.”

“I was only trying to help,” I growled, my fists clenching. “You know what, never mind. No matter what you say, I’m not going to believe that you aren’t up to something even if it has nothing to do with Minetta.”

“Believe whatever you want, brother, but I’m not here to torture you. Anyway, I hope you’re hungry because here comes the food, and I plan on eating every bite of the meal you’re purchasing.” Michael smiled smugly.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

Note to self: the next time her gut instinct told her that it was too soon to go out on a date or do anything really…she’d listen to her gut. She couldn’t believe that entire experience had happened, and that Michael and that man, that unbelievable man, were brothers?

The night had seemed so promising. The opportunity to go out on a date with a man who saved her life seemed interesting, and he was easy on the eyes—that was like a dream come true. But then Riker Rhodes had to show up, and worse, Michael invited him and that… odd woman to sit with them. It was so obvious, brothers or not, that the two of them couldn’t stand to be in the same state together, let alone the same restaurant.

And there was no way she was letting Riker buy her dinner. That seemed like a slippery slope of favors to be returned. She didn’t have to spend very long with him to know he didn’t do anything unless he was getting something he wanted in return.

But that apology…he’d seemed genuinely sincere and upset.

“Nope, don’t do it,” she said aloud, shutting down the doe-eyed part of her that thought he was so interesting and not to mention hot as hell. The way he’d touched her cheek, she’d been so tempted to kiss him just once to see how his kiss would feel. She could almost feel his lips on hers. Her hand went to her mouth, a stupid smile forming.

What would it be like to be wanted by someone like him? She sighed. The earlier feeling of hope for a new start with a great guy was fading fast. Michael hadn’t been much better. It was easy to see that Skye embarrassing Riker was exactly what Michael had wanted. She didn’t like that any more than Riker’s attitude.

Her heels clicked noisily along the sidewalk as she dug through her purse to find the car keys. She’d have to grab some drive-thru on the way home. She was ready to eat off her own arm. Minetta shivered as the wind picked up and lifted the hair lying on her neck.

“Ah-ha, there you are,” someone said. Minetta looked up and screamed as a face appeared in the glass window of her car that was right behind her.

Skye grabbed her roughly and spun her around. She looked around, but the car attendant had left, leaving the gate open, and she was far enough off the road that she couldn’t be easily seen.

“What the hell are you,” Skye asked.

Odd, she wanted to ask the same question. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“Are you part angel or lust demon? Maybe you’re half siren. That would make the most sense,” Skye mumbled.

“Well, that’s good because you’re making none.” Apparently, being sarcastic wasn’t the way to go. Skye gripped the front of her dress in a fist and slammed her up against the vehicle’s door with a surprising amount of strength. She coughed and gasped for breath as the air was driven out of her lungs.

“You stay away from him.” Skye’s voice was low and had an edge to it that made her shiver.

“Who…Michael?”

“No, stupid, Riker. You stay away from him and stop putting ideas of making nice with Michael in his head.”