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We stood there for a while, neither of us speaking. I wouldn’t say it was awkward, but it was definitely something. Eventually, I said, “Could I ask you a question? Feel free to say no, because it is kind of personal.”
Dex let out a short chuckle. “Based on that, I think I already know what you’re going to ask, but go ahead. Hit me.” He ran a hand through his black hair, his blue eyes reflecting the firelight. He looked like a younger version of Atticus, his father.
“How is it, dating the same girl as your brother? And your father. And—well, you know.” I still couldn’t get it through my head. I’d heard about it at that Black Hand event a while back, and at first, I’d thought it was a silly rumor. But now I knew it was true; Shay Arrowwood really did have a whole harem of boyfriends.
I couldn’t imagine it. I mean, learning to share with someone was one thing, but learning to share with a whole bunch of other people, including your brother and your father? That just seemed a bit too much.
Don’t get me wrong, I supposed it might be fun. There were things you could do with three people that you couldn’t do with just two, but for a long-term situation? I didn’t know if I could do it.
Dex took his time in saying, “It’s not exactly easy. Some days are harder than others, but when things are good… they’re really great. Shay is amazing. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have her.”
The tone he took on when he spoke of her, I could tell he really did love her. I was kind of jealous of that, in a weird way; I’d never found someone I cared about that much. Sure, there’d been girls here and there. There always was when you were a Moretti. But never any girls who were worth having them stay. None who were girlfriend material.
And that’s saying nothing about the fact that I’d have to get married, and undoubtedly it would be a match for some kind of alliance.
“If you could have her all to yourself, would you?” I asked.
“That’s… not really an option. I assume you heard how she came back to Cypress?” Dex paused, watching me nod once. “Well, when she came back, she wanted to destroy us. All of us. She blamed us for what happened because she didn’t have the whole picture in front of her. I fell for her hard, instantly. Just like that. So did Jett, even though he’d try to tell you it took him longer. From the beginning, Shay said she was broken. She wasn’t whole. She hadn’t been whole since she lost her family.”
God. I couldn’t imagine losing my family. I might not agree with everything my father did, but he was my father. And my mother? Fuck. I loved my mother. I’d kill anyone for her. If I lost her… I might go off the deep end.
“We each help her,” Dex said. “As much as I sometimes want to, I just can’t be that selfish.” He shrugged. “Isn’t that what love is supposed to be, anyway? Totally selfless.”
“Yeah, I guess I really wouldn’t know—” I stopped when I saw another car pull up, and anything else I might’ve said to Dex died in the back of my throat when I watched someone get out of the car’s passenger seat.
Giselle. Giselle was here.
She was here with that guy, but she was still here.
Dex followed my line of sight, a smile on his face. “Maybe you will,” he said.
I looked at him. “Maybe I’ll what?” What the hell were we talking about before? I couldn’t even remember, because right then my eyes darted back to Giselle, and the breath was damn near knocked out of my lungs.
She looked gorgeous. Even more stunning than I remembered. And tonight she wasn’t wearing white. Well, her coat was white, but when she shrugged it off, she revealed a thin leather jacket beneath it, along with black shorts. She wore ankle-high boots, also black. Dark gloves, too. Her blonde hair was not pinned to the back of her head, so when the breeze blew past, it caught the tendrils of her hair and blew them around.
God. She could look stunning in black or white, huh?She could be wearing anything—or nothing—and be just as gorgeous.
“Yeah, exactly,” Dex was busy saying, but I was kind of ignoring him. “Good luck.” He walked away from me, leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open as Giselle approached me with her bodyguard in tow.
The one who watched her like a hawk did not undergo a wardrobe change; he still wore black, like most of us did. Black, go figure, was our color. He watched her from his position behind her, and when Giselle reached me, his gaze shifted toward me. He didn’t look too thrilled with me or my presence, but I supposed I could say the same thing about him.
So much for having some alone time with Giselle.
“You made it,” I said. “I didn’t think you would.” I made a big show of checking out her outfit. “And you didn’t wear white this time. Kudos. You look good in black, Giselle.” I hoped I wasn’t coming on too strong. I knew I didn’t know much about her, but I had the feeling I’d never quite met anyone like Giselle in my entire life. I didn’t want to fuck this up.
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Giselle said, although she didn’t sound too particularly happy at the notion. It was almost like being here was the last thing on her list of things to do. But, hey, she was still here, so I was going to consider it a win regardless.
“Come on. Let’s get you something to drink. Your, uh, man here can have something too, if he wants.” I decided to address the elephant in the room, or the bodyguard in the woods—however you wanted to look at it.
The man sent me an unimpressed frown. “I prefer to be in complete control of my facilities, especially while surrounded by strangers.” Not sure if he was trying to accuse me of something or not…
Eh, didn’t matter.
I took Giselle to the table with the drinks, and even though I hadn’t seen her drink at the previous party, she took a beer and hit the lid on the edge of the table, popping the cap off in one smooth motion. Damn, this girl had some moves. She’d seemed like such an innocent girl the first time we’d met; I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the real Giselle and the girl in white had been nothing but a show.
She took a swig from the bottle, and then she glanced at her bodyguard. The look she gave him must’ve told him something, for in the next moment he rolled his eyes and stalked off, leaving me alone with her. I knew, though, he’d be watching us from the sidelines.
“Sorry about Zander,” Giselle said. “He didn’t think I should come tonight.”
