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I can’t hold back a smile. “Oriana, I am the president.”
“Oh.” Pink tinges her cheeks. “But how can you spend all this time with me if you’re the president? Don’t you have more important things to do?”
I tuck a strand of her smooth dark hair behind her ear. “What could be more important than you?”
Damn, I’m turning into a soppy motherfucker. I better not let my men hear me talk like this. But the smile that blooms over Oriana’s face is worth it. I want to make her smile like that every day for the rest of my fucking life.
“Come on,” I say, looping my arms through hers.
I can hear Jacob’s howling laughter before we even reach the kitchen. Out of all of my men, he’s the quickest to laugh. Sometimes people underestimate him because of it, but they learn quickly that there’s a core of steely ruthlessness under his mischievous grin.
Jacob goes quiet when we enter the kitchen, looking at Oriana curiously. Damon is the first to stand up and introduce himself. He shakes her hand, even managing a smile. Jacob follows suit.
“You guys want a beer?” Jacob asks.
I nod, but Oriana shakes her head. “I’m not allowed. I’m not twenty-one yet.”
Jacob lets out a snort of laughter, and even Damon looks amused. “We won’t tell if you don’t,” Jacob says, winking.
“Stop teasing the poor girl,” says a voice from the doorway. My sister walks into the kitchen, her gaze fixed on Oriana. And Oriana stares right back. They’re not sizing each other up. It’s more like each is looking for something in the face of the other, and when a look of satisfaction passes over both of their faces, I know they’ve found it.
“Hi. I’m Holly. It’s nice to finally meet you, Oriana.”
I shoot her a warning glare that she chooses to ignore.
“It’s nice to meet you too,” Oriana says, shaking my sister’s outstretched hand. “Are you Flint’s sister?”
Holly sighs dramatically. “I usually try to deny it, but nobody seems to believe me.” She runs a finger over her straight nose, the same shape as mine. “We both look like our mom. Well,” she adds, grinning at me. “Flint looks like a much more manly, uglier version of her. But still.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “Show your brother some respect, Holly.”
She just rolls her eyes and pulls out two chairs, one for her, one for Oriana. “Don’t let these assholes bully you. They may act all rough and dangerous, but they’re harmless, really.”
Damon pointedly clears his throat, but I barely hear it. Oriana laughs, and the sound washes over me, so bright and pure it tugs at something deep inside of me.
“I’ll remember that,” she says, smiling first at Holly and then at me.
“Good. Now, get me a beer, Jacob, and then let’s play some darts, shall we?”
Oriana
“Yes!” Holly claps her hands as my dart hits the triple twenty, grinning at me. “You’re a fucking natural, Oriana.” She looks so pleased. I don’t have the heart to tell her it was pure coincidence that I managed to hit something useful. She claps me my back and I stumble forward, but a strong hand around my arm stops me from falling. I smile gratefully at Flint, who winks.
“Careful, Holly,” Jacob teases. “Oriana is a delicate little flower.”
“Oh, don’t be a dick,” I mumble before I can stop myself. I rarely swear because my father would always scold me for it, but here, nobody seems to care.
Holly howls with laughter, and Flint joins in. Even Damon, who seems like a serious, reserved sort of person, chuckles quietly.
“Apologies, my lady,” Jacob says, bowing in my direction. Flint clears his throat loudly, and some of the amusement vanishes from Jacob’s face.
I look back and forth between them, trying to figure out what’s going on. Jacob nods at Flint, who puts a heavy arm over my shoulders. “Now that the ladies have destroyed us, I think it’s time for bed.” I appreciate him not pointing out that it was mainly Holly who did the destroying.
The others mumble their agreement and after saying our goodbyes, Flint and I make our way to the bedroom, his arm still around my shoulders. I can’t keep the smile off my face. Tonight was so much fun. I’ve never experienced anything like this. For all of my life, my father picked out my so-called friends, but I never had as much fun with them as I did tonight.
The friendship between all of them seems so easy, so natural. And while everyone clearly respects Flint, they treat him as a friend first and president second, at least from what I saw tonight. They have this easy-going camaraderie that I’ve only seen on television and always yearned for.
Flint inputs the key code and the door swings open. My smile slips from my face. Him hiding the code from me reminds me that, technically, I’m held captive here, even though it doesn’t feel like it. Even though I enjoyed the last few hours so much I forgot all about being kidnapped. Being with Flint and his friends felt right. In fact, nothing has ever felt as right as being with Flint. But I can’t help feel conflicted. Until a few days ago, everything was black and white. Good people did good things and bad people did bad things. Now I’m in this grey area, and I don’t really know how to deal with it.
