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Part of me doesn’t even want to ask what the fuck he’s on about. “I’m here for the same reason you all are, Priest.”
I step backward, needing distance from him. There weren’t many times in my life where I was surprised by my brother. He did what he wanted and made no apologies. He came into this world with a brutal amount of insouciance and carried it like a sixth sense.
“It’s not the same, Halen,” he challenges.
“We will talk later.”
I cut him off by stepping around his body and following the trail the rest of them left behind. Passing canvas after canvas, my steps slow as they begin to conflate together.
A door swings open at the end of the hall, pulling me out of my haze. As soon as I’m inside, my skin prickles with unease. There’s a large spa built inground, with a waterfall flowing from the ceiling. Perfumed steam wanders through the air with crisp notes of pine and lemon. A Venetian-stained desk sits adjacent to a generous-sized bookshelf that curves around to another room. Directly opposite us are large floor-to-ceiling windows that give a direct view to the sharp cliff drop and boundless ocean.
“Did you know,” she begins, but I don’t take my eyes off the view. “This was the first room that was built in this house?” I can’t help but feel like she’s directing this at me, but again, I can’t seem to release myself from the view. “They built it here to keep an eye on the pirates that would try to come. Do you know what the pirates would do when they would try to settle here in Perdita, Halen?”
I finally pull my eyes from the view and watch as she slowly drops her satin robe, dipping her toe into the velvet water.
“No, Katsia, I don’t.” I make an effort to not ask shit about her.
I glance at her tits. They’re great tits. Kudos to her.
She finally lowers herself into the bath and reaches for a long champagne flute beside her, holding my eyes. “Unimpressive.”
“Enough.” Priest closes the door behind himself. “That’s not why we’re here, Katsia. You know that.”
“Hmm.” Her smirk presses against her glass. The longer I look at her, the more I feel myself heat. I’ve never liked her much, and I had only met her once. I could take it. Take her, this island, and everything she thinks she sits so royally on.
But then I know I’d cause a scene, a scene that War and Priest would have been expecting me to create. One that theywantme to create, because then I would prove them right. That I’m not ready.
I look around her space, noting the blank walls. Before I can stop myself, my feet are carrying me to a photo frame where a young girl stands, smiling broadly down the camera lens. Beside her is a young boy. He seems agile, if not for the lashes across his face.
Sweat beads at my temple as I turn back to face Katsia, only I’m met with War’s threatening gaze.
My cheeks burn when he lowers it down the length of my body before resting back at my face. Over the past couple weeks, which has been since I’ve had more presence in this world, he’s been more obvious.
I hate Perdita.
I want to go home.
I take a step forward, curling my fingers around the first chair I see and lowering myself down, so I’m directly opposite Katsia. She grins up at me, the congestion melting the makeup off her flawless skin.
“You ready for the shipment?” I ask sweetly, as if I’m unbothered.
I am. Very much so.
But fuck if I’ll ever let her know it.
“Not yet.” Her head tilts back when she swallows more champagne. “Say, Halen, I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Really?” I answer, and I’m painfully aware of how all the boys are silent. For once. “I’ve not heard shit about you.”
That’s a lie. I’m being petty. It has nothing to do with the way she keeps eyeing War either.
Nothing.
War clears his throat and my jaw tightens. I’m not stupid. I know who War is and the kind of girls he has been with over the years. He’s the worst of the three. I often wonder why I found him the most attractive out of every other guy at school.
He’s nothing like my father, and apparently you seek your daddy in your partners.
He’s more like his own.
