“Seems that I perfectly do, considering your threats whenever something doesn’t go your way.” Her lips purse. “You need to stop doing that. This isn’t how relationships work.”
“Then how do they work? By hiding me from your parents like I am the dirty little secret?”
“I never said that.”
“You don’t have to. Your actions speak louder than your words.”
“Can’t you understand my perspective? This is new to me, like I’m sure it’s new to you. Would you take me to see your parents?”
“Tomorrow if you like.”
Awe and surprise mix and clash on her face. “You…would?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“But aren’t you supposed to marry a Russian? Someone like Maya?”
“That’s a preference and in no way mandatory.”
“Wow. You really would introduce me to your parents.”
“As I said, you’re not my dirty little secret. I’m not embarrassed of you, which can’t be said about you.”
“I’m not embarrassed by you, Jeremy. I just…need to come to terms with all of this on my own before I involve other people.”
“Is that what you truly believe or are you just too scared to admit to what we have?”
Her face blanches, and it’s all the answer I need. I release her and step back, forcing her to let go of me.
She takes a step forward, but whatever she has to say is interrupted when the door barges open and hits the wall from the force of it.
Nikolai strolls inside, followed closely by his cousin Gareth.
“Ever heard of knocking?” I say in a tone that doesn’t hide my displeasure.
“You zip it.” He holds up a hand that will be fucking broken in about a second, along with his ribs because he’s shirtless again.
Gareth remains at the door, watching the scene intently while his unhinged cousin circles us with the aura of a lion. “What do we have here? I placed a bet and called the guards liars when they said you brought a girl—who isn’t your sister—over. Looks like I lost a few bills, but this shit is worth it. I say, why her, Jer? You said she was dull and more boring than a nun.”
This motherfucker.
Cecily’s face goes red, a different shade from the color that covered her cheeks when these two came in. That one was embarrassment mixed with discomfort. This one is anger.
And yes, I did say she was dull and fucking boring, but only to deflect Gareth’s and especially Nikolai’s interest from her. This asshole likes to fuck around a lot, and Cecily was simply not going to find a way onto his list.
That incident happened long before I chased her in the woods and metaphorically staked a claim on her.
“You were duped, Niko,” Gareth says with a knowing smile. “You can be really slow sometimes.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He glares back at his cousin, who’s still nonchalantly studying the scene, probably sensing that I’m approaching the point of an explosion the more Nikolai keeps talking, or even existing, near her.
Not getting a reply, my friend, who’ll soon lose those friendship privileges, slides closer to Cecily. “Your name is Cecilia, right?”
The red has slowly disappeared from her face, but she’s turned cold both in expression and voice. “Cecily.”
“Tomayto, tomahto.” He stares at her funnily. “You’re close with lotus flower, aren’t you? You have this whole shared love of unicorns, cakes, and saving animals.”
“Lotus what?”
“Brandon,” he says as if the correlation is a given.
It’s subtle, but I notice the exact moment Cecily’s body goes rigid and the way her expression changes from discomfort to mama bear mode.
Nikolai has always given a bad impression. Always. Not only is he violence on steroids, but he’s so deranged that he gets a bad rep wherever he goes. Cecily, like everyone else on the island, has heard of his brutish, merciless methods and his knack for beating up people for sport.
Generally, no one aside from us feels comfortable in his company, which is the reason for her unease ever since he barged in.
However, the moment he brought up her friend, fucker Landon’s twin brother, she slid seamlessly from fear to protectiveness. This girl isn’t afraid when it comes to her life, and she’d do anything for those she considers family.
“What about him?” she asks with a tinge of stiffness.
Nikolai is oblivious to the change in her, because he grins. “We can exchange information. I’ll give you shit on Jeremy and you do the same about lotus flower.”
She pauses, her gaze sliding to me with a full-blown glare as if she’s seriously contemplating the option, but then she shakes her head. “I have nothing to tell you about Bran.”
Nikolai stands in front of her and tilts his head to the side, as if meaning to stare into her soul and peel off the information he needs. “Not even a tiny bit? Think again, because I have all the deets about the girls Jeremy’s dated.”
I fling him back by his nape and throw him against his cousin. “Take him and leave.”
“Why?” Gareth pushes him back inside. “This is getting fun.”
I’m about to grab Nikolai again, but he slips away last second. “Stop throwing me as if I’m a ball, motherfuckers.”
“We have no time for you. Fuck off.”
“Actually.” Cecily steps forward and stands beside me. “We do. Didn’t you bring me here to meet your friends?”
No, I fucking didn’t.
In fact, I kept her away from this place so she wouldn’t see these assholes.
“What she said.” Gareth smiles at her. “We’re having dinner in a bit. Will you join?”
“No,” I say.
“Sure,” she says at the same time.
I glare at her, and she glares right back. I lean over to whisper, “We only have dinner, just the two of us.”
“Not today,” she whispers back.
“Don’t fuck with me, Cecily. We’re leaving.”
“No, we’re not. I thought I was more boring than a nun.” She flips her silver hair and strides in Gareth’s direction. “Did you mention dinner?”
“Yeah. We can have the chef add any dishes you want. Wait till Kill sees you.” Gareth smirks. “RIP, Jer.”
I flip him the bird, and he merely grins as he walks beside Cecily and Nikolai occupies the other side, hounding her for answers to his earlier question.
She doesn’t answer him, but she doesn’t shoot him down either. Instead, she engages the bastard by divulging some harmless information about Brandon.
I follow close behind them, contemplating who to kill first and whether there should be blood or not.
Who am I kidding? Of course there will be blood. Now, I just have to make sure it’ll pour out from all their orifices.
I start by shoving them away and gluing her to my side during the whole evening, but that barely lasts when she starts drinking with them and Killian joins in with his girlfriend.
Cecily flat-out refuses to leave once Glyndon gets here, despite my and Kill’s joint effort to take our girls and disappear into the night.
“Why the fuck did you bring her here? Now, Glyn won’t budge,” Kill asks me as the two of them play some stupid card game with Nikolai and Gareth.
“I honestly have no fucking clue why.” I sip on my vodka and shoot glares in her direction that she subtly ignores.