Five weeks.
“How perfect,” I said, peering under my eyelashes at Prince and then Dax. Madison was fully focused on his food, and I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to look at him again.
The conversation was all about planning as I sat and forced myself to choke down as much of the seafood pasta as I could. Prince never let go of me, and the ring weighed heavily on my hand, like a tiny, glittering manacle.
The only comfort I had was that the bastard would never know that I’d just stolen all his little secrets.
FIFTY-ONE
FINCH
I’d sat here deliberately to overhear what would happen at Thaddeus’s lunch, one of Laurel’s handy bugs laid casually on the table in front of me. I’d been satisfied when the Lucas pack had joined the table, eager to hear what they’d discuss.
I stared at my laptop screen, fingers frozen, as Prince announced they had some exciting news. Despite how much I hoped it would be a confession that I could use to nail their balls to the wall, I could be realistic. They were unlikely to discuss major crimes on a patio at a public lunch.
It was strange they were all eating out here, though, right at the busiest time of the day. The restaurant had been buzzing since Laurel had stepped inside.
Terror speared me through the bond as Prince revealed their proposal. The breeze picked up, and their scents swirled around me. Despite the clear emotions she was feeling, there wasn’t an ounce of fear in her scent. Just a mildly pleasant calm, telling me she was perfectly at ease. I could hear chairs shifting, and then Dax was talking to her quietly.
I shifted, clutching my coffee spoon tightly in my hand. I didn’t need to look.
I didn’t need to look.
It didn’t matter what was happening. I couldn’t see their table, anyway, as there were plants in the way, but I could see the commotion inside the restaurant. People behind the glass doors were going absolutely nuts. Security had stepped in to hold back the crowd of people who were clamouring to get a view or shot of the moment.
Someone opened the door behind me, and I turned with a snarl to see a trio of teenagers stop halfway onto the balcony, faces going white as they saw my expression. One of them dropped their phone on the ground with a clatter.
“Fuck off,” I hissed, and barely managed to restrain my aura as they made a hasty retreat. Laurel’s fear was pounding in my head, and it felt like it was crawling under my skin. What the fuck was happening over there? Why were chairs moving?
Unable to stop myself, I shifted in my seat until I had a view of the scene through a gap in the leaves. Madison Swithwin was on one knee in front of her, and my lip curled in distaste as I saw him guide Laurel onto his lap, his massive arms caging her in.
She was the picture of elegance this morning, her hair done up in a fancy braid and wearing a beautiful cream dress. There was something viscerally wrong with seeing Madison’s hands touching her.
Based on the reactions of the onlookers, their embrace looked perfectly normal, but they couldn’t scent the hunger rolling off Madison or see the mad glint in his eye. I had to give her credit for holding herself together as he whispered something to her. The only outward tell that he was tormenting her was a slight stiffening as she listened.
Up until that point, I hadn’t fully understood why Ocean had abandoned all reason when he’d rushed in to defend her, but right now, I wouldn’t mind digging this spoon right into Madison’s eye socket.
The image of the Laurel that I hated—the cold, ruthless seductress that ruined lives on a whim—was hard to keep steady in my mind as I watched them.
The Laurel in front of me was a delicate bird, wings broken and desperately trying to pretend she was fine as predators circled and snapped at her.
Dax, Madison, and Thaddeus, watching as she held her head high.
These were vicious bastards who swept through life, uncaring of the destruction and ruin they left in their wake. This whole incident was bringing me dangerously close to including Laurel as one they’d victimized.
I couldn’t get Kaos’s stupid theory out of my head. That perhaps she wasn’t our enemy. Because he was right, damn it—it didn’t make sense. Laurel was angry and stubborn, but the only malice she had shown toward Ocean was when she’d had him locked up. Nothing else about her behaviour or feelings matched that.
I pushed the thought away as Ocean stirred in the bond, swelling with a wave of peace and calm that momentarily swept away the gathering tension clouding my thoughts. I opened my eyes, looking down at the coffee spoon that was now bent sadly out of shape in my hands. It seemed Laurel’s panic had been calmed by Ocean’s zen as well.
Sitting back in my chair, I stared at my laptop screen and refused to look over to the other balcony again.
It was only marginally easier this time.
It wasn’t that I gave a fuck about Laurel, obviously. She’dbecome my responsibility when I’d added her to the pack, but it didn’t go beyond that.
Her sudden engagement put my pack in more danger, though. The Lucas pack trying to be intimate with her, trying to bond her?—
She’s ours.
