Mari studied me for a moment. “What’s going on, Kee? Is it the show?”
I took a deep breath and released it. “No. The show is great. It’s just so much change at once.”
She nodded, but I could tell she didn’t buy it.
A knock came at the door and she rushed to answer it.
“Mac,” I said when he walked in behind Mari.
Everything Sierra had said about him was true. But. She had downplayed him. He was almost too good looking to be true. Black hair. Tan skin. Ocean-blue eyes that were cold and very intelligent. Model sharp features. Muscles in all of the right places. And if power could create a force field around someone, it had around Mac.
He studied me with what felt like indifference, but at the same time, he seemed to be making sure I was good enough to be around Mari.
Maybe that was why I couldn’t hate him.
There was something right about the two of them together. And in all of my years of knowing her, I’d never heard anyone call her by her full name. Mariposa. Because she never allowed them to. She seemed to brighten when he did.
Finally, he nodded at me and stood in the doorway. He wasn’t much of a talker.
Mari breezed past. “I’m going to take a quick shower. I won’t be long.”
I stood, wiping my hands on my jeans, and started toward my bedroom. “I’m going to get there a little early. Help with the setup.”
“Wait!” Mari stopped me. “Where do we go? You never said. Is it by your uncl—”
“No.” I shook my head, debating on whether to tell her that the party was on Staten Island. Given the fact that I had to deal with my brother first, I decided not to say anything. If she knew what Harrison had done, she might not even go at all. Maybe if Harrison caught Mari off guard, she’d consider his feelings without Mac around. It was a long shot, because I could feel how much Mac and Mari cared for each other, even if their feelings had developed fast, but a shot was a shot. “I’ll give Mac the directions. You go jump in the shower so you won’t be late.”
“I won’t be long!” she said again as she moved toward the bathroom.
Mac and I stared at each other for another moment before I cleared my throat. When I gave him the address, his eyebrows drew down.
“Old man Gianelli’s place,” he said.
“That’s right.” I nodded. “You know of it?”
“Yeah,” he said, and his voice reflected his eyes. Cold. “Where Mariposa grew up.”
“We were next-door neighbors. That’s how we became best friends, sisters.”
He nodded but said nothing else. Maybe Mari had already told him all of that.
After I collected my purse, I stopped next to him. “Listen. You and I haven’t had much time to talk. But I just want to tell you one thing. If you hurt her, I will hurt you. Understand?”
“Your brother is in love with my wife.”
He threw me for a second, but I hoped that I played it off well. That force field around him could knock a nun off course. “Fiancé. She hasn’t made any promises to you yet.”
Right before I opened the door to leave, he cleared his throat. Sometimes his voice sounded jagged. “Have you made any promises to Kelly yet?”
I squeezed the door handle so hard that it bit into my palm. “I know you,” I said, my voice quiet. “I know men like you. Sierra and I talked. It doesn’t surprise me that you know everything. That you control everything. And since you know the intentions of Cash Kelly, then it would be in Mari’s best interest not to involve her in my life right now.”
Mac’s stare felt like ice melting on my back. “Kelly knows better than to come near me or mine. But I have no problem with him, as long as he stays in his lane.” He cleared his throat once more. “Mari considers you a good friend. A sister, as you say. That’s why I’ll leave you and her to it. Your secrets are your own, as long as they don’t hurt her.”
A shiver tore over me before I shut the door, putting some distance between us. Not even a door felt like enough, though. These men, the kind I suddenly found myself around, were not ordinary. They were fucking vicious animals in custom-made suits, disguised to look like gentlemen.
I had to get to my brother before he did something that would probably cost him his life. Like tell Mari that he loved her.
* * *
