Roman’s gaze drifted to Shorty, his interest obvious. “The one with the head wound’s interesting. Mirabella, right?”
I clenched my jaw before I could respond despite every instinct inside of me screaming, “Mine.” Telling my brother to keep his fucking eyes off Shorty would only spark his interest even more.
“I think the other one’s more beautiful; she has that touch of vulnerability in her eyes.” Anton had always gravitated toward people in need of protection. Men or women.
They both wandered off, probably to start a charm offensive on the twins.
Fuckers. Both of them.
Anton offered what appeared to be vodka but was probably water, and the way Isabella accepted it with practiced grace made me wonder how often she’d navigated similar situations. She wasn’t so vulnerable and shy after all.
I shifted position and placed myself, so I could intercept Roman’s approach to Shorty. I grabbed the drink he’d picked up at the bar. “Thanks, bro.”
He stared at me, but I ignored him, took a sip to check that it wasn’t alcohol, then handed it to Shorty.
My brothers exchanged looks. I pretended not to notice.
I looked back at Shorty, and the way she stared at the drink in her hand, then at me, and back to the drink was hilarious.
“Did you just taste-test my water?” she asked.
I nodded.
She narrowed her brows and cocked her head. “The water your brother handed to me?”
I nodded.
“Does that mean you’re not even trusting your brother?”
She was probing, trying to gather more insight.
I held her gaze. “I trust all of my siblings with my life.”
“Then why?”
Should I tell her the truth or keep her in the dark? Nothing good would come from exposing myself, but I decided to give her this much. “Just because I trust them with my life doesn’t mean I trust them with you.”
She took a couple of seconds just looking at me, assessing my answer.
“Making new friends?” Nina’s voice carried across the pool area as she and Mila stepped into our little huddle. Mila immediately engaged Isabella in conversation while Nina inched in between Shorty and me and edged me out.
Giving my brothers the chance to pull me with them and away from her.
“Overprotective, are we.” Roman stated because it sure as shit wasn’t a question.
“What exactly happened between the time you caught her and when you landed here?” Anton asked.
I stared at them as if they’d both lost their minds. “Nothing happened except one long-ass flight.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like nothing.”
I narrowed my brows and countered their stares while simultaneously tuning in on Shorty’s and Nina’s intense conversation about…airplane security?
Fuck me, was she telling on me already?
I looked at Mila and the other twin, who looked more comfortable than I’d seen her before.
The easy way the twins engaged with my sisters set off more warning bells. This wasn’t the behavior of captives or strangers.
