“No.”
“Are you sure? That restaurant you went to—or just sat outside of for fifteen minutes—seemed pretty fancy. A bit too much for dinner with your stepbrother, don’t you think?” he patronizes. “Just tell me.”
“Wait… how do you know that?”
“We can move past it.Ican, if you’re honest with me.”
I run through every possibility and come up empty. How could he have known where I was? I can connect him to pulling my address from some database, but the restaurant? And those officers he clearly sent to—wait.
It’s like a lightbulb sputters to life above my head.
“Michael. Are you tracking my phone?!”
He clicks his tongue against his teeth. “There ya go. You aren’t as dumb as you play to be.”
I suddenly feel violently sick. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You’re actually insane!”
All he does is shrug his shoulders.
Shaking my head, I point at the door. “Get out.”
The amused smile that crosses his face has every feeling I’ve had up until this point, shifting to rage.
“No.”
“I said get out!” This time, I raise my voice. I wish it startled him, threw him off—but it only makes him laugh.
“Fine. I’ll call the goddamn police.” I reach for my phone, but he rushes at me before I can pull it out.
“Oh please,” he says, grabbing me as I try to sidestep. “I’ll just tell them you had one of those exaggerated panic attacks of yours and took it out on me. You did invite me over… remember? No forced entry. Pfft, no one would beli?—”
I drive my knee up hard, connecting square between his thighs. His breath bursts out in a ragged gasp, and I shove him with everything I have.
“Fuck you.”
He doesn’t let go of my wrist. Instead, he yanks me forward a few steps and, using the momentum, hurls me behind him. I catchthe back of the couch before I can go sprawling.
The moment I turn, hot pain explodes across my face. My right eye floods with black dots, vision scattering as I stumble backward and drop onto the very cushion I’d fought not to fall on. Being down with him looming above me is the last position I should be in.
“Act like a bitch, get slapped like one.”
I raise my hand, touching my temple and feeling liquid on my fingertips. His ring cut me with that hit.
“Get out!” I shout, lifting my chin and trying to stand.
He hovers over me, pressing me back down. His hand pins me, his thumb digging sharply into the space under my collarbone.
“The only way I’m leaving,” he grits through his teeth, “is with you, Ayden. If you don’t want to work this out here, I’ll drag your ass back to California.”
I hear a hiss, then the door swings open, slamming hard against the wall.
Michael doesn’t hesitate to release me. He stands upright, turning and blocking me from seeing the front door. But I don’t need to see to know who just barged in.
“Who the fuck are you?!” Keoni’s voice isn’t just angry, it’s pure beast. “Ayden?”
“Looks like you have a type, but at least I’m not his fucking family,” Michael seethes.
The moment he shifts a fraction to the right, Keoni’s eyes lock on me. I swear the color drains from his face; his amber eyes darken as if a shadow has passed over them. Anger and raw adrenaline consume him.
