He’s tugging at my strings, desperately provoking a reaction from me to further prove his point. So I close my eyes and take in a deep breath to calm the instinct inside me to move.
I start walking away before I do something to cause a scene and further prove his point.
“We marry for respect, politics, power, contracts, breeding, loyalty, names, bloodlines. Get that around your head.” He taps his head. “You are twenty-nine years old and not married. You need a respectable woman by your side, so it makes you look like a respectable man. She is anurse, that’s all. She has a career and a woman by your side can’t have that. Your wife’s career will be you and your children. It will be supporting you. Her life will beyou,” he seethes. “You will marry Shelby, and when that time comes, you can fuck around with whoever. Just make sure you get the right one pregnant.”
I stop at his words and turn around to look at the man I share blood with, forcing me into a world I never wanted to begin with.
“You mess this up and I’ll make sure you never see her again,” Mitchell threatens.
“You’re pathetic,” I say and leave the balcony.
Little does he know I’ll kill him before that ever happens.
SUNNY
After a little bit of searching, I found a small balcony overlooking the outdoor portion of the brewery. My social battery is low, especially after working the last three days. It makes me wonder how these people do it. How they go to events like these filled to the brim with all the most important and powerful people. How they keep their social batteries charged with so much interaction and importance.
But it’s like Sam and Tyler told me, they were raised and born for this.Bredfor it. Products of their environment. If anything, this is probably just a normal Saturday night for them.
Hearing footsteps behind me, I peer over my shoulder to see Tyler standing before me, looking devastating with his hands in the pockets of his charcoal gray suit.
“Can I help you?” I ask, looking back out to the crowd down below while I try to stifle the heat flooding my cheeks.
“There you are,” he whispers. The familiarity of his citrusy, salt scent settles against my skin and fills my lungs. A comfort that I didn’t realize became one.
Reaching both arms around my body, he grasps the railing I’m leaning against. His hard chest presses into my back, bringing his face next to mine from behind.
I feel his heart beating against me so calmly. So confident while mine goes rampant.
“Thank you for coming,” he whispers.
“Don’t get used to it.”
His laugh is dark as night but light as day. I feel the vibrations of him along my body as his warm breath coats the crook of my neck. Leaning my head as if I’m observing something, I welcome him instead—a delicate line we tread too often. He grazes his lips and nose along my neck and the side of my cheek, accepting the invitation.
“This. This is what I can never get used to,” he whispers against my skin.
That soul bridge is justbeggingus to cross it. The more I resist, the more it pulls me closer, as if there’s an invisible string tethering us together. No amount of untying will release me from him. My bloody fingers are proof of that.
He lays a hand over mine, removing it from the railing. “Let me see you.” He spins me slowly like he always does.
Our eyes meet, his full with such a feral desire that has my breath hitching. He leans in close, breathing me in as if I’m his oxygen source. A feline smile spreads across his face as I hold his stare while he thumbs my bottom lip. I know the things he’sdone, and I’m not scared of him. A man trained to kill yet here I am,challenginghim.
His eyes flick to something behind me, and all of a sudden a too wide distance is made between us. I attempt to turn and see where his gaze was focused, but he interrupts me as he pokes an arm out for me to grab. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” I lace my arm around his, heading downstairs to the crowds of people I don’t know.
What did you see, Tyler?
TYLER
We’re parted within minutes because, well, she’s technically Sam’s date, not mine. One day, she will be though. No matter the look Mitchell gave me when he caught us on the balcony.
He thinks my love for Sunny is a weakness, but little does he know it’s now my greatest strength. It’s the thing I needed to finally take the step I’ve been contemplating for far too long.
“Tyler.” I hear Shelby call my name.
Instinctively my jaw clenches at her voice. I don’t want to deal with her right now, but curiosity has me wondering if her presence will summon my girl again. Jealousy looks so damn good on her.
