“Hey,” he says, answering just as the call would have connected to the answering machine.
“Were you working out?” I ask. He is still on strict orders to take it easy.
“Just a small jog, it’s the only thing that takes my mind off things.”
“Are you still having nightmares?” I know Onyx, he takes everything on his shoulders, what happened to Slate as a child has always weighed him down, and now this.
“I keep dreaming that they come back and take you away from me…As much as it kills me to say this, I should have listened to Branson.”
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you,” I joke. Baxter is going to get a kick out of this when I text him back.
“I’m being dead serious Amelie. He didn’t want you in; he knew something like this would happen. The Order is no place for women.”
“You take that back! Women can do exactly what men can. The difference in this situation is that you have feelings for me, you feel responsible for me in some way, but so help me if you get in the way of Sawyer’s plans, I will kill you myself. That old fool doesn’t get to try to take me down over his hurt male pride and get away with it.”
“I’m sorry. We dragged you into this lifestyle and it’s for life, Amelie. You can’t walk away. We didn’t quite grasp that when we joined, and you’re poised to take over and rule, that’s a lot more to handle.”
“I know. And we’ll all deal with it together, as a unit.”
He sighs, hopefully realising I'm right.
A loud bang has me jumping round to face the door.
“Amelie, what was that?! Amelie! Answer me!”
“What the fuck, Kalen?!” I stammer, my heart still lodged in my throat. He walks calmly around the bed and takes the phone from my hand.
“Sucks to be you, douche,” Kalen says with a smirk before hanging up the phone. He takes a big step towards me.
“Who dobbed me in? It was Sawyer wasn’t it? Once a teacher, always a teacher. Damn snitch.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re supposed to be enjoying your holiday.”
How am I supposed to enjoy myself? Onyx is still not 100 percent. I miss Marshmallow. I miss Elsie, Slate and Sawyer...and even bloody Frost and Jasper! And to top it off Smalls is being weird.
“Okay, bossy britches, get out so I can get dressed.”
He willingly leaves, and I throw on something comfy. Knowing Chelsea, she has the entire day mapped out and we all need to make sure we wear the appropriate clothing and shoes. One time, we learned the hard way when we all wore thongs. I’m not sure if Smalls or I had the worst sunburn on our feet.
Traipsing downstairs, I see straight away that Chelsea and Kalen are equally excited. My father is packing an Esky, Smalls is on the sofa looking at his phone, and Aadi scowls at me as I walk into the room.
“This is all your fault,” Aadi snaps.
“How is this my fault?”
“You broughtthathome.” He points to Kalen and I laugh when I take in what he is wearing. He looks like a stereotypical dad on vacation. He has on khaki shorts, a button up Hawaiian shirt, sneakers with white socks pulled up, a wide brimmed hat, and a bum bag.
“OK. It’s my fault.” Smalls snorts.
“Do you have an issue?” I snap at him. He looks up, ready to fight back, just as my father walks into the room.
“If you three ruin Chelsea’s day, so help me god you will all wish for death. So whatever bullshit you have going on, it stops now and you will all smile and enjoy yourselves until we get home.”
“Sure,” Aadi agrees.
“Sorry Dad, I think we all just need some coffee,” I add.
“Jason?” Dad questions and we all look at Smalls.
