Tex burst out laughing. “Good one.”
“I was being serious,” Dad grumbled.
“Every once and a while?” Nixon added. “That’s like saying it was an accident when you shoved someone’s feet into cement last week and dropped them into Lake Michigan…”
My dad just grinned. “He slipped.”
“Scary bastard,” Junior muttered under his breath, earning an equally terrifying wink from my dad.
Andrei spoke next. “I’ll help make arrangements, and it goes without saying—dress the part, children.”
“You’re literally a year under forty,” I pointed out.
He adjusted his tie. “And yet…” He eyed my outfit up and down.
“And yet, what?” I asked.
“Oh, that was it.” Phoenix jumped in. “He was insulting your outfit without using words; we’ve been working on his bedside manner, lately.”
“It shows.” Tex did a slow clap.
“Parents,” I grumbled. “Keep us updated, and until the party, everyone stays here, agreed?”
“Sure thing,” Dad said smoothly. “Kartini can stay with Annie in her room, and we’ll set…”
As his voice trailed off with all the arrangements, all I kept thinking was over my dead body.
She wasn’t going to leave my side.
Even if it meant I was tying her up and throwing her over my shoulder, then hiding her in my closet.
I winced. Somehow I went from protective mode to serial killer, all within the span of a few seconds.
Welcome to the mafia.
I half expected for someone to yell out, “And break!” Like we were playing our annual football game against the dads, but instead, everyone slowly dispersed.
Annie moved to pull away from me.
“No.” I held her firm.
She glanced up at me. “But, your dad said—”
“And I say no.” I licked my lips and stared at her full mouth. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”
“You’re such a damn bully.” She squirmed beneath my regard, trying to get out of my grasp.
My eyebrows shot up. “Did you just say damn?”
“Maybe.” Her cheeks flushed. “Look, I need to go help Kartini get settled in; she’s terrified right now.”
“So am I.” I lied. “Petrified of my own shadow, can’t trust me not to shoot at anything that moves, and it’s going to get dark later, which means I’m going to be even more scared, and I don’t want to have to army crawl all the way back to the house and up the balcony stairs just to beg you to sleep with me and make the monsters go away.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s it like?”
“What’s what like?”
“Being the monster you’re actually afraid of?”
I tipped my head. “Touché.”
Her smile was faint. “On that note…”
She tried getting away.
Again.
If I wasn’t so arrogant, I might honestly feel offended that she struggled to get away from me every few minutes.
“Son.” Dad walked over to us. “A minute?”
“Sure.” His expression wasn’t the least bit cheerful.
Great.
He turned his icy cold stare to Annie. Amazing how his face transformed into a smile. “Annie, why don’t you go help Kartini get settled in? I’ll send Ash after you later.”
“Good, threaten her with my presence. That will make her want to stay.” I sighed.
She pulled herself away from my body without a backward glance and made a beeline for Kartini, looping their arms together as they made their way down the hall.
“Sit.” Dad pointed to one of the wooden chairs at the kitchen table.
We were alone again, just me and him, and about a billion secrets that I’d probably never know holding a constant wave of tension between us.
“Whoever’s after you—they know you’re lethal…”
“A compliment? And here I thought you were about to give me another terrifying discussion on sex.”
He winked. “Saving my next one for later.”
I exaggerated a shudder. “Please don’t.”
His fingertips drummed against the table, he looked over his shoulder and then leaned forward onto his thighs, clasping his fingers together like he was about to tell me someone died. “We need Sergio to start a rumor… a rumor that will reach their ears, eyes, something that would make the enemy curious, something that would make you vulnerable.”
A ripple of awareness washed over me, trickling down my spine. “Okay… where are you going with this?”
He bit down on his lower lip. “She trusts you to keep her safe.”
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb; it’s a shit look on you, son.”
“Annie.” I actually looked away, afraid if we locked gazes he’d see too much, the bitterness, the anger, the protectiveness, the fear, the need for more, and… the loneliness; it was all there on the surface every time someone said her name.
“You’re going to need to revert to your asshole self.”
“And so soon after pulling my head out of my ass. Lovely,” I grumbled.
He sighed. “It will need to look real, like your spiraling, like you’re using her—get a hotel room. Pretend to be drunk. Keep her safe, but appear aloof, everyone will tell you to sleep it off. You’ll need to be cruel, Ash. You’ll need to be—”
“Myself.” My heart sank. “Let me just tell her so she knows, I can’t and won’t do that to her again, Dad—”