“Bullshit! You’re eighteen!” Ash called him out.
“Um, Valerian’s twenty-one, you’re twenty, and all of our parents got married when they were young, thus all of them still looking like they belong on a calendar.”
“That was creepy, bro, just saying.” Maksim shuddered.
“Agreed,” I grumbled.
All eyes fell to me. “What? Look, yes, your parents are attractive—wait a second, why the hell are we having this conversation?”
Ash burst out laughing. “Tank, I say this with love, but I’ll probably choke you if you decide to choose the FBI instead of us…” He grinned. “All in favor…”
Everyone raised their hands but Tiny.
Shocker.
Izzy elbowed her.
She looked up from her phone. “What?”
“Cold-hearted Abandonato girls…” Maksim just shook his head. “The only females that terrify me.”
Izzy waved at him.
He paled and looked away.
“What’s so important that you can’t participate in adult time, Tiny?” Ash asked.
“TikTok,” was her cold response. “Some guys reacting to my favorite mac and cheese recipes.”
“Wow,” Junior mouthed in my direction.
Serena shared a look with me that I couldn’t decipher and then whispered something to Junior.
His face fell a bit.
Shit, were they talking about her?
Again?
Everyone wanted to reach her.
Nobody could.
It was pointless to even try.
She had every single guard up that she could find.
And as far as I knew, nobody had apologized for last year. I was sure she knew why Ash had lashed out, but that didn’t make it any less painful or embarrassing. The feeling of not belonging with the people you loved the most.
They pretended like it didn’t happen.
But I still felt the elephant in the room, which pissed me off because that meant I wanted to defend the devil.
The van pulled up to a huge resort that I knew probably cost more than my yearly paycheck to stay at. There was a long line of hotel staff waiting for us at the front with more trays of champagne.
I wasn’t used to this sort of extravagance, so I just followed the guys when they all started piling the luggage outside the van.
I’d never been to Cabo—it wasn’t like I was dripping with money from the FBI. If anything, I almost felt guilty that this was part of my job, following the terrifying girl who had me by the balls without even realizing it…and trying like hell to figure out how to crack that same scary façade in order to gain intel.
Seducing her just seemed like a really easy way to get castrated while on vacation.
Then again, sometimes, she stared.
I wasn’t sure if it was because she found me attractive or if she was just curious by nature at what the hell an FBI spy was still doing at her house, helping.
“Here you go.” Ash held out a tip to one of the bellmen.
I nearly choked when I noticed it was two hundred-dollar bills.
The bellman said, “Thank you,” refusing to look down, and then a lady in an all-white uniform smiled brightly at us. She had red lipstick, curly brown hair, and curves I knew King was already memorizing since Maksim smacked him on the back of the head when she turned around, showing a tight ass.
“What?” King rubbed his head. “I was appreciating Cabo!”
“Appreciate the birds.” Maksim gave him a hard shove and pointed skyward.
“Like you should talk. Literally every guy in this family’s a manwhore. It’s like a badge of honor!”
Izzy snorted.
Serena glared at Junior as if he were cheating. He held up his hands. “Thanks, guys.”
And Ash just reached for Annie’s hand and kissed it.
Maybe my hell wasn’t Tiny.
Perhaps it was watching all the happy couples while I tried to stay alive and keep the small one from getting drunk off her ass.
I tried not to look too stunned as I followed the group around the property. There were seven pools—that I could see.
A gorgeous blue ocean that didn’t look real to the naked eye, and a sunset that instantly relaxed me.
I glanced around and dumbly wondered why I didn’t see that many guests. In fact, I didn’t see any guests.
Only staff.
At least a dozen restaurants that were nearly empty.
I elbowed Ash. “Why is it so deserted?”
He grinned. It honestly freaked me out how much he smiled now. Then again, he was in love, half-healed, though still half-monster if you crossed him. “It’s ours.”
“Ours,” I repeated. “As in yours? Like you rented it all out?”
“No.” He shrugged. “Ours, as in my dad owns it.”
“The senator? Chase? Your dad?” I gaped. “Owns this?”
“What can I say?” Ash said. “He likes nice things.” When I didn’t answer, Ash just whispered, “Close your mouth, bro, and try to enjoy it. You deserve it after all the times I kicked your ass in the ring this last year and all the times in the future I will make you bleed.”
“Comforting,” I grumbled.
“I try.” He patted me on the back and then whispered something to Annie.