Then I walk through the living area, looking around and wondering if I’m somehow trapped in a ghost house.
The lack of noise in such a huge place raises the hairs on the back of my neck and I hold Tiger tighter.
Now would be a good time for Creighton to show himself.
Unless he disappeared before I woke up to save me the embarrassment of asking me to leave?
My heart squeezes at that thought and I promptly shove it back into the abyss of my soul.
“Who do we have here?”
I flinch and so does Tiger. He jumps from my hands and hisses at the newcomer, tail up, body curved, and ears back.
Eli stares down at him as if he were nothing more than dirt on his shoes, and then the strangest thing happens.
Tiger tucks his tail and runs to hide. Did he just scare him away with a look?
“I’m not that popular with animals.” He smiles at me, but there’s not an ounce of honesty or welcoming feeling behind it.
He leans against the wall, a slaughtered buffalo head hanging above him, giving him a gruesome edge. His expression and aura conflict with the classy way he’s dressed. Pressed black pants, elegant button-down, and stylish Italian loafers.
He could walk into a shoot and the photographers would drop to their knees to have him in their lenses.
“Hi,” I say, trying hard as hell to sound casual and not at all intimidated by him.
If only Creighton would show up right now. Not that he’s any better than his brother, but the devil you know and all that.
“Annika. If I remember correctly, we have an unfinished conversation.”
Right. Back at the fight club when Ava went for his throat and Creighton kidnapped me. I wish those two were around at this moment.
But since they’re not, I’m about to force a smile but recall how Creighton told me I don’t owe the world anything, so I ask in a calm tone, “What did you want to talk about?”
“One, your relationship with my brother. Two, your relationship withyourbrother. Three, how it’ll be a bad idea if you one day have to choose and you pick your brother and leave my brother behind. I’ll take it personally and do everything in my power to destroy both of you.”
My spine jerks at the amicable way in which he issues threats. His voice sounded suave, absolutely eloquent, as if he were a BBC News anchor.
“I won’t hurt Creighton,” I manage to reply calmly, assertively. “And Jeremy isn’t the monster you make him out to be. He won’t brutalize Creighton just because I’m with him.”
“Do all these delusional thoughts help you sleep better at night? We both know your dear Jeremy is capable of more than that. So how about you take the easy way out before the shit hits the fan?”
“With all due respect, you have no right to intervene between Creigh and me. And I’m not leaving.”
I realize that Creighton and I have a long way to go and that the brutal fucking from last night after he revealed a bit of himself is only the beginning, but I don’t mind.
I like myself with Creighton, I like the way I’m more outspoken and less of a people pleaser. And I want him to like himself when he’s with me, too.
For that, I’m willing to do anything.
Eli watches me for a beat, his gray eyes looking almost black. And while I want to run and hide, I force myself to maintain eye contact, to meet his stare with one of my own.
“Very well.” He pushes off the wall. “I’ll keep my eye on you.”
“I’ll keep my eye on you, too.”
“Oh?” He smiles like a wolf, head cocked to the side. “What for?”
“For whenever you think it’s a good idea to intervene.”