I don’t wait for him to come back inside. The less I know the better.
What the hell has my life turned into?
How can I be the one facing possible murder charges when I’m innocent and everyone around me isn’t? Life just seems so fucking unfair.
It doesn’t just seem it. Itisunfair.
Maybe I should just be a bad guy too.
12
Boundaries
Estebandidn’tcomechasingme last night, and I didn’t seek him out either. And now, the two of us sit at the dining room table with Talon and Leandro.
And this is awkward as fuck.
I can tell that Talon and Leandro only behave for my sake. Talon still thinks he has a claim on me despite what I told him, and Leandro hates it.
And then there’s Esteban, keeping his eyes glued on me, waiting for me to look at him.
I set my fork down and lean back in my chair. “Esteban, did you tell them that you killed some guy on the beach last night? What did you do with the body? Did you just let it drift out to sea?”
Leandro turns away from his breakfast and glowers at Esteban. A smile crosses my lips, and I fold my arms over my chest, squeezing the sides of my boobs just a little to accentuate my cleavage. I don’t want him to be able to think straight. If it’s going to be difficult for me being around the three of them, then they can suffer too.
“I didn’t kill anyone, mamacita. Had you just stayed a moment longer, I could’ve told you as much.” Esteban smirks right back at me. The cocky bastard. “I just threatened them to stay away. You should thank me. It was Christos. He followed us here.”
My blood boils at the sound of his name. I can’t believe he just said Christos was here last night. Now I’m glad I didn’t hesitate on the beach. What the fuck is the asshole even thinking?
“That has to be against our code, Talon.” I lean forward, finally speaking to him for the first time this morning. “You need to report it. He needs some consequences. He’s just stepping over every damn boundary.”
“I think Esteban did a fine job handling it. There’s no need to get the King’s Court involved.” Talon scoots his chair back. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. I just got in more surveillance from your dad. Apparently, someone else was drugged last night.”
“Wait. You knew? You knew that Christos was here?” I get up, blocking Talon’s way.
“Did you even hear the other things I said, wild child?” Talon places his hands on my shoulders, physically, moving me out of his way. “If I can catch the asshole on camera, we’ll have a lead.”
Goddamn him. He makes me sound stupid. Of course, I heard him about the drugs, but I don’t like the fact that once again, he chooses to leave me out of things. He doesn’t consider Christos the same threat that I do.
“Talon, please. This is important to me.” I try to block him again, but he picks me up off my feet, spins around, and sets me back down.
“We can discuss it later. Why don’t you go watch TV or something.” Talon looks at Esteban. “I need you with me on this one.”
I throw my arms up. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Now, if you’re a good girl, I’ll tell Leandro to return your phone to you. Maybe you can call Bianca or something. She’s been blowing up my damn line.” Talon doesn’t wait for me to argue and storms away, leaving me alone with Esteban and Leandro.
I flare my nostrils and chase after him, despite knowing that he’s already made his decision. But I can’t give up. He’s going to know that he can’t just do whatever the fuck he wants. That’s not how this is going to work.
Except the fucker slams the door to his office and locks it. And there’s no way I’m going back to the dining room with my hurt pride. So I head back to my room to hide like the chickenshit I keep turning into.
The familiar scent of citrus and spice waft over me first before I even have a chance to catch sight of Christos. He snatches my wrist and pulls me into my suite, quickly shutting and locking the door. His palm slaps across my lips as he holds me from behind, silencing me from screaming.
I thrash in his arms, trying to headbutt him, but all I do is hit his taut shoulder.
“Astéri mou, don’t fight. I’m not going to hurt you, but I’m also not going to let you scream and let those idiots come confronting me. I just want to talk.” Christos murmurs against my ear, his warm breath tickling my skin.
“I don’t want to talk,” I mumble against his hand, trying my best to snap my teeth against the skin of his palm, but I can’t get any leverage with the way he holds me.