by KC Kean
The chatter around us dims, as everyone glimpses in our direction at Roman’s outburst. The three of us just glare around the room, making it awkward as fuck for them, and they all quickly turn away.
“That’s exactly the point, Roman. Rafe was trying to keep the heat off her, to protect her from all of this.” West says, arms out wide to force his point.
They’re never going to agree on this, and I do get both of their sides. They kept me a secret to protect me from all of this, but ultimately I ended up here anyway.
I’d rather understand the full reasoning behind that from speaking to Rafe or my Grandmother, so I try to change the direction we're heading in.
“Is this why you kept calling me a liar when I arrived?” I look to Roman, he knows what I mean. The first time I bumped into him in the gym, and even when we were fucking he called me a liar. At the time it didn’t make sense, but now I kind of get it.
“Yeah. When you showed up with three bloodlines, claiming to be a Steele, I thought you were Totem’s heir trying to hide under someone else’s identity.” The pain visible in his eyes.
“When did you realize I wasn’t Totem’s heir, and truly a Steele?” I ask, wanting to know how long he kept it a secret for.
“When you were attacked. West mentioned you were on the phone with Rafe when it happened, then I waited at my door for hours, watching for Rafe to leave. He confirmed it.”
So, he’d known for a month before I found out. That night in Washington, he’d asked to talk when I got back. My brain on the way back from DCM Tech had been running through all the scenarios why. He’d said it was important. When I look at him now, I know he was trying to tell me this. I can see the truth in his eyes, but it still infuriates me that he kept it to himself for that long.
My mind has had enough. I’ve reached my limit of memories and truths for the day. I look to West and hold my hand out for the keys, which he hands over without question.
“I believe your words, West. Now, I need to believe your actions. Has Rafe told you anything?”
“Nothing. He won’t tell me anything,” he says, clasping his hands on the table.
“Good. You’ll know if I want you to, when I trust you completely. Do you understand?” I need to be able to trust him before we can move forward.
“Whatever you need.”
I nod, “Good. I want you to gather every piece of information on The Games as possible. I want your own experience, the whole lot. I want to be prepared going in there. I’m going to take these bastards down, and the best way for me to do that, is from the top.”
I don’t move a muscle, not even a blink, showing him how serious I am. If West wants to protect me like he claims, he can do so by getting me all the details I need to end them.
“Done.”
As simple as that. He stands, knowing there’s nothing more to say but hovers a moment and I can instantly sense why.
Rising to my feet I nod, which makes him gather me in his arms and hug me tight.
He was a large part of my childhood and had come back into my life when I was fourteen. Not once in the past four years had I shown any real care towards him. Yet, he’d protected me as a child and grieved my death. It must have been hard for him, for both of them.
I can’t hug him back, my arms are crushed to my body.
“You’re stuck with me no matter what, Moon. If this brat or any of the others get out of hand, you just let me know,” he whispers in my ear, before stepping back from the booth and leaving the coffee shop.
“Are you okay?” Roman asks, surprisingly calm with his arms stretched out along the back of the booth. If he’d asked me that a week ago, I would have gutted him with a knife and licked the blade afterwards, enjoying the taste of his pain.
Now?
He’s my Acehole, as much as I hate it and it scares me. I want to just let myself have this with him, with all of them. The Games are looming over our heads. Rico, Veronica and Dietrichson are all up to some crazy shit. I’m dealing with more than I care to already. I want to trust my gut about him, but he’s going to need to do more than eat me out in the back of a Rolls.
“Honestly? I don’t know. I want to trust you, and I want to try, but you fucked me over. Just like the rest of them.”
“I can understand that, princess. Whatever it takes, I’m in.” He smiles softly at me, and my shoulders relax.
“Roman, if you ever keep something from me again there’ll be no coming back from that. I also want to be able to trust you with a few things I need to set in place, but you need to show me that you won’t let anyone else dictate what happens between us. I also need your help with the special agent, I’m running out of time with that.”
I look him in the eyes trying to let him see the pain that lingers, making sure he knows I won’t tolerate anything less from him.
“I promise, princess,” he says as he stands from the table, stopping in front of me. “I will be by your side no matter what, Luna. We all will.”
He raises his hand to stroke my cheek. Tender moments with him give me tingles, we’re usually too hot headed together to appreciate times like this.
“Let’s head back, so we can get Jess moved over to Ace, and relax a little.”
I nod in agreement. “Shall we get drinks for everyone?”
“Definitely, I need another one of those fruity pink drinks with floaty bits. They’re addicting.” His eyes light up comically, as he licks his lips. Making me chuckle as he tugs me along.
I get lost feeling like a normal eighteen year old with him, even if it is only for a minute.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
(Luna)
“I swear to god, Oscar. Stop going through my stuff!” Red screams from the other room, and I can’t help but shake my head. All they’ve done this whole time is bicker, god help them now that they’re living next door to each other.
“Well, I need to make sure you’re not trying to entice guys over because it isn’t happening on my watch,” he argues back.
We’re in Red’s new room, and I’m pleasantly surprised with how nice it is. Rafe has no taste so I know this wasn’t his doing, most likely Juliana’s. The layout is exactly the same as mine, just smaller in overall size without a dresser.
The lounge is almost rustic. Pale grey walls with brown leather sofas and cream furniture, it’s really cozy. There is even an electric log fireplace which just adds to the atmosphere. Her bedroom is all lilacs and floral, way too girly for me but it suits Red perfectly. The bathroom is white, I mean everything. I cringe at the thought of having to clean it, I mean good luck with that Red.
“Get out, Oscar!” A bang follows her yell and Oscar comes running out of her bedroom.
“Oscar, leave her alone. Why don’t you order some food and we’ll come to your room when we’re done here?” Kai says before he can continue arguing.
“She just threw a book at me. Shouldn’t you be asking if I’m okay?” He whines at Kai, before turning to me. “She has thongs, Luna. Thongs. I can’t deal with this. You need to talk birds and bees with her, and the dangers of leering men, or I will.” His hands are manically swinging in all directions as he tries to explain his frustrations, ignoring what Kai just said.
I think someone is taking the big brother vibes a little too seriously. I look to Kai for help but he just shrugs his shoulders and turns away from us. Thanks, Acehole.
“Ozzie, she’s a big girl. You don’t complain at my choice of underwear and she’s technically older than me. Now, can you please relax?” I stand with my hands on my hips, trying to keep my face straight while we are discussing thongs here.
He strides towards me, bewilderment still written all over his face.
“Yeah, but baby girl, that’s you. Jess is different, I’m trying to protect her innocence here, and don’t call me Ozzie. I don’t like it.” His hands come to rest on my shoulders, as though I’m the one that needs some sense knocking into them.
“I’m sorry, what about my innocence?”
I question, this fucking Acehole has some nerve.
“Baby girl, we left your innocence at the beach remember? When I did that thing with my tongue and you …”
“No sex for you now, Ozzie!” I yell, trying to shut him up.
I look to Parker for some help here but he’s too busy trying not to laugh out loud at Oscar’s ridiculousness. The front door opening has me spinning my head to Roman, who's holding the last box in his hands as he takes in the scene before him.
“Do I want to know?” He asks, with an amused look on his face.
“Roman, Oscar said he took my innocence, can you get rid of him?” I pout trying my luck, because I know Roman will smack him around the head for me. “These useless hyenas over here just think it’s hilarious. I’m getting hangry and none of this is helping.” I sigh.
“Oscar, go and order food,” Roman says with a shake of his head. What? Is that it? Where's the violence? Maybe he didn’t hear me properly.
“Roman, he said he took my innocence. Tell him I’m still innocent.” Damn, I don’t even know why it matters, but I need someone in my corner. Even if I’m starting to whine like Oscar.
“Princess, I took your innocence in the gym, spread out on the mat, remember? When I ripped your blouse open and released your pretty pink nipples from that lacy white bra. Your hot as fuck piercings in my mouth, as you came from the first thrust of my fingers into your tight pussy. Then pinning your hands above your head as I pounded you into the mat. That was all way before his filthy hands touched you,” he says with a grin and turns to Oscar. “Food, Oscar.”
“Fuck you. Fuck all of you. Sex is completely wiped off the table, my pussy is officially closed,” I growl at them, but they just start laughing even harder.
Screw this, we’ve been at this for hours and I just want to relax and eat. I’m going to go and see what Red’s up to, but Oscar is suddenly leaning in to kiss my lips quickly.
“Baby girl, don’t do that to me. I miss your sweet pussy as it is. Let me make it up to you. What food does my goddess want me to order for her?” His hands come to wrap around my waist, holding me close like I hadn’t just been mad with him.
I hear Roman set the box down and join a quiet conversation with the other guys while I get lost in Oscar’s gaze. My hands instinctively glide up his chest and rest on his shoulders. I love the feel of him against me.
“I want something Italian, maybe spaghetti carbonara or pasta Bolognese, whatever they have please.” He nods at my words and leans in to touch my lips again. This time he takes his sweet ass time devouring my lips, and I’m a sucker for the intoxicating electricity that shoots between us. I think I just threatened a sex ban, but I can’t even last five minutes.
Suddenly Oscar’s lips are gone, and it takes me a moment to fight through the sexual fog around me to see what’s happening.
Roman is pushing him away from me, and towards the door.
“Luna said she’s hungry, not that she wants to be your meal, asshole. Come on.” He takes a peek at me over his shoulder, as he marches out with Oscar. As the door shuts behind them, I feel Kai and Parker’s heated stares, which only ignites my arousal more.
Fuck, I’m overheating. I make sure I have my back to them so I can fucking fan my face, this is all too much. The chuckles from behind me tell me they can see me anyway.
I need to get some space before I dry hump them so I head towards the bedroom where Red is. Not two steps and my phone begins to vibrate in my blazer pocket. It’s Rafe.
“Hey, Rafe. Everything okay?” I ask, pausing where I am.
“Hey, I’ve got some updates on Dietrichson, if you have a few minutes?”
“Yeah, of course. We’re almost done setting Red up and anything relating to that bitch is priority,” I say as I grab my bag and take a seat on the sofa.
“Okay, well to start with, she’s back. I’m not sure why she was able to cut the trip short but we weren’t too worried since you already got in and planted the surveillance. At least now we can start monitoring her better.”
“Agreed.” I don’t want to be anywhere near her, but I’d rather have her closer and be able to monitor her than not know what she’s up to at all.
Kai sits beside me, questions in his eyes. This is the deciding moment. Whether or not I truly let them in. Let them know what has already been set in motion.
“One sec, Rafe. We may as well have this conversation on speakerphone so I’m not repeating it.” I hold the phone away from my face and look to Parker who’s standing beside the sofa.
“You want me to get the others, angel?” He asks, not taking a step towards the door, until I answer. As soon as I nod he dashes off. Kai rests his hand on my knee, I look at him and the emotion I see in his eyes catches me off guard.
“Thank you, Sakura,” he murmurs. Appreciation sparkling in his eyes, as he knows this is me truly letting them in, like I said I would. I offer a smile in response, unable to express myself in any other way.
“Red, Rafe is on the phone. Are you coming in or carrying on with the five thousand things you own?” I ask loud enough for her to hear me from the other room.
“I’m on my way, Captain.” I press the loudspeaker on my phone and set it on the coffee table.
“Kai is here already, and Parker just ran to grab the others. They’ll be a minute,” I offer as we wait for them.
“So I get to grill them all too? Damn Luna, you could have given me a heads up. I’ve not got my embarrassing father questions with me.” He jokes on the phone, making Kai chuckle.
“Don’t even, Rafe. I’ll gut you, or tell Juliana and she’ll gut you instead,” I threaten, as my cheeks flush with embarrassment. Kai strokes my cheek, watching as they start to go pink, as he smiles softly at me. I send him a death glare, but it does nothing at all.
Parker comes strolling back in with Roman and Oscar trailing behind him as Rafe responds through the phone.
“I’ll be the one doing the gutting if any of these dickwads fuck with my little girl, understood?” All the humor has left his voice as his voice booms around the room.
“Yes, Rafe. You tell these suckers!” Red cheers as she steps out of her bedroom. “Especially Oscar, he’s the worst. Let me tell you …”
“Alright, you’re making us go off track. Can we get to the information please?” I snap. I hope they ordered food, that will definitely perk my mood up.
Nobody says a word as we all sit and stare at the phone, waiting for Rafe to give us the details.
“Okay, so I was just letting Luna know that Dietrichson is back. We had planned to keep her out of the Academy for two weeks, but with the surveillance Luna set up we’re happy for her to return so we can begin monitoring.”
I hold my breath. I can feel eyes on me as I keep my gaze locked on the phone. The only person who knows the plan is Red, but I hadn’t told her I’d already done it. I didn’t want her to worry about it.
“What surveillance?” Roman grunts.
“Well Luna …”
“Not you, Rafe. I want to hear it from, Luna.” Roman interrupts his eyes fixed on mine, as I grit my teeth.
Shit. I’m really not in the mood for this. I steel my back and stare him straight in the eyes.
“Before the party on Friday, I slipped into Dietrichson’s office and set up three cameras, a recording device and planted a chip in her computer. Problem?” Sometimes his caveman overtakes his common sense, I’m going to assume this is one of them times.
“Shut your mouth Roman, before you make it any worse,” Parker jumps in, before Roman can respond. “Luna knows what she’s doing, and we hadn’t straightened everything out then. So reel yourself in,” Parker says from beside me, arms braced on his knees as he glares at Roman.
“Who said that?” Rafe asks through the phone, making me frown. It’s not relevant.
“It was Parker,” Red answers, winking at me like this is fun.
“Parker, you are now my favorite,” Rafe chuckles through the
phone, as Parker sits up straight with a giant smile on his face. “Anyway, we had someone get into the computer and there seems to be some encrypted emails back and forth with one I.P. address. So we are looking into that some more, while we track the offshore bank account we found details for on her computer.” He pauses for a moment, and I can hear him shuffling papers around on the other end.
My stomach grumbles through the silence, making everyone look.
“The food will be here soon, baby girl,” Oscar says from the arm of the sofa, blowing me a kiss.
“Sorry, I can’t find where the papers went that I scribbled on,” Rafe comes through the phone again. “But it’s not a business or name we’re familiar with so we’ll look more into that too. West mentioned he was gathering everything possible on The Games, which is a good idea. It’s usually kept hush-hush what games everyone participates in, but fuck them. Gather everything you can. Every time someone is in Dietrichson’s office I will be alerted. Do you want me to send the link to Fuse?” He asks, and we all look to Kai who’s nodding his head.
“Yeah, I’ll have Luna send my details across.” Kai says with a smile at me.
“Great. Sorry, one sec.” He moves away from the phone a moment, but we can all still hear him. “What’s up, Jake?”
“Is that Luna on the phone?” I hear Jake’s voice come through in the distance, and it makes me cringe.
“Now’s not a good time.”
“When will be a good time, Rafe? She doesn’t answer my calls or texts. Is she even alive?” His voice becomes more frantic, and I can’t stop my eye roll.
Everyone is staring at me, raised eyebrows from Red, Parker and Kai. While Oscar and Roman glare. Fantastic.
“Rafe, I don’t have time for this. I need to go,” I raise my voice, making sure he can hear me.
“Alright kid. Don’t worry about this end. You guys be safe, protect each other, and practice safe sex.” I grab the phone and end the call. This shit’s not even funny, but the guys are laughing so at least it boosted the mood.
A knock comes from the door and Oscar jumps up.
