by Becca Steele
“I hope you asked for a corner office,” I said absentmindedly. Something out of the corner of my eye had caught my attention. The back of a head—pale, shaved hair—something about it tugged at my gut. I shifted in my seat uneasily.
“I couldn’t talk Creed into a corner office, but my view is insane,” my brother was saying, but I barely heard him. My ears were ringing, my whole body frozen, as the man who’d caught my eye turned around and I saw the scar running down one cheek, those flinty eyes, and that harsh face that starred in my nightmares.
It was him.
The man who’d taken me captive.
The man I’d thought was dead.
Petr Ivanov.
Somehow, I managed to hold on to my composure while Austin paid the bill and we said our goodbyes. Lucky for me, he was distracted by a business call, and after a quick kiss to my cheek and a muttered promise to talk to me later, he disappeared. My heart racing, I melted into the lunchtime crowds, scanning everywhere for a glimpse of a shaved head. When I reached my car, I slid inside, thankful for the automatic locking, and with shaking hands, pulled out my phone.
I navigated straight to Cassius’ number. Tears blurred my vision as I typed out the simple text.
Me: Petr’s here
My phone rang almost instantly, Cassius’ name flashing across the screen. I hit the speaker button and sat back, closing my eyes.
“Jessa? What was that text supposed to mean?”
“I just saw him. You-you told me he was dead.” My words were accusing, but my voice broke, and I bit the inside of my cheek, unwilling to allow myself to cry in front of him.
“Where are you?” His voice gave nothing away. “Where did you see him?”
“You told me he was dead,” I repeated, my throat swollen with the tears I was holding back.
“Can you meet?”
“Y-yes.”
I heard him sigh softly. “Come to my house.”
The drive back to Alstone was made on autopilot. My head was spinning. Had I actually seen him, or was it a figment of my imagination? Cassius had told me he was dead, after all. I needed answers, and now. I was only just beginning to drag myself out of the nightmares, and there was no way I was going back.
Pulling up outside the huge house that the Four shared, I sat for a minute, gathering myself.
Then, I climbed out of my car, stepped up to the door, and knocked.
THREE
“It’s for me,” I shouted, diving for the front door before anyone else could get there. When I flung the door open, Jessa was standing with her hand still raised.
She looked…different to the way she’d been lately. She looked like the old Jessa. Polished and sexy as fuck. But when I looked into her deep green eyes, there was a haunted expression that had never been there before she’d been taken.
Snapping back into my default mode, I gave her a wide grin, bowing. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
She didn’t even comment, which told me how serious she was. I let the grin fall from my face as I led her through the house and into the lounge. All my other housemates were in the garden, which was good, since there was a high chance that she’d shout at me, and I didn’t need an audience for that.
As soon as she’d taken a seat on one of the sofas, I threw myself down across from her and picked up the thread of our phone conversation. “Where did you see him? Are you sure it was him?”
Her eyes narrowed, darkening and flashing with anger. Was it weird that I welcomed it, because it chased away that haunted look? “So he is alive. Why did you tell me he was dead?”
“Uh.” I rubbed the back of my head. “Technically, I didn’t. I told you he was gone. That they were all gone.”
“That implies that they were dead! You know, like everyone else involved was! What else was a lie?” Her voice was raised in anger, and I shot a quick glance at the lounge door, crossing my fingers that West wouldn’t choose this moment to show up.
“Nothing was a lie. The others are dead. Littlefinger—I mean, Petr…he was badly injured, and he fled the country, or so I heard.” I leaned forwards, my voice softening. “I didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t think there was any chance of him coming back.”
Her shoulders slumped, and her composure slipped. “I thought…I wish… If he’s alive, that means I didn’t imagine it. He was really there.”
I climbed off my chair and went to sit next to her, placing a careful hand on her shoulder. If this had been anyone else, I wouldn’t have hesitated to hug them or whatever, but this was Jessa. Even though we’d been communicating on and off in our group chat, even I knew that memes weren’t enough to build a bridge between us. Deep down, I was still pissed off with her for the way she’d treated Winter, even if it seemed like Winter had forgiven her. But I pushed that thought aside for now.
“Tell me what happened,” I commanded softly.
Staring down at her hands that were clasped in her lap, she related how she’d seen him outside the restaurant, just a brief glimpse, but it was enough to convince her. I had my doubts about whether she’d really seen him or just thought she had, but if there was a chance he was back in the country, then it needed to be investigated. There would be no reason why he’d come back to Alstone—there was nothing here for him now, but even so, he was a sneaky fucker, and someone needed to keep an eye on him.
“I’ll make some enquiries,” I promised. “Give me the location where you saw him, and I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Okay.” She nodded, scrolling to the maps app on her phone and screenshotting the restaurant details for me. “Thanks,” she added, almost as an afterthought. She stood, letting my hand slip off her shoulder, and met my eyes quickly before looking away.
“I’d better go.”
I’d seen the fear in her gaze, that same fear I’d seen when I left her back in her apartment, all those months ago. She was scared to be alone, no doubt shaken by what had happened today.
I’d had to leave her alone that time, because Caiden was unconscious in hospital, bleeding from a bullet wound, but this time, I didn’t have to.
Standing, I gripped her arm lightly. “Stay.”
Her eyes flew back to mine, and she stared at me silently for a long moment. Then she gave a tiny nod.
“Okay.”
She stepped behind me as we walked through the open doors that led out onto the deck, almost like she was hiding. Which was understandable, I guess, since none of us were actually friends with her, and she wasn’t exactly likely to receive a warm welcome.
Everyone was lazing around down on the grass, recovering from the water fight we’d just had. As well as my best friends and housemates, Weston, Caiden, and Zayde, we lived with Caiden’s girlfriend, Winter, and as of a few days ago, my sister, Lena, who was the girlfriend of my best friend, Weston.
When I stepped down from the deck with Jessa in tow, everyone fell silent.
“Jessa’s here,” I announced unnecessarily.
I heard Cade mutter, “You don’t say,” while rolling his eyes, clearly displeased, so I decided that I might as well make the big announcement, if only to stop everyone staring at Jessa, who was looking at the grass like it was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen.
“Littlefinger’s back.” I widened my eyes dramatically. “Might be back,” I added when everyone just stared at me with their mouths open.
“Why do you call him that?” Jessa’s voice was quiet, almost in my ear.
“Long story. Mostly because the tip of his finger’s missing.”
“Makes sense.”
I flashed her a quick grin, which she automatically returned before seemingly remembering where she was. She dropped her gaze back to the ground, and I gave a loud sigh. Why was no one saying anything?
“Didn’t you hear me?” I tried again, this time enunciating every word slowly. “Little. Finger. Is. Back.”
Eventually, Winter broke the silence, her brow furrowed. “Back? As in, her
e? And why do I get the feeling this has something to do with Jessa?” Pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head, she eyed Jessa unhappily, not that I could blame her. I wasn’t exactly happy about this whole situation, either.
Since it didn’t look like Jessa was about to talk, I gave them a quick rundown, and even as I was speaking, Z was climbing to his feet. He muttered something about speaking to Creed about it, and I nodded, sparing him a brief glance as he headed in the direction of the house.
West straightened up, carefully dislodging my sister’s head from his thigh. As she sat up, he stood, crossing over to me. “Want me to make some enquiries?”
From behind him, Lena cleared her throat pointedly. “If you’re hacking into anything, you’d better not leave me out.”
“As if I would,” he shot back, holding out his hand to her with a smile. I’d just about got used to seeing them together. Yeah, it still seemed a bit weird sometimes—but they were both so fucking happy, it was clear to anyone that they belonged together. Even if they were my best friend and my sister.
When they headed inside and it was just Caiden and Winter left, I lowered myself to the ground, pulling a still silent Jessa down with me. She stumbled, bracing herself on my arm, her fingers curling around my bicep as she steadied herself.
“Watch it,” she hissed, shooting me a glare, which made me grin.
When I turned back to Cade and Winter, they were both glancing at each other. Caiden had sunglasses on, so I couldn’t make out his expression, but his jaw was set in his moody-bugger mode, which meant I’d probably need to do damage control. Steeling myself, I waited for it, Jessa completely still next to me, and I could feel the tension in her body where her bare arm was brushing against mine.
Caiden turned his focus towards Jessa, and I instinctively moved my hand to lay my fingers over hers, which were gripping a handful of the grass.
“I don’t want you here.”
Winter elbowed him, hard, and he grunted, shooting her a quick look before continuing. “I don’t want you here, but I’m—” His face twisted before he finally managed to get the words out. “—willing to put the past shit behind us. You upset my girlfriend in any way, and you’re out. No second chances.”
“Fucking hell, you hold a grudge.” I rubbed my thumb over Jessa’s fingers, a quick, reassuring gesture that I didn’t even think about before removing my hand and leaning back on my arms.
“Can you blame me?” Now he’d said his piece to Jessa, he carried on like she wasn’t even there. “She constantly tried it on with me even when I’d made it crystal fucking clear that I was into Winter. And she was a bitch to Winter, you can’t even deny it.”
“Wait a minute. What about the whole kissing at the party shit?”
In unison, Winter and Jessa both winced, and Caiden’s mouth fell open.
Fuck.
I should not have brought that up.
Caiden ripped his sunglasses off, glaring at me. “What, where you had your hands all over my girlfriend and kissed her for five minutes straight?”
“It was hardly five minutes, mate. More like five seconds. She wasn’t even your girlfriend at the time—you were still pretending you didn’t want her, remember?” I raised a brow at him, and he bared his teeth. “Cade.” I lowered my voice, eyeing him cautiously. “I thought we were past this. I didn’t think you still held a grudge against me.”
Abruptly, his anger vanished almost as fast as it had come. He rubbed his hand across his face with a groan. “I don’t.” His eyes met mine. “I don’t. Fuck, mate. That was unfair of me.”
“You used me.” Jessa spoke quietly, her focus on Caiden. “You made me think that I had a chance with you.” There was no accusation in her voice, just resignation. “I know I made things worse.”
“I used you.” Winter spoke up as her eyes met mine, and I shrugged. It was true, in a way, but it had been my idea to begin with.
“This better not turn into a fucking therapy session,” Caiden warned, but I was barely paying attention, my mind going back to the party.
I tugged Winter down onto the sofa next to me, keeping my eye on Cade, who was taunting Winter with his bare torso on display, acting like she wasn’t even in the room. Winter’s eyes tracked every movement he made, and her entire body stiffened as Jessa threw her arms around him. When he hugged her back, giving Winter an acidic look, I sighed.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?” Picking up the blunt that was lying on the coffee table ready for me, I leaned into Winter. “Watch what he does, and be ready to act.” After lighting the blunt, I passed it to her, keeping an eye on Cade and Jessa.
“Who is that?” Winter didn’t even have a hope of disguising the jealousy in her voice. Her hand shook almost imperceptibly as she lifted the blunt to her lips.
I looked between her and Jessa. Seemed that Cade had a type. Both of them were fucking beautiful, with gorgeous bodies and long dark hair, although Jessa’s fell straight down her back while Winter’s was currently in loose waves.
“Jessa,” I replied to her question. “She’s alright. Maybe not to you,” I added as Jessa spun to face us with a bitchy little smile directed at Winter while Cade continued to paw at her.
A flash of Jessa on her knees, sucking my dick with her talented mouth, burned through me, and I added, almost unthinkingly, “She sucks cock like a fucking porn star.” As soon as I’d said the words, I instantly regretted them, but there was no taking them back now. We both watched as Cade and Jessa started kissing, and a wave of anger hit me, completely unexpected. What the fuck was Cade playing at? Winter didn’t deserve this shit. He’d be lucky to have her. She shouldn’t even be giving him the time of day based on the way he’d acted towards her, but unfortunately for me, she was actually into him and he was into her, although they both had the worst case of denial I’d ever seen. Unfortunate for me, because if Cade wasn’t one of my best mates, I’d make a move on Winter. She was the first girl I’d ever had more than a passing interest in, and because of Cade, she was completely off-limits.
Winter was similarly affected, because she suddenly downed the beer she was holding and slammed the bottle down on the table. “Fuck him.”
I glanced at her approvingly. “That’s the spirit, babe. Let’s give him a taste of his own medicine, yeah?”
She didn’t even hesitate in her reply. “Yes.”
Okay. I was going to do the charitable thing and sacrifice myself for the greater good. After a final drag of the blunt, I dropped it in the ashtray and gently tugged Winter onto me, placing my arms around her waist. Fuck. My primary objective was blurring, and my focus was narrowing to the feel of her in my arms, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths as she stared at Caiden with Jessa. Dipping my head to her ear, I murmured, “Tell me if you want me to stop, at any point, okay?”
She nodded, her eyes falling closed, and I chanced a quick look at Cade to remind myself why I was doing this. His gaze bounced between the two of us, his eyes darkening, and I smiled. Time to see how far I could push him before he snapped. Lowering my head, I pressed kisses to Winter’s neck and down to her shoulder.
“Sometimes I wish you weren’t Caiden’s.”
“I’m not Caiden’s,” she replied automatically.
Even if neither of them wanted to admit it, and even if at that moment I wished she was mine, she was his. “You are. But since he’s in denial and playing dirty, I get to play with you.” I stroked over the soft, smooth skin of her thighs. Bad idea. My dick, already way too fucking interested by the hot girl in my lap, perked up even further, and I had to fall back on my patented boner-killer scenario of my old schoolteacher naked. Leaning forwards, I swiped my beer bottle from the table and downed it while I wrestled myself back under control.
A soft gasp fell from Winter’s lips, and there was so much hurt in it that I couldn’t stand it. My gaze shot to Caiden, his hands all over Jessa’s lush tits as he stared at us with rage written all over his face. This was
beyond fucked up.
Spinning Winter around so she was facing me and straddling my thighs, I gave in to the rising desire and slanted my lips over hers. She opened her mouth to me instantly, throwing herself into the kiss like she was trying to convince herself that it meant something, but I knew that she didn’t think of me as anything more than a friend.
Without warning, she was suddenly ripped away from me, and Caiden was dragging her out of the room.
Job done.
But I felt so fucking empty.
I slumped back on the sofa, closing my eyes. The cushion dipped next to me, but I remained as I was.
“Looks like we both got rejected.” The soft voice next to me was laced with bitterness. “What does she have that I don’t?”
Jessa sounded genuinely baffled, and I peeled my eyes open, turning my head towards her. I concentrated on the first part of her question.
“Babe. We don’t get rejected. Look at us. It’s just not possible.”
A tiny smile crossed her face. “Your ego knows no bounds.” But the smile remained when I lit up another blunt, handing it to her, so I chalked it up as a win.
We finished up the blunt, and she even helped herself to one of my beers. I had a good buzz going on when she turned her head to face me. My gaze dropped to her lips, and I found myself leaning forwards, closing the distance between us. She sighed, her breath ghosting across my mouth, her hand sliding onto my thigh.
The next second, she stiffened, her eyes darting behind me, and she leapt away. “I’m going to go home.” I didn’t even have a chance to reply before she was gone. Turning my head in the direction she’d been looking, I saw Caiden, minus Winter. He wasn’t even looking at me, but yeah…Jessa had probably had the right idea. Not sure if I wanted to push Cade that much. I’d already kissed one of the girls he’d been with tonight. Jessa wasn’t the only unattached girl here, not by a long shot.
