Chinh eyes me. “Your father made promises, too. Things didn’t turn out the way he said they would.”
I don’t bristle at his implications. I knew what I’d be pushing against when we came back. My father was a hard man, and he only got harder as time went on. I’ve made my peace with the fact that everyone in Sabine Valley will look at me and see the shadow of the monster he used to be. It will take time to prove them wrong, but I’m not above using their caution against them. I hold Chinh’s gaze. “I am not my father.”
He studies me for a long moment before he glances at Harlow and Eli at my side. “No, I suppose you aren’t.” He takes a whistling breath. “We’ll discuss it. You’ll have your answer within two days.”
It’s not what I want to hear, but I know better than to push my luck. Old Town doesn’t bend for anyone, and they’re determined to put me in my place before they roll over. Not quite a toothless threat, but I can afford to sit on my hands for two days if it smooths the way to the next step. I nod. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
Chinh nods and turns. The small crowd parts around him as he walks away, his family falling in behind him. People disperse quickly after that. He’s their voice, for better or worse, which means they’ll be rushing to hold a meeting and discuss their options.
They don’t have any, but better for them to figure that out for themselves than for me to shove the knowledge down their throat. I glance at my brother, and he nods at my silent question. Finnegan’s already done his thing and we have ears in the Phan building. We’ll hear every word they say and be prepared if they decide to fuck with us. Good. “That’s that.” I push to my feet and brush off my pants. “Let’s go.”
Harlow starts to life next to me. “That’s it?”
“Yeah.” I nudge her with my shoulder, enjoying the surprise she’s not quite able to cover up. “Did you think I’d threaten and snarl and maybe beat up a few people?”
“Can you blame me?” she murmurs. “You like to threaten.”
“Each situation calls for its own unique approach.” I look at Eli. “Nothing to say?”
He shrugs. “You’ve learned how to be subtle in the last eight years. I’m still processing.”
Asshole. I raise my brows. “Walk and process at the same time. We’re done here.”
We head back to the SUV. Cohen motions for us to stop a reasonable distance away and nods at Maddox. We all watch the blond stalk the SUV and start going over it. Eli snorts. “You think someone planted a bomb? Really?”
“It’s what I’d do if I wanted to make sure someone went down and stayed down.” Having Eli and Harlow with me means it’s less likely to happen, but there might be people in the faction willing to sacrifice both of them to ensure a Paine doesn’t sit on the throne again. Eli’s father wasn’t my family’s only enemy; he didn’t pull off that coup alone. No doubt his allies aren’t happy to see us show back up again.
A few minutes later, Maddox signals the all-clear. It takes ten minutes to get back to the compound, and I don’t breathe easily until the doors close behind us and I see Broderick standing at the top of the steps at the house. Another signal that everything is as it should be.
Paranoid, yes. But my paranoia has kept my brothers alive for eight long years. No reason to let our guard down now. We start to get out of the SUV, but Harlow touches my arm. “A moment?”
“Sure.” I ignore the strange look on Eli’s face and wait for everyone to empty out of the vehicle before I turn to her. “What do you need?”
She blinks. “Just like that?”
“I’m not saying I’m giving you anything you want, but you obviously need something because you’ve got shit bothering you. What is it?”
But she doesn’t look reassured. If anything, she seems more confused. “How did you know something’s bothering me?”
I study her face, but her surprise isn’t feigned. “You’re quieter than normal, and you’ve been fighting not to wring your hands since you got in the car. You also won’t look at Eli, which I would assume is just the new normal, but there’s a tension that wasn’t there earlier. So, did he figure out a way to get to you, or are you still angry about how things went last time you were alone together?”
Her mouth works, but no words come out. Fuck, he really did a number on her, didn’t he? I still don’t get it. Eli is too smart to fuck it up so thoroughly with a woman like this, but it seems to be exactly what he’s done. I lean down until our faces are even. “Why are you so surprised that someone noticed how you were feeling, Harlow?”
“Now you’re just being cruel.” She looks away but only for a moment. “Everything I do, I do for my people.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that before.”
She takes a deep breath. “I’m going to be sharing Eli’s bed every other night for this year. It will minimize the chance he’ll try something, and it’s a small sacrifice to make to see that happen.”
I wait, but she just sits there, barely seeming to breathe. I could demand to know how the fuck he got to her, but it’s a moot point. Eli is making his first play, and he’s using the one thing Harlow can’t ignore. Guess you can pay attention when you want something, you fucking dick. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” I lean back and reach for the car door. “He wants to be in your bed, he can join us there. His choice.” I climb out and turn around to look at her. Harlow’s gone even paler than normal, and a little too wide around the eyes. “You got a problem with that?”
She slowly shakes her head. “What are you hoping to accomplish with this?”
“That’s my business.” I shut the door and head for the stairs. Cohen and Broderick are waiting for me there. After the briefest consideration, I nod at Broderick. “Make sure Harlow gets into the house.” He’s too careful to push her, and I can’t guarantee Cohen won’t start issuing threats. He wasn’t overly keen on this plan to begin with, because by nature of having a Bride, we’re letting the enemy close enough to strike. A balance we have to make sure we’re not on the wrong side of.
“Got it.” Broderick starts down the stairs.
“Playing with fire,” Cohen murmurs.
I shoot him a look. “Worry about yourself. Tell Finnegan to report anything he hears in the Old Town meeting. And then get some rest. You look like shit.”
“You’re one to talk.” But he just heads into the house without another word. I could tell Maddox to keep an eye on him, but the other man already will. He’s a fool to want more from my brother than Cohen is capable of giving, but it’s their business. Not mine.
No, my business is heading up the stairs to his room. I bite down a grin and follow him up. I shouldn’t enjoy going round after round with Eli so much. I can say it’s all for the sake of vengeance, but there’s a spark there that didn’t exist when we were only friends. It’s as if we’ve become our true selves in the intervening years; two predators sharpening their claws on each other.
I like it. Far more than I have right to. And the fool just gave me the excuse to take things to the next level.
Tonight I’ll have Harlow in my bed… and I’ll have Eli, too.
18
Eli
I don’t make it to my door before Abel catches me. I turn without opening it. “Am I going to be locked in my room for the entire year?”
“Doesn’t seem to have stopped you.” He halts a little closer than he should. “How is it that you and Harlow managed to have another conversation without you leaving your room or her entering it?”
I work to keep my expression placid. “Passing notes. Perhaps a little scrying.”
“Uh-huh.” He leans his shoulder against the wall, the perfect study of lounging. As if he couldn’t burst into motion at the slightest provocation to remove any threat he identifies. He looks me over, lingering on my hips and chest and mouth. “I’ve considered your request. It’s denied.”
Anger threatens to derail me, but I muscle it down as
best I can. “Power going to your head, Abel? You can’t keep her from me if she doesn’t want to be kept.”
“No, probably not.” He doesn’t move. “But the fact remains; she’s not leaving my bed to go to yours.”
“Are you that threatened by me?”
“Nope.” A slow smile. “But I’m territorial as fuck. You want to share a bed? You can share mine. Open invitation until I decide otherwise.”
I stare. Of all the things I expected him to say, that didn’t number among them. “What?”
“You heard me.” He pushes off the wall. “I’m feeling generous, so you can even join in if you’re in the mood. Provided Harlow agrees, of course. I might be a monster, but I’m not going to pave the way for you to harm her more than you already have.”
Not this again. “That’s between her and me.”
“Correction: that was between you and her. I’m here now, and I’ll be doing the one thing you managed to bungle so thoroughly—taking care of her.”
The chains around my anger shift, fighting to control it. They don’t quite manage it. “You’re such a fucking hypocrite. You come in here, take her against her will, and then act like you’re…what? Boyfriend of the year? You’ve known her a few days, Abel. I’ve known her five years.”
“Have you?”
That stops me short. “What are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said. Have you known her? Does she know you? Because you keep that pretty little mask in place all the fucking time.” He waves an idle hand at my face. “And you look at her and see a princess in need of a knight.”
I clench my jaw. “If you know so much, what the hell do you see when you look at her?”
He grins, a fierce expression that’s part challenge and part amusement. “I see what she is, Eli. She’s not the princess.” He leans forward, dark eyes intent. “She’s just like us. Not the hero. Not the knight or the princess or whatever the fuck other box you can think up to shove her into. She’s the fucking dragon you think to protect her against. Really, someone needs to protect you from her.”
My mouth goes dry. He’s wrong. Maybe I misjudged things with Harlow, but he’s lumping her in with us. “She’s not like that.”
Abel shakes his head. “It’s amazing that you can cling to rose-tinted glasses after everything you’ve done. You were never this dense before. Come to our room or don’t, but she won’t be sleeping in yours.”
“She can tell me that herself, then. If that’s really her choice.”
He moves, faster than I can counter, and grabs my throat, shoving me back against the door. It’s nearly an identical move to the one Cohen used in the hallway the other day, but it feels different with Abel. More sinister and somehow erotic as well. He leans down until his nose nearly touches mine. “You want to start talking about choice? What did you do to coerce her into sharing your bed again? Don’t play the innocent party. I know how you think, Eli.”
I swallow, the move pressing my throat harder against his palm. “Do you?”
“Yeah.” He squeezes ever so slightly. Not enough to cut off my breathing, but the threat is there all the same. Desire surges through me, an unwelcome feeling that I can’t stop. I can barely fight back my body’s response so he doesn’t realize he’s affected me so strongly. “I didn’t see you clearly before. I do now. I won’t underestimate you again.”
“Abel—”
His gaze flicks to my mouth. “Come to our bed tonight, Eli.” He gives me a lazy grin. “Unless you’re too scared of what might happen.”
I stare. “You’re honestly going to try to bait me into doing what you want?”
“Who says anything about trying?” He gives my throat one last squeeze that almost feels like a caress. Abel releases me and takes a slow step back. “You’re not stuck in your room, but if you try to leave the house or do anything to endanger the future I’m building, I’ll chain you to your bed and leave you there.”
I don’t lift my hand to my throat where I can still feel the warmth from his skin, but it’s a near thing. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“If you upset Harlow again, I’ll beat your ass. Again.” He turns and strides away, no doubt to talk to Finnegan about Old Town.
I could have told him that the surveillance is unnecessary. Old Town will cave to his new leadership. He gave them the only thing they care about—the promise to be left alone. They’ll counter-offer, of course. Rolling over without a fight screams of weakness, and Chinh is too savvy not to spin this to his advantage the same way he did when my father staged his coup. I want to resent them for it, but they are who they are.
Ultimately, war is bad news for everyone. A civil war most of all. As long as Abel doesn’t do anything to upset the families in power, they won’t risk it.
Old Town is just one section of the faction, though. It remains to be seen if Abel will follow in his father’s footsteps when it comes to his lack of care about the rest of the people who reside here. People like Harlow, who was harmed over and over again because Bauer Paine was too content in his power to bother with people he didn’t see as worth his time.
My leadership has hardly been perfect, but everyone knows the consequences of stepping outside my laws, and I enforce those consequences without hesitation. No matter how much they turn my stomach.
Will Abel do the same?
Eight years ago, I’d know the answer. Half the changes I’ve enacted were ones Abel and I planned together. A baseline food budget for everyone. A strong presence in the streets to enforce the laws against murder and assault and abuse. Programs for the schools to help guide kids to better jobs when they finally reached adulthood.
Surely he hasn’t changed so much as to take all that away? Not even to punish me.
I wish I could believe it without a shadow of doubt.
The real question is whether or not I’ll sit back and allow him to fuck up what I’ve worked so hard to put into place. With Harlow at his side, she might shade his perspective in our favor. Or he might truly only be using her as a way to twist the knife for the next year. Impossible to say.
I step into my bedroom and stop short at the sight of a white square sitting on my nightstand. That most definitely wasn’t there when I left. I glance around the room—empty—and walk to it. One single line of text.
North balcony. 2 a.m. Tomorrow night.
Damn it. Marie isn’t going to listen to my order to stay away. She thinks she’s helping, but this has to be played very carefully to avoid catastrophic results. There’s no help for it; I have to meet her. And this time, I won’t be subtle about my order for her to stay the fuck away from this house. Abel already suspects we can move without being seen. I shouldn’t have tracked down Harlow in the library earlier, but the temptation was too strong to ignore. Not to mention, I doubt she’ll see me without my ambushing her. I hardly had a choice.
Kind of like I hardly have a choice about picking up the gauntlet Abel has thrown. If he thinks he has the upper hand and is winning this power struggle between us, he’ll relax a little. He’ll have no reason to look for me tomorrow night, because he’ll think that I’m retreating from the forced intimacy of sharing a bed with him and Harlow. I walk into the bathroom and methodically shred the paper into tiny squares and then dump them into the toilet and flush.
Sharing a bed with Abel and Harlow.
It’s the smart move to make. No matter what they believe, sex changes things. It allows a shortcut into intimacy that is challenging to find in other ways. The problem is that intimacy can cut both ways. I don’t make a habit of lying to myself, and the desire that I have for both of them, albeit in different ways, already colors my thinking. The trick is realizing and accommodating for that.
I walk back into the bedroom and sit on the bed. The question is Harlow. If she’s really only looking out for our people, then she won’t blink if I take out Abel and his brothers, as long as they’ve done something to prove they don’t have the faction’s best intere
sts at heart. But if she’s softened toward him; cutting him down will hurt her.
Fuck, it will hurt me. I can admit that to myself, if not aloud. It doesn’t matter that we have eight years’ worth of betrayal and rage and pain between us. I’ve never been able to cut out the part of me that sees him as a friend. The part of me that loves him. It went dormant while he was gone, but the longer we spend in each other’s presence, the more prominent that feeling becomes.
It won’t stop me from doing what needs to be done.
Not my pain.
Not even Harlow’s.
19
Harlow
I’m stalling, and I know it. I spend a full thirty minutes in my shower, letting the hot water numb my thoughts. The shower has always been my favorite part of my rooms, a large space with far too many showerheads and tiles ranging from copper to rose gold to a faint pink. It gives the impression of being rained on in the desert. It helps me think, or at least normally it does.
There are no revelations for me here this evening.
Once I turn off the water and get ready for bed, I’ll have to make the trip down the hall to Eli’s room. Something I’ve done more times than I can count; even after we stopped sleeping side by side, the sex was always good. The tiniest of bonds holding us together despite the ever-increasing distance between us. If I were stronger, I would have stopping sleeping with him when I realized that every time I walked back to my room afterward, the hurt inside me grew.
I thought I’d outgrown my masochistic coping mechanisms. Apparently not.
That doesn’t change the fact that I’m tired. Exhausted. I just want to fall into bed and pull the covers over my head and forget for a few hours. Not fight with Abel about the fact that I’ve given Eli my word and, goddamn it, that means something. Not lay next to Eli for hours with five years’ worth of things left unsaid between us. I don’t want to do any of it.
Abel: A Sabine Valley Novel Page 13
