Page 49 of Drawn Blue Lines

Brody raked a hand through his hair. “It’s not what it looks like. I mean, this isn’t…we aren’t…”

“Fucking,” I finished for him. Spinning around, I flashed her a wicked smile. “Well, not anymore, thanks to you. You’ll cockblock him until the day he dies, huh, Lachey?”

“Adriana!”

Yeah, that might have taken it a bit too far, but damn, it felt good, and even he had to admit she had it coming.

Twisting around, I met his narrowed eyes. “What?”

“Be nice!”

“Give me one good reason.”

“Because we’re guests in Eden’s house, that’s why.” Lowering his voice, he hissed a warning through a forced smile. “And because Val values her opinion.” Turning his attention back to Eden, his whole demeanor changed. “Seriously, we were just talking.”

I was pissed. Partly because of his slingshot attitude, but more so because I hated that he was right. I was caught between wanting to see Saint Eden suffer for her sins and needing her approval in order to win Val’s.

It was like teetering on the edge of a cliff with my only options being to jump off or face a hungry pack of wolves. Either choice ended in sacrifice. Whether it would be a sacrifice of pride, blood, or my life remained to be seen. I had no doubt the wolf at the door right now wanted all three.

Cocking her hip, Eden leaned against the doorframe, flipping her equally unnatural cherry red hair over her shoulder. “You know Adriana, you’d think you could scrape together a little gratitude that I opened my house to you, considering you ordered a hit on my brother.”

“And you put a bullet in mine. I’d say we’re even.”

“Even?” She threw her head back and let out a laugh so ridiculously loud it echoed down the hallway. “Your brother held a gun to my head then shot Val. What I did was self-defense. What you did was premeditated and heartless. My brother was an innocent pawn in your sick game.”

“So were you, yet here you are.”

A flush crawled up her neck, painting her face the color of her fake-ass hair. “You bitch…”

I yawned, patting my mouth for a dramatic flair. “Try again. I’ve already heard that one today.”

I caught a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye moments before Brody stepped in between us, arms stretched wide like some kind of bitch war referee. “All right, that’s enough.”

The insult was right there on Eden’s lips. I saw it. I waited on it, but her eyes darted toward Brody, and much to my dismay, it died. Sighing, she gave him a weak smile which quickly faded as her eyes trailed back to me. “I’m watching you, Marisol.”

Resting my chin in the palm of my hand, I tapped my index finger against my bottom lip. “Adriana.”

“We’ll see. You may’ve been born a Carrera, but you haven’t earned the right to call yourself one. My husband wants to give you a chance, so for him, I’ve allowed you in my home.”

Leaning back on one hand, I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “Don’t break your back rolling out the welcome mat.”

“Ladies!” Brody groaned. “Can we take this down a few notches? You’re not going to be best friends; we get it. Will you at least agree to be civil and try not to kill each other for the next twelve hours?”

Obviously, I had no intention of falling on my sword first, so I settled a hard stare toward the doorway and waited. The silence was deafening, and the longer it went on the more agitated Brody became. We were clearly taking too long to answer, evidenced by his clenched fists and the gaze that bounced angrily between us. Just as he opened his mouth again, Eden cut him off.

“Fine.”

Twisting around, he cocked an expectant eyebrow at me.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Adriana…”

God, I hated it when he drew out my name like that. It made me feel like a petulant child. “Oh, all right. I’ll pretend to be nice to the bitch.”

Brody threw his head back, exhaling hard as he stared at the ceiling.

“Starting now,” I grumbled.

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