Page 33 of High Stakes

She meets his gaze with equal intensity. “It seems you’ve gotten under my skin, and I can’t seem to dig you out. Not that I particularly want to,” she adds softly.

I hear the front door close with a soft thud. “You see how well that worked out for us, don’t you?” A voice says from behind me. I spin around to see a haggard looking Silas leaning weakly against the wall. My eyes jerk back to the others and I watch as if everything in time slows to a crawl.

Declan’s face pales and he’s out of his seat before anyone else can even register what’s happening. Hayden blinks in surprise, stunned silent. He stands so quickly that the chair clatters to the floor, but his legs give out before he can take more than three steps. Hayden sinks to his knees with tears streaming down his face. His mouth opens like he wants to speak, but no sound comes out. It’s like his brain has short circuited and his neurons can’t find the right pathways to form words.

The sound of a glass shattering echoes through the room as Emelia drops her drink and hops off the counter, her eyes never leaving the weak man leaning by the door. She slips her hand through mine and squeezes tightly. I can feel her trembling. I cutmy eyes to her and notice that her face is paler than usual and it looks like she’s seen a ghost.

To be fair, it seems like we all have.

“Silas?” Declan calls and catches his twin just as his knees buckle. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Didn’t you hear?” he asks, and gives a faint chuckle, but the humor doesn’t mask the pain in his eyes. “I died in a plane crash.”

Hayden must have recovered from his internal short circuiting because he stalks over and pulls Silas into a hug. His shoulders are so tense that I can see his muscles shaking. “You are fucking walking. Everywhere. From now on. No planes, no trains, no automobiles,” he hisses, and gently pushes Silas back a few inches until their noses are almost touching, and then their lips meet in what I can only describe as a soul shattering kiss.

My stomach does another flip as I look away awkwardly, trying to redirect the blood rushing in directions that it should not, under any circumstances, be rushing. Emelia catches my eye and smirks up at me knowingly. She can feel the tension radiating off my body.

Silas pulls back and smiles up at Hayden and it seems Hayden is supporting his weight fully, like Silas is unable to stand any longer. “Now, can I see my girl?” His eyes land on Emelia and it’s like everything else fades away from him. “Come here, Sweetheart,” he says softly and manages to push himself back from Hayden.

I watch his knees tremble as he takes a few steps in our direction, his hand still on Hayden’s shoulder for support. Emelia lets go of my fingers and wraps her arms around his waist. She buries her face in his chest and he drops a kiss to the top of her head. I watch the tears slide down her cheeks and I know they’re real when she inhales a soft sob. “Come on,” she says and pulls him to the couch.

They all help him sink down into the cushions and Silas hisses in pain as his legs bend and he repositions himself. “You got some 'splaining to do,” Emelia quotes the line and I roll my eyes. She knows that is not how the line goes and Ricky Ricardo would be ashamed, but I let her have her fun.

“You first,” he counters, and looks her up and down as if trying to find the scars and damage that healed weeks ago.

Declan sits down beside his brother and I notice how Silas jerks when his brother places a hand lightly on his knee.

“It seems we all have some ‘splaining to do’,” Hayden chuckles, and leans back against the wall on the other side of the room. His eyes dart between the four of us and I can see the gears turning in his mind. He’s trying to piece it all together.

Good luck, man. Apparently,Ican’t even keep everything straight anymore.

15

SILAS

Iwatch Declan move around the kitchen, cleaning up the glass that Emelia shattered. My heart squeezes painfully in my chest as she curls around my arm, gripping my hand between hers. I relax into her warmth and slide my nose across her soft hair. She smells like flowers and gunpowder. My perfect aphrodisiac.

I can’t even express how grateful I am to be able to hold her small frame against me again. With a sigh, I shift so that I can stand. “Holy shit,” I grit out through clenched teeth as I push myself up. My legs shake and my muscles scream like they’re being torched alive.

“What are you doing?” Hector asks, and immediately pushes off the wall he’d been leaning against. His hands grip my forearms, just below the elbows, and steadies me.

My leg chooses that exact moment to give out and I slump forward into his very muscled chest. “I need to go lay down.” I cut my eyes over to Hayden and give him a soft wink. “I’m practically dead on my feet.”

There’s a collective groan at my horrible pun, but Emelia giggles behind me. That makes everything I’ve ever done in lifeworth it. I would take every ounce of this pain and every bullet on earth just to hear that woman laugh at my terrible jokes.

“I’ll help you,” Hayden tells Hector, and heads down the hallway to turn the lights on.

I reach out my hand to Emelia, and she takes it without hesitation. She stands and gives me a gentle hug. Her lips brush mine and my stomach flips like I’ve just gone down the biggest drop on the fastest rollercoaster known to man. I lean forward when she pulls away, instantly wanting her soft skin back against me. “Goodnight, Si,” she whispers as Hector and Hayden walk me toward my bedroom.

“I can get it from here,” Hayden grunts out as they lower me onto the edge of the bed.

Hector shuffles his feet and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “It’d be easier with two,” he argues quietly, looking anywhere but at us.

I arch my brow at Hayden, who smirks knowingly but doesn’t say anything. “Are you two really going to help me into the shower and then into my bed?” I ask when neither of them moves.

Hayden bows elegantly. “At your service, your royal highness.”

What an absolute asshole.

---