Page 61 of Vicious Savage

I growl, a low chesty rumble that threatens to erupt like an earthquake. Before I even have a chance to respond, Dante is at his wife’s side, sliding a protective arm around her waist. Since she’s come into our lives, Kingsley has become more like a sister than the wife of one of my best friends. I take her jabs on the chin; our thing is for her to make fun of me and me to act like the wounded hunter I am.

“The hunter giving you trouble again, King?” Dante asks, his eyes holding his wife’s.

“The only trouble he’s giving me is the sort where he drags his feet about finally finding a woman to settle down with. Even when the woman is staring him right…”

I stop listening as I catch movement in the doorway and Luna walks in laughing, arm in arm with Caleph’s wife, Ariadne. They’re closely followed by Caleph, who can’t take his eyes off Ariadne, and Cesar with Nadia, who’s typing away furiously on her phone. Cesar spares her a concerned look, then looks away, obviously curious but not wanting to overstep.

Every man in the room has his eye on a woman. The electricity surging through the room is fire as I look at each one of my friends in turn. I want that. I want what they have. I want to know the thrall of having that someone in my life that mirrors the other half of me. That person that I can’t fall asleep unless she’s sleeping beside me. That woman that will fulfil everything in me that I’ve been yearning for. I want that all consuming passion that has touched each one of my friends and continues to act like magic around everyone they come in contact with. I want that, and I want so much more.

I think of everything that’s come to pass over the last few years. So much has happened. We’re not over yet, not by a long shot, and I’m sure the best is yet to come. But we’ve had to work together to bring down a crazy motorcycle gang, we’ve had to wage a war to get one of our own back. Hell, we even at one point went to war with Cesar because he had taken Ariadne. We had to scale walls and knock down careers when we were up against some corrupt government officials, not to mention eliminating some threats within our own ranks. Coyin Castillo proved another challenge in himself, and he brought with him so many other disasters. I’m sure we haven’t endured the last of our troubles; there’s more to come, I have no doubt. But for now… for now, there’s peace and quiet and a soft longing.

Dante — he married the daughter of his father’s enemy. I’ve never seen a couple more in love. They’re a powerhouse with their collective fortunes combined, and they belong together. I watch as Kingsley looks up at her husband, wonder in her eyes. And that wicked glance he throws back at her; this is a man that burned down a city to get her back.

And Caleph. Who met Ariadne under the strangest of circumstances. He fell in love with her when he wasn’t even entertaining the idea. EvenIalmost fell in love with her the first time I met her. He didn’t stand a chance. He, too… Caleph killed to ensure that Ariadne would live. He executed the signatories of the contract on her life, thereby nullifying the bounty. Dead men don’t pay contracts, after all.

It’s new days yet for Cesar and Nadia, but I can see them blooming into something more. We haven’t been friends for long, but I now consider Cesar, at one point my enemy, one of my closest friends. He’s joined the ranks of a very rare few who have that sort of access to my life. And he’s quickly marching up those ranks.

I watch him as he watches Nadia, see the look of agitation that crosses his face as Nadia hisses into the phone in a corner of the room. Luna notices and walks toward her. Nadia slams her phone shut and it looks like she’s seriously considering hurling it across the room. Cesar and I walk toward the women simultaneously, breaking into their conversation when it looks like Nadia is hyperventilating.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Luna places a small hand to my arm. I look down where her hand meets my skin, causing it to tingle, then meet her eyes. She doesn’t draw her hand away; instead, she clings to me like I am her lifeline. I want to be. I want to be her everything; all her yesterdays and all her tomorrows. I want to be her now and her forever. I just want to be. In her life, in her thoughts.

“Nadia’s ex,” she whispers, as Cesar leans into Nadia and holds her close to him, giving her exactly what she needs. I frown; this man knows exactly what to do, and when.

“What about him?”

“They broke up after the attack on Nadia. But he won’t take no for an answer. He keeps calling her.”

“It’s definitely over?”

Luna nods, adamant that Nadia no longer wants anything to do with her ex.

“Next time he calls, you let me or Cesar answer the phone,” I tell Nadia over Cesar’s shoulder. “His business is with us now.”

61

LUNA

Cesar organizes a new phone and number for Nadia; it gives my friend the measure of hope she deserves, and she sags into Cesar comfortably every chance she gets.

Since we’ve been back in Seattle, I’ve been surrounded by nothing but love. It’s all around me. Kingsley and Dante, with the absurd story of how they met and how they got together. It’s so ridiculous, I think they’ve made up the story, until Attila assures me every bit of it is true, and I snap my mouth shut before I launch another debate on the story of how their union came to be. Caleph and Ariadne, soon to be married, are also on my radar. They are so in love, it makes my heart stutter to be in the same room as them. Even Cesar and Nadia, without having put a label on their relationship, are so obviously falling for one another, and I’m over the moon at my best friend’s happiness. It looks like my best friend has finally found a man who will lift her up and put her on a pedestal.

Then there’s Attila and me. We’re intimately familiar with one another, yet we tiptoe around each other every chance we get. I can’t stop the way my heart races whenever we’re in close proximity. And I can’t ignore the lingering glances between us. I can’t deny the chemistry that exists, yet we both seem reluctant for some reason to take that final step into the unknown.

“What are you so scared of?” Ariadne asks, as she comes to stand beside me, a knowing look on her face.

We’ve just finished dinner and everyone else is standing around mingling over drinks, while I stand in my corner listening to Nadia chatter on while my eyes linger on Attila. He is the very epitome of a warrior, a hulking male with well defined muscles and the heart of a beast. But with me, he’s like a teddy bear. With me, he’s gentle and soft, and he leaves the gruffness for where it’s needed.

“What?” I look at her innocently, playing dumb. Her face softens as she gives me a comforting look.

“Come on, Luna. Any fool can see you two are hung up on each other. What are you so afraid of?”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same?” I ask her. “He hasn’t made a move.”

“Because he doesn’t want to crowd you. That’s not his style, Luna. Attila’s waiting for you.”

I shake my head, unsure. This is a whole new world in which I’m playing this ball game. I don’t know how to play. Maybe I would if I were in my own backyard. But not here.

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