Page 2 of The Clash of the Damned
Getting the twins out of the house during the sit down, undetected, was the hardest part. I told them to wait until we were all inside, and when they were finally alone, they were to leave and meet me at our private airport hangar with their passports. They didn’t know it then, but I was goingto join them with Sloane. Convincing Jax to help me while our fight was still fresh, was my next hurdle. While everything may have worked out, it doesn’t mean I got away with not giving them answers. Luckily, we had a whole plane ride to catch up, and for them to get to know their new sister-in-law.
They were well behaved the entire flight, welcoming her even. By the time we landed, they demanded shopping time, and they insisted none of their outfits were suitable by French standards. Sliding a black credit card to Sloane discreetly, she gave me a tight smile as they left, understanding what was happening, but new to the experience. Later, when they returned to the hotel, with names like Hermes and Dior being thrown around, I knew we were on track to becoming a family unit with her included.
The one thing I didn’t know was how the news of the dead was handled in the public eye, or if there were funerals. Hecate knows we can’t afford more eyes on Supernaturals right now; our community is unstable enough as it is. All I know is that the other heirs think I ran away from the sit down like a coward, a hard fact for me to accept, but necessary to make this all work.
Sloane’s phone rings, and almost immediately, she transforms from a relaxed woman to someone who is extremely irritable. “Oui?” she bites out. “Ce n’est pas le bon moment. Je t’appellerai plus tard.” She ends the call abruptly.
“I didn’t realize you spoke French?” I enquire.
“I picked it up over the years.”
“You’re well travelled then?”
“I learned it from my mom.”
A tense moment passes between us. While I know a bit about her, there is still so much I don’t know. She looks at me over the rim of her vintage, tortoise shell sunglasses. “Why, Dominic, I would think you’re fishing for details about my life.” Giving me a tight smile, she abruptly changes the subject. “Would you mind helping me with sunscreen? I don’t want to burn.” My phone chimes with a message, and Jax’s name pops up on it. But everything I care about is in front of me, so he can wait. I take in Sloane’s incredible form spread out on the catamaran trampoline. Her auburn hair is piled high on her head so she doesn’t get an uneven tan, exposing her graceful neck and a light dusting of freckles. Her curves glisten with sweat after being in the sun for hours.
“I thought you would never ask.” Pushing myself up into a sitting position, I pad across the deck to her. Grabbing the offered bottle, I squirt sunscreen into my hands as I get down on my knees at her level, and a light breeze blows from under the trampoline. I start by massaging the liquid into her shoulder blades and work on the knots there.
She moans, “That feels so good.” I don’t respond as my hands move further down her back. At that, Sloane turns around and moves to her knees, her hands crawling up my hips to the edge of my swimming trunks, looking up at me through her lashes. “Keep going like that, babe, and–”
A spray of water hits us, and I turn to glare at the twins, the likely culprits. While they’ve taken to water sports and have been riding the jet skis, they’ve left us in relative peace until now. “Chill out, Dom, you guys are being gross. Save the bedroom stuff for when we’re not around. Come join us in the water!” Reece punctuates her request with another splash of water, and even Sloane can’t help her throaty laugh as it rings out across the deck. “Don’t worry about me, Dom, I’m just enjoying being here. I don’tmind the alone time.” Sloane lays back into the woven mesh trampoline suspended between the twin hulls.
On our second night in France, both of us had one too many glasses of Moët, and it ended up with a night of drunken sex. Since then, things between us have been…different. This may have started as a business arrangement, but it’s moments like this that make me wonder if it could be something more. It’s been so easy to integrate Sloane into our lives that it’s almost too good to be true. Turning back to look at the twins laughing in the water, Reece in her full piece black suit and Remi in her electric blue one, I’m happy to see them having fun again. I’ve been so focused on surviving that I’ve forgotten to have fun with them.
I’ve become like Dad.
Turning back to Sloane, my eyes linger a moment longer on how her hot pink bikini hugs her curves. I almost tell her that French women bathe topless, something I wouldn’t mind seeing from her. “The twins still don’t know the truth about who I really am or why I’m here, do they?” she asks.
Pausing to look at my sisters playing in the water, I remind myself that everything I do is to protect them. “None of the Sorcerers remember seeing you, and the heirs expect me to have a fiancé, but I haven’t told them about you yet.” Motioning towards my sisters, I add, “To them, you’re the sister-in-law they wanted. A chance to make our family whole again.” I don’t miss the indecision that flickers over Sloane’s face as she breaks eye contact with me, but it’s gone before it even started.
“And Jax? Does he know the truth? You never told me how you convinced him to help you after your fight.” She unties and reties her hair into the pile on her head.
I may as well tell her, she’s going to find out when we go home. “After I snuck out, I found him and promised him the one thing he always wanted. Control of the Sorcerer’s empire in five years. Up until then, I will teach him everything I know.”
Sloane gasps, holding her hand up to her chest. While I appreciate the sentiment, she doesn’t know me enough to be shocked on my behalf. “What will you do without your empire?”
“I don’t know. But I have five years to figure it out.”
“Are you sure you still want to help me, Dom? You’re giving up so much. I will understand if you say no. No one helps out of the goodness of their hearts, not even you.”
Draining my cocktail and placing it on the deck, I agree with her, and I won’t insult her intelligence by pretending otherwise. “I understand your family’s need for revenge, and I believe you’re motivated enough to achieve it. While I feel a certain sense ofresponsibilityin helping you, my primary goal is to keep my sisters out of the cross hairs of your plan. I’m doing what I need to do to protect them.”
Sloane audibly swallows, like my answer makes her emotional in some way. Before I try to grasp why, she changes the subject, again. “Let’s stay here forever and live off the land.”
“I don’t hate that idea, but Jax is still new at running the empire. While he needs to learn like I did, let’s not push it. Don’t forget, it’s that business that affords you this lifestyle.”
As I climb down the ladder into the water to join the twins in the fun, she adds one more thing, and I almost miss it. “I promise I’ll be as honest as I can be, and I won’t go back on my word.”
Pausing on the metal ladder, my fingers tightening on the rungs and my calves in the warm water, I whisper, “I will protect you too.”
Chapter 2 | Thin White Lines
Dominic
It seems the only thing that has changed for the French, between their Revolution and now, is that they have cellphones and indoor plumbing. Their taste in decor remains questionable. No influencer is ever going to convince me that gold drapes and chandeliers aren’t a tacky look. It gives off “I’m trying too hard to appear rich.” But then I turn to Sloane and see the look of awe on her face as we enter our room, and my resolve softens at the vulnerability she lets only me see.
Trying to see things from her perspective, I attempt to appreciate the pale oak and champagne, velvet-panelled walls, with accents of brushed gold and crystal. But the whole combination makes me want to hurl. At least the gauzy curtains fluttering by the window are normal? And the chaise lounge by the window is a great spot to sip wine while watching the yachts, though we won’t be here long enough for that.
