Page 22 of Ruthless Commander
“When we get to the island, you’re to report to me in my office,” I growled.“Before you unpack.”
“Yes, sir,” he answered carefully.
I turned away, fighting the urge to rip those fingers from his hands. Fingers that had touched what wasn’t his to touch.No messing with the families, right?That was one of the goddamn rules. No touching, no licking, no fucking…no having what every cell in my body howled for.
I caught the shine of a jet in the sky as it descended. Within the next twenty-four hours, they’d come. The sons and now the daughters of those who sat on the Commission. Ready to learn how to take over the family’s bloody businesses…and fuck and play when daddy wasn’t around.
I turned away at the thought of that. I didn’t give a fuck about any of the others. But the thought of her…ofXael,touching another man drove me to distraction. I had to focus, had to keep busy. I had to drive myself into the ground, exactly what I’d been doing since the moment I walked out of her life.
It was better this way…
Better to see her smiling and laughing. Better to see the seductive curl of her lips for someone else. Better to watch her fall in love with someone suited for her, someone young and powerful, someone who’d give her everything I couldn’t. All I had to give was pain. All I had to give was terror. All I had to give her was a life watching our backs, always waiting for the past to rise up and take what it wanted. I strode through the doors and stepped out into the glare of the sun and watched the back of the sleek black Audi drive away, taking the other half of my soul with it.
I closed my eyes and stole a breath, feeling the cruel shiver pass through me. She was going to fuck someone else here, going to give herself to another, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it…
“Sir,” came a voice behind me. “Another jet has just landed.”
Another jet.
Another boat.
Another helicopter.
I just gave a nod. “Make sure they have protection all the way to the boat.”
“Yes, sir,” he answered before striding away.
I didn’t turn from the glaring rays of the sun, didn’t let the world invade. Instead, I stood in the agony of my own making. I could’ve been anyone…could’ve beenone of themif I'd wanted. I could’ve had a seat on the Commission, taken one by force if I'd wanted to. But I didn’t…I didn’t because violence and death were all I knew. I didn’t because I needed protection, and working for five powerful families was the kind of protection I needed.
The kind my brother needed.
I strode toward the sleek steel gray Mercedes and pressed the button in my pocket, unlocking the car before I climbed in. I had enough men on the mainland to ensure the safety of the heirs and the others who were now coming to the island. They didn’t need me, so I turned my attention to the island, started the ignition, and headed for the marina.
A driver was waiting for me when I pulled up. I yanked the latch for the trunk and climbed out, leaving the door open, then rounded the rear of the car to pull my bag free. “I’ll call if I require the vehicle.”
“Yes, Commander.”
I didn’t look at him, didn’t look at anything except the next fucking week. That’s all I had to focus on. Seven days…seven days with her being on the island within reach. I lowered my gaze and clenched my grip around the handle of my bag, feeling savage.
The speedboat’s engine started with a roar as I stepped onto the dock, then climbed across, stepped down, and took a seat in the cabin. I didn’t even have to speak before the boat surged forward, taking me from the mainland and headed out into the endless blue.
It should be all I wanted.
It should be all I needed.
Rolex watches, expensive cars. The kind of champagne that my parents would have worked an entire year just to sip. But it meant nothing. I thought of them, the two strangers that had given me life. Nothing was ever found of them after that day, they'd just…disappeared.Like they'd never existed at all.
But they had. I saw my mother in the eyes of my brother and heard my father in my own cold tone.
I knew they had lived. But I still felt nothing. Not loss, not anger.
Just an endless ache that never went away.
I sat back and rested my feet on the console, closing my eyes. I’d worked eighteen hours straight to make sure everything was secure for their arrival…and I’d work many more to make sure everything was going to plan. I dozed, lulled by the hard rise and crash of the bow of the boat as I traveled toward the island. But I didn’t rest, just slowed my mind, letting it drift to the only thing that gave me any sense of peace.
Her…
Her body. Her mind. Her mouth widening under the force of mine. Her legs wrapped around my waist as I buried myself deep inside her. Xael Davies was the only one who made me forget who I’d become. Those three days we’d spent together hadn’t been happy,they’d been peace.
