Page 40 of Unhinged Cravings
The corner of my mouth twitched as I fought my smile and lost. “Maybe.”
She went back to making her sand dragon, and I sat there, content to watch her work. Noting all the tiny mannerisms that made me adore her more—the way she bit her tongue between her teeth when she focused, the deft movements of her hands as they sculpted, how she itched her nose with the back of her wrist. All such miniscule things that I would never have bothered to care about, but with Ava, I wanted to store them all to memory.
For the first time in too many years, the stress of my present situation, the sins of my past, and the dangers of my future all faded into a silence Ava filled. She chatted about her classes, her intentions when she earned her master’s, her love of all things artand the hours she used to spend in local museums that spurred her studies. And with every passing minute in her light, my darkness dissipated, leaving space for the emotions I’d been shielding in it to grow. At the thought, I should have walked away, left her there, left her to someone else to guard, and buried myself back in my work. But I couldn’t do it.
Ava was curledup on the couch, exhausted from the day on the beach. We had stayed out the entire day, mostly sitting under the umbrella and talking as if we were on a first date and our roles no longer existed. I didn't know what to make of it, but if I didn’t overthink it, I wanted more of it.
“Let her go where she wants in the house as long as she doesn’t leave,” I told Breaker.
His brow arched, and I knew what he was thinking. Like Pack, he’d been with me the longest. It was the reason I trusted him to guard her.
“Cut it out and go watch the front of the house. Get Vin on the deck so she doesn’t go back out.” I glanced at her one last time. “I’m going to shower.”
I left them, heading to my room and trying to clear my head in the shower. What I was doing was dangerous and unlike me. I needed to focus. Ava was a commodity, nothing more. But no matter how I repeated the words, they didn’t change the warmth that sat in my chest or the constant desire to touch her that hounded me like a craving I couldn’t quell. It almost seemed like I was fraying at the seams.
Toweling my hair, I pulled on a pair of pants and took my phone out. After a few seconds of debate, I hit Greyson’s number.
“I hope you’re calling this late to tell me you’re sending Ava home.” He sounded gruff, as usual.
“Not gonna happen,” I replied.
“Then what the hell are you calling for? Did you change your deadline? Because you’re lucky I haven’t brought my force down on your ass yet.”
“You haven’t because I’ll kill her the second you do.” This time, the words came out hollow. “You know what I want. You crawling up my front steps in less than two weeks.”
There was a distinct growl on the other end of the phone, and I thought I heard a woman’s voice. Riley. My new sister-in-law and the woman who should have been in Ava’s place and all this confusion would never have entered my head.
“Touch a hair on her head and I’ll keep you alive for years while I torture you.”
“All talk, Grey. That’s all you are. You don’t stand a chance against me. Now shut the fuck up and tell me your guy really killed her stepfather.”
I rubbed my hand over my face, hating the silence on the other end of the phone. Greyson and I had been playing enemies for decades, and this question made no sense to him. I shouldn’t have asked it, but I needed to know. The thought of that man alive was eating at me and if he’d gotten away, I would hunt him down and drag him back so she could watch me rip him apart piece by piece.
A few more seconds of silence before he said, “What’s going on, Mer?”
Even after over twenty years apart, he could still get into my head. Inseparable as kids, our parents had often joked about how we shared one mind. How the bond between us was so strong. Shit, it still was. Enemies or not, it remained, and I had spent years submerging it below my anger at him.
“Just answer the fucking question,” I snapped, my grip on the phone so tight it cracked.
“His torso is in a lake, the rest of him we buried below a shopping mall in Creekwood.”
“Did he suffer?”
More silence and I worried he would grow suspicious.
“Yes. Den locked him in the same basement he kept Ava in, then took a part of him for every day he kept her down there before the man bled to death. Weighed his torso down with bricks from the basement when he left it in the lake.”
Relief surged through me. My brother and I were alike, so there should have been no question that if his man hadn’t finished the job, Greyson would have done it for him. But I needed to hear it, to have confirmation that the man had suffered.
“Good. You have ten days before I want to see your pathetic ass in front of my gates or she’s dead.” I disconnected, hating how saying those two words cut me like a rusty blade. Throwing the phone on the bed, I raked my hands through my hair. Attachment was something I didn’t do, especially with women. I took what I needed and walked away. Emotionless transactions, nothing more, and if they wanted more, they were greatly disappointed. But Ava had gotten past my barriers, chipping away at the locks within days until all my plans for her had morphed. I couldn’t imagine killing her. I had a reputation as a heartless killer, one who shot and asked questions later. Yet I was hesitating, distraught over the idea that if my brother didn’t bend, I would have to hurt her.
Like an injured dog backed into a corner, I resorted to punching back. Texting Breaker, I told him to make sure he fed her when she woke. I finished dressing and left through the garage, taking Pack and two others with me. Being away from her would help, and the club would give me a necessary distraction. At least I thought it would.
I owned several clubs through the province. Charter was the one I frequented. Upscale and catering to the more elite clientele, I preferred the atmosphere to the grittier options. The music blared, lights streamed, and women danced on the few poles strategically placed on the dance floor.Snapping my collar, I strolled through the club, making the rounds until I settled into a corner. Entertaining the brown nosing of the pathetic social climbers who wanted a piece of my attention and those who owed me money, I settled into my usual demeanor. Drink in hand, I caught the eye of a pretty brunette in a tight, sequined dress that clung to her body in all the right ways. She sauntered over and I nodded to Pack to let her by. Leaning over the table, her breasts deliciously displayed, she said something, but my mind fucked me over when it decided Ava’s breasts were more tempting.
I blinked, taking another swig of my drink.
“What do you think?” she asked, clearly waiting for a response to some question she had asked.
