Page 50 of Dangerous Love

The good thing about breakfast buffets was that you could never go hungry. I rubbed my full belly as Raven and I exited the hotel restaurant. “It was amazing, but I feel so fat now.” I chuckled as I stabbed the button of the elevator.

Next to me, my new friend nodded. “I think all girls think that. Bloody social media, I reckon.” The doors opened and we stepped inside.

“How long have you been with Jamie?” I asked. I’d finally met the gorgeous guy and heard all about theirunconventionalstory.

She tapped her finger on her lips, her eyes looking up. “We’ve been married for four years. Together five. Best years of my life.”

My heart fluttered at the glimmer in her pupils. Happiness echoed through the lift like crystals whistling against warm lips. “I can’t believe his mother istheAngela Kendrick,” I said. Everyone knew the famous sexologist and her no-nonsense approach. “Does she talk about lovemaking at the dinner table?” I chuckled.

Her lips curled. “You have no idea. She and Jamie will start talking about all the components of the Bassett’s model of sexual desire, and then she’ll ask whether he’s looking after my emotional needs because it brings deeper intimacy and therefore better orgasms.”

My mouth dropped. “As if?”

She nodded. “Dead set. I’m not joking. It’s hilarious. It’s like talking about the dishes for them.” The doors pinged open, and laughing, we stepped onto the floor. She gave me a brief hug. “I’m off to wake my man up. What about you?”

The idea sounded nothing if not mouthwatering. Fantasies scrolled in my vision. Riley sprawled out on his bed, a white sheet barely covering his naked chest, his grin as he motioned me next to him…

Stop it, you nymph.“I’m sure I’ll find something.” I waved goodbye as I made my way to Riley’s room.Apartment #321.Excitement buzzed through me when I pictured Riley’s sleepy smile as I barged into his room. Though he’d been a little preoccupied over the last few days, maybe if we reconnected inthatway, he’d remember how amazing we felt together.

Voices grew louder as I reached his door. I paused, my ear stuck to the cold wood.Avery?I could have sworn it was my brother on the other side. Yelling.What the hell?My body moulded itself against the door frame until I recognized the other two occupants. Jarryd and Riley were talking back and forth, and based on their tone, it wasn’t a blissful post-wedding update.

What’s going on?My fingers shook against the metal handle, and slowly, I pushed the lever down until it clicked. No better than a common thief, I slid inside and tucked myself in the entrance behind a small alcove. I settled, my breath erratic as all my happy wake-up plans crashed out the window.

“What do you meanyou’rewith her?” My brother’s voice thundered in the room. “You better not be implying what I think you’re implying.”

Riley’s tone matched Avery’s; it was harsher than I was used to. “Am I really the worst thing that could have happened to her?”

Past tense.

“How could you let that happen, Riley?”

“I would have thought you, out of everyone, would get what it’s like to be weak when it comes to someone you care about.”

My heart thumped. They were talking about me…

Jarryd’s voice rang out next. “Riley, this is bigger than sleeping with her...”

“You hooked up with your therapist!” Riley screamed back. “I hardly think either of you are qualified to tell me who I can hang out with. I’m done with this.”

“All right. Let’s all take a second to regroup,” Jarryd breathed out. A couple of chairs scraped against the tiles, followed by a brief silence. “We’re together in this. We want the same thing.”

Avery scoffed. “Like getting our women and kids out of your old man’s crosshairs, now that you’re back playing that game.”

“Easy, mate,” Jarryd growled.

“Trey’s my brother.”

A sharp coldness overtook my limbs. It trailed along my every nerve ending until pain reverberated through my fingertips and toes. Riley was back in Hal’s gang. I swallowed hard, my heart shattering with the confirmation.

“And Sienna’s my sister. Your fucked-up family messed her up and almost had her raped. If you think I’m gonna just put all my faith in good old Trey, you have another thing coming.”

“Trey and I will finish Hal once and for all. Whether you like it or you don’t. He killed our brother. He killed so many others. He doesn’t deserve to get away with it.”

My tummy burnt, the angst building at a faster rate than I could cope. I braced a forearm around my midsection. Riley and Trey were going to get us all killed. Riley was blinded by rage, and it wasn’t me he was thinking of.

A loud noise resonated from behind the small wall. I flinched as I peeked out from my hiding spot. A chair flew across the room, splintered wood raining down and scattering all the way to my feet. I gasped, my hand pressing against my mouth. Everything in me shook as I processed the tension between the men in my life.

“You had one job. One fucking job,” Avery yelled at the top of his lungs, his olive skin now crimson. He paced the room, each step more determined than the next. “All you had to do was bring her back into the fold. You were supposed to use all your so-called professional skills to fix her so we could get her help. Not fuck her.”

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