Page 116 of Kings & Chaos

Every now and then I caught sight of houses, but most of them looked empty.

The air was cold and briny, the landscape wild, and I tucked my chin into my jacket to keep my neck warm.

About twenty minutes after we left the harbor, the motor ticked down a notch, our speed slowing as Neo angled the boat to approach a small island with an empty dock leading out into the water.

I couldn’t see a house from the water, but I knew there had to be one somewhere. Neo wasn’t exactly the type to set up camp in the woods.

“Come on, tiger.” Oscar stood and held out his hand to help me up from the bow.

We made our way back to the deck and I stood next to Neo while Rock and Oscar got into position on either side of the boat. They leapt onto the dock as soon as we got close and tied the ropes to the metal cleats.

I looked up at Neo, his profile strong, dark hair tousled from the wind, and felt a powerful pull toward him. I wanted to believe it was just lust — I wanted a repeat of our night together, like, yesterday — but I was honest with myself enough to admit that it was more than that.

He didn’t look at me, and I left his side to help get the bags onto the dock while he secured the boat.

“There are some ATVs just past the shoreline,” Oscar said once we had all the bags off the boat. “We can load these up and drive to the house.”

We carried the bags down the dock and up a path that led into the trees. The ATVs were just inside the tree line, under a makeshift carport that had all the hallmarks of new construction.

There were three ATVs, two of which had small trailers attached to the back. We loaded up the bags and the Kings climbed onto the ATVs.

Rock grinned at me from his. “Pick your poison, kitten.”

Great. The moment I’d wanted to avoid: having to choose just one of them.

For anything.

I climbed behind Rock, reasoning that I’d sat with Oscar on the boat. Neo was back to acting like I was invisible, so I definitely wasn’t giving him the satisfaction.

“Hang on,” Rock said.

I slid my arms around his waist.

He fired up the ATV and we shot off into the woods, Neo and Oscar behind us. The path from the dock continued through the trees, winding up a small hill and down into a little valley before winding up again.

The landscape was hilly and rocky, with densely packed trees, some of them so close to the trail that their branches brushed my arms as we flew past.

My ass was practically numb from the vibration of the ATV when Rock eased off the gas, and I looked around his broad shoulder to get a look at the place where we’d be staying until we figured out what the fuck to do next.

But it was too hard to see past his giant body, and I finally gave up, waiting until he came to a stop to hop off the back of the ATV and take a look around.

I don’t know what I’d expected. Maybe another modern architectural marvel like the Kings’ house at Aventine?

But this wasn’t it. This was an old house, with cedar shingles turned silver from the sea air, old-fashioned windows, and wooden stairs that led to a wide front porch. It looked like something out of a storybook, cute and cozy compared to the gleaming luxury of the house in Blackwell Falls.

“This is yours?” I asked.

“It’s ours,” Oscar confirmed.

“Wow,” I said. “It’s so pretty.”

“Let’s take what we can,” Oscar said, grabbing some of the bags. “We can come back for the rest once we get the house open.”

“Leave those,” Rock said when I picked up two bags. “I can come back.”

“I can help,” I said. It was sweet how he always tried to do things for me, but we’d had to bail on the other house at least in part because of me. I wanted to do my part.

The stairs were surprisingly solid, and we waited on the porch while Neo fished in his bag for the key. I looked around at the small clearing surrounding the house, the woods on all sides, and felt like I’d landed in a fairy tale, one with three gorgeous heroes who would be my only company in the middle of nowhere.

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