Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

ORION

"This is bullshit," I said.

Aidan crossed his arms over his chest like the smug bastard he was. "You’re welcome. In case you’ve forgotten already, this agreement saved your ass."

"This…agreement means working with some of the biggest assholes anywhere in the country." Not to be unappreciative, but he’d made a deal with the devil.

"You didn’t seem to mind us when I was sucking your cock," Finley said with a grin.

I fought to contain the heat that threatened to surge onto my face and my dick. The memory of his mouth on me was seared into my brain. Elenna’s mouth and his. At the moment, it was a distraction I didn’t need.

"I’m not talking about you." I snapped, but not as harshly as I would have a couple of weeks ago. I was losing my edge because of these guys and Elenna. The jury was out as to whether it was a good thing or a bad one.

"I was referring to Nicholas and Celine," I said, as if they didn’t know that and weren’t being smart asses. "I appreciate you stopping them from coming after me, but let’s not pretend it wasn’t Elenna you were looking out for. You would have thrown me under the bus to save her."

"Of course I would," Aidan said. "You’d do the same to me. Or to yourself. Any one of us would sacrifice ourselves for her. But when it comes down to it, this arrangement works for both of you. So, you’re welcome."

"And now we’re stuck working with those toads." I glanced out the restaurant window and across the street to where Elenna was having lunch in a small coffee shop with her friends. We were close enough to reach her if something happened, but far enough away to give her some independence. Or some pretence of it anyway. I would have preferred to sit at the table with her, or the one next to her. This compromise made my skin itch. She belonged to us, did she really need to be away from us, even this far?

She laughed at something one of her friends said. My heart flipped in response. She was so fucking gorgeous. More than I deserved. More than any of us deserved.

"If it’s any consolation, they probably said the same about us," Finley said. "Although, Aidan has the closest resemblance to actual toad." He grinned while Aidan flipped him off.

"That sounds like the voice of jealousy to me." The head coach sipped his beer. None of us would drink enough to get drunk, not while Elenna was all the way across the road, but one or two wouldn’t hurt. If we didn’t have drinks or food in front of us, the restaurant would kick us out.

"Of course I’m jealous," Finley said. "I’ve seen myself in the mirror. I’m no Prince Charming."

"You’re not so bad," I told him. He looked a bit like Ed Sheeran and Chris Hemsworth had a love child, with Hemsworth’s muscles and Ed’s hair colour. Unfortunately, he sang like a rubber chicken getting strangled.

"That’s what my mum always says, but she might be a tad biased." Finley held up a hand with two fingers spread slightly apart.

"Orion might be a tad biased too," Aidan pointed out. "It’s hard not to see someone in a positive light when they’ve sucked your cock."

Heat threatened my face again. "I’m not biased. I already thought that." I shook my head. "Stop changing the subject. We were talking about Nicholas and Celine."

"No we weren’t, because there’s nothing to discuss." Aidan took a long pull on his beer. "This is what’s happening. You have to agree, nothing I said was wrong. Geneva will make trouble for us and I trust her even less than I trust them. She’s a lot more ambitious and a shit load more ruthless. I would have had her removed myself, but this works more to our advantage. If Nicholas and Celine come to trust us, then we’re in a good position. We can negotiate between them, and Caleb or Reuben."

I frowned. "And by that you mean absorb the Fiorellis into the Brantleys the way the Bells are being absorbed?"

"I doubt the Bells see it that way," Aidan said. "But yes. Everyone is becoming more and more Brantley every day. Why not Nicholas and Celine?"

"That would make Reuben very powerful," Finley remarked. "Maybe he’d be encouraged to throw more money at the Demons."

"Potentially," Aidan said, looking cagey like he did when he had something in mind and wasn’t going to share. I already knew better than to ask. He was nothing if not a stubborn fucker.

"Either way, we’re going to be right in the thick of it," Finley said. "What could go wrong?"

"I can think of a few things," I said darkly. "Most of them revolve around us ending up dead." I glanced back towards Elenna. She was talking about something her friends seemed to find hilarious. Was she blushing? I wished I could lip read so I knew what she was saying. I also wished I could take her away from all this and keep her safe.

In the back of my mind, I pictured her lying dead, a bullet through the centre of her forehead. Maybe one in her heart. Her skin pale, cold as ice. The life gone from her beautiful body. So fucking still.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do or give to stop that from becoming reality.

"Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not going to happen," Finley said softly. "None of us will allow it. We’ll do everything possible to make this turn out okay. And if we can’t, we’ll find a deserted island and hide there for a decade or five. We can live on fish, coconuts and orgasms."

"We could go there first," I said. I turned back to them, knowing there was no way they’d run away now. The moment Aidan threw in with Nicholas and Celine, we had to follow through. If we didn’t, they’d find a way to break their promise. They could go to Geneva or even to Reuben and tell them fuck knows what. Reuben wouldn’t care if we ended up dead, as long as we didn’t cause him any inconvenience.

"I didn’t pick you for a quitter," Aidan said.

"I’m not," I said brusquely. He was baiting me, but I couldn’t resist taking it. "I’ve never quit anything in my life. I don’t want any shit to happen to Elenna. If we have to walk away to do that, then…" I shrugged one shoulder.

"We’re not walking away," Aidan said. "Not from the Fiorellis, or the Brantleys, or the Demons, for that matter."

"Especially the Demons," Finley said. "Now we’re finally winning, now would be a really bad time to go anywhere."

Anger flared inside my chest. "Your priorities are—" I placed my hand, palm down on the table and started to push myself to my feet.

Before I could blink, Finley picked up a fork and jabbed it into the table, right between my pinky and ring fingers. He missed stabbing my skin by a hair.

"My priorities are just fine," he said calmly. "I also care what happens to Elenna. You know as well as I do that she wouldn’t run away either. She trusts us to keep her safe, and that’s what we’ll do. While at the same time, keeping a problem contained which could make life worse for a lot of other people." He took his hand off the handle of the fork and sat back.

I lowered myself into my seat and pulled my hand away. The fork remained embedded in the timber tabletop.

"You’re right," I said finally. "She wouldn’t run away. Even when she should."

I couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting to Aidan. This was his plan. If shit went sideways, it would be his fault. Something none of us would hesitate to remind him of every chance we got. Assuming he didn’t get us killed. That was one hell of an assumption right now.

"She has no reason to run away," Aidan said. He too glanced over to where she sat.

For a man who was frequently angry and always arrogant, he had a surprisingly soft expression in his eyes when he looked at her. If anyone doubted his feelings for her, they had only to see that to understand. He loved her completely.

So did I.

"Hard to run when one of us is with her every moment of every day," Finley said.

"Exactly," Aidan said. "That won’t change any time soon. If I could, I’d handcuff her to me. Unfortunately, if I did that, she’d be pissed off." He seemed as though he was still considering the idea. Debating whether her safety was more important than her feelings for him.

"Yeah, she would. Her friends would probably try to get her free," Finley said.

"I’d like to see them try," Aidan growled. He didn’t disagree that they would try though. Wren and Sinclair seemed to adore her as much as we did. And she adored them.

"In mud," Finley said. "Clothing optional."

That melted Aidan’s scowl. He chuckled. "The only woman I want to mud wrestle naked is Elenna. With or without handcuffs."

"I bet you would," Finley said. "Because you know who would end up doing the laundry when you spread mud everywhere."

"I’m having a hard time seeing a downside to this." Aidan looked thoughtful, but the corners of his mouth hinted at a smile.

"Of course you would." Finley rolled his eyes. "You’d be the one having fun while I clean up after you."

"Doesn’t sound like fun to me," I said. "Unless you’re into having mud up your ass."

"There are other things I prefer to have up my ass," Finley said. He gave me a meaningful, heated look that made my balls hurt.

I cleared my throat. "Anything would be better than mud." Kissing him and having him suck me off were big enough steps without thinking about fucking his ass. Of course, now I was thinking about fucking his ass. I hadn’t even fucked Elenna’s yet. I wanted to. My cock was itching to get between her two perfect cheeks. How tight would she feel? My guess was perfectly tight and sweet. As sweet as her pussy, and her mouth.

"I bet you’re not thinking about scoring a goal right now," Finley teased.

I almost let myself smile. "Yes I am."

Aidan snorted. "Not on the ice."

"Ice was definitely not in my brain," I said. "Don’t either of you pretend you’re any better. If we could, we’d all spend the rest of our lives in bed with her."

"Yes we would," Finley agreed. "And with each other. While Aidan watches and tells us what to do. I don’t hate that idea." He turned to Aidan. "Can we do that?"

"As you pointed out a couple of minutes ago, the Demons have started winning," Aidan said. "That wouldn’t happen without the three of us. When they realise they’re losing, they’ll come and bang on our door. That would be slightly disruptive."

"A deserted island is sounding better and better," Finley said. "We wouldn’t even need doors. Just a roof and somewhere to call a bed."

"And sand up your ass," I said.

Finley waved his hand dismissively. "It would be totally worth it."

"Until you run out of sunscreen and burn red as a lobster," Aidan said.

"Fuck," Finley growled. "I knew there had to be a flaw in the plan. Why did I have to be a redhead?" He ran a hand over his hair like somehow the colour might rub off.

"Nature telling you you’re not destined to live on a desert island," Aidan said. "We’re all much better suited to the ice hockey rink."

And creeping around the shadows.

My gaze returned to Elenna.

For her, I’d creep around in every shadow.