5
Gio’svoice was a low whisper from inside one of the stalls. I knew what he was doing, talking to and grooming his favorite mare, Mrs. Oscar. She was a gift from our grandfather on Gio’s seventh birthday. He’d wanted a male horse to name him Oscar after one of his favorite TV characters, so I’d suggested Mrs. Oscar as a happy medium. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Strangely enough, he was never interested in riding. He’d said the probability of an accident was far greater than the joy of the ride. He preferred to keep his feet on the ground and control his environment. He’d always been that way for as long as I could remember. Cautious, observant, and obsessed with statistics.
“I had the stablemen get her ready for you.” The red grooming mitt in his hand stopped midair, yet he didn’t turn to face us. “Gio, you can’t possibly still be upset with me.”
“I won first place.”
“Of course you did. And I’m so proud of you.”
“If you were proud, you would have been there.”
His teenage dirtbag attitude aside, guilt twisted in my belly. I’d promised to attend his math championship, but as usual, business had kept me away. Throughout the years, I made it a point to be present in his life as much as possible. Not just for the bond we’d forged, but when I was with my baby brother, it was the only time I felt…normal.
I felt Kai’s gaze on me and became irrationally upset, even though nothing about his demeanor or expression brokered any judgment. Call it instinct. I’d been my brother’s protector his whole life. He’d unseated me as the baby of the family when I was just eight. I’d hated him. Hated the idea of my parents sharing more of their time and love. They had already spent enough energy on my oldest brother, as he managed to get into trouble often. But I knew Gio was special when I stared into his big, dark eyes from behind the glass. I thought he was the cutest thing in the world, even with all the tubes.
“Mamá sent me the video.” He shrugged. “Gio, you can’t be upset with me forever. Besides, I have a surprise for you. I—”
Twisting to look back at Kai, my stomach heated when I found him watching me intently, eyebrows drawn together as if he was trying to solve some puzzle. “There’s someone I want you to meet. He’s going to be part of our family soon. We’re getting married.”
My brother finally turned to face me. His handsome features contorted into a look of disgust.
“You better not be marrying that asshole, Rocco.”
Gio rarely cussed, only when something upset him, and Rocco Solis was a source of his rage more often than not. The son of my father’s late right-hand man and business partner and my childhood friend had been one of my parents’ obvious choices for this sham of a union. Still, I’d already given in to being bound to some bastard I didn’t love to fulfill my family’s debt and my abuelo’s dying wish. Being able to choose the man I’d be forcibly shackled to provided a sliver of solace.
With a chuckle, I touched his forearm and motioned toward Kai.
“You know I’d never. This is Kai Cain.”
“Hi,” he said, as enthusiastic as a teenager could muster. “He has cool hair. Is that why you like him?”
“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “It’s one of his better qualities.”
Gio wasn’t a fan of my jokes, so his lack of humor didn’t surprise me, but his serious look wiped away my smile. Before I could ask, he took my bandaged hand and flipped it over twice before finding my eyes.
“Again?”
Gently pulling back from his grasp, I waved him off. “Just broken glass. A misstep in the kitchen.”
“But you don’t cook.”
Dammit. “Gio, I was helping Milly. I’m going to be a married woman, after all. Maybe I want to learn some things.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “You let this happen to her?”
Kai drew an arm around my waist.
“I would never let anything happen to her.” Obviously, he was appeasing my brother and following through on his end of our deal, but his words rippled through me like a fuse, nonetheless.
Kai was far from a righteous man. His heart was as black and tainted as his brother’s. He had no loyalties or ties to me other than the proverbial ball and chain I’d placed around his neck.
Not the type to care about those outside of his circle, he sure as hell wouldn’t give a damn about the woman forcing him into an unwanted marriage and uprooting his life. Thinking back, not that I’d expected differently, but when our vehicle began to flip, Kai had reached for Eva and the baby. Call me irrational because while we were still practical strangers, I couldn’t deny that the memory stung.
Residual annoyance had me wriggling from his grasp, but Kai lifted my hand to his lips, and the urge to slap him was suddenly stronger than the need to continue our charade for Gio’s sake.
He was fucking with me.
“I’ll keep her out of the kitchen from now on,” he said with a chuckle.
Bastard.
Gio nodded in agreement, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
“Amalia,” Kai called my name as I climbed the steps to my home’s front entrance. Gentle fingers held my elbow, and while my initial instinct was to pull away from his touch, I stilled, waiting for him to say whatever was on his mind.
“He seems like a good kid.”
“He is.”
Kai tugged me until I was facing him. “You’re different with him.”
“Of course I am.”
I didn’t know why I was annoyed that my brother seemed to like Kai more than anyone I’d ever introduced him to. Once those first fifteen minutes of awkward small talk were behind them, he and Kai fell into an easy companionship. Gio talked his ear off about robotics and everything else he was into while my soon-to-be fake husband pretended to be interested, even though he seemed genuinely entertained.
That son of a bitch. I knew what he was doing, trying to get under my skin, using my brother.
“Amalia.” He placed his forefinger under my chin. “We don’t have to be like this.”
“Oh, thank God,” I said, with blatant sarcasm.
“Exactly.”
Without warning, Kai tightened his grip. “If we’re going to spend the next three years tolerating each other, can we at least make it bearable?”
I offered him a grin and shoved him back.
“Don’t be a pussy, Cain. This is me being nice. Because men who dare to lay their hands on me without permission lose their fingers, dicks, or their lives if I’m in a particularly good mood. And seeing as you still have all three, consider yourself my fucking bestie.”
As I pivoted toward the door, he yanked me back until I collided with his hard chest. His fist was wrapped into my hair, lips at my ear. Caught off guard, I was momentarily stunned…but worst of all, I was wet.
“We can be friends, vicious. The best goddamn friends with benefits.” His other arm snaked around my belly, pulling me flush to him, his cock hard at my back. When my eyes fluttered closed, I didn’t know whether I wanted to slap him or slap myself for letting him get to me. I hated the way he made me feel like I could lose control.
The thought was terrifying.
“Kai, you bastard.” My nails dug into his forearm, and he hissed over the shell of my ear, causing yet another flush of wetness between my thighs.
The vibration of his chuckle against my skin forced me to clamp my lips together. I’d be damned if he knew how much he affected me. I wasn’t sure what this game was between us. Worst of all, I didn’t know that I entirely hated it.
“You know, from the moment I saw you, even years ago, I wondered what my fist would look like wrapped around this hair of yours.” The tighter he gripped me, the more aroused I became. “Small world, isn’t it?”
“You’re playing with fire, Cain.”
“I know. You feel it, too?”
Kai turned out to be bolder than I ever imagined he would be, but I could play that game, too.