11. Amorette #2
Outside of a few rare moments, his face had been set in a constant state of mild indifference. Which was eerie with how much he watched me. Now was no exception, even when his gaze swept my body and lingered on Parker’s closeness.
The woman’s face pinched, but when she noticed me looking at her, her expression smoothed into something light and engaging. “Parker, who’s this lovely jewel?”
“Amorette, Valentina. Valentina, Amorette,” Parker said in a bored tone.
Matías slowly rose from the chair, buttoned his suit jacket that did very little to hide his broad stature, and approached us.
He dipped his head while holding Parker’s stare.
“Amorette. I’d say it was a pleasure seeing you again, but…
” He finally dropped his gaze to me, and something softened in his eyes.
“Matías. It’s never long enough between our visits.” Parker caught my hand in his and brought it up to his mouth, pressing a hot kiss against my knuckles while he glared.
A shiver worked its way down my body, and I was just barely able to suppress it. I narrowed my eyes at Parker.
Seriously? They were having a pissing contest. For what? It certainly didn’t seem like it was all about me.
Matías certainly never made a move against me while I was with him the entire week. And he’d called Andre when he could have been his father’s son and done unspeakable things because he wanted to.
“Funny, Snow.” Parker headed toward the other side of the table, tugging me along behind him. “When you sent the invite, I had no idea you had a death wish.”
Snow laughed, but it was forced. He took the head seat, only two spots down from where Parker had planted us. And coincidentally, right across from Matías and the woman.
Then more tension slowly bled into the room until the silent glares being tossed around were so uncomfortable I struggled to keep my calm. Finally, Snow broke. “Inviting you here was risky, but Matías insisted on it.” He flicked his gaze to Matías.
Valentina rolled her eyes. “It would have been nice if someone would have shared that with me. This is my one night here before I return to the states.”
My heart skipped a beat. What I wouldn’t give to go back, even just to hug Grace. But I kept my emotions locked down.
Then Valentina turned to me. “Amorette, how did you come to be with my brother?”
My eyes widened. I couldn’t help it. In what seemed like slow motion, I cut my gaze to Parker.
He shook his head but answered my unspoken question.
“Andre, Lafe, Grey, and I are bastards. You know that. What you might not know,” he raised his brows as if asking if any of the brothers had told me, “is that Vicente had a wife. And two perfect babies were a result of that sanctimonious union.”
Valentina and Matías were the legitimate children. Holy hell, there were six of them. For a man with an inflated sense of self, it didn’t surprise me that he would try to populate the world with his offspring. He probably knew at least a few of them would hate him.
Valentina rolled her eyes, and Matías just watched Parker with an unreadable expression. “So tell me, Amorette, how did you come to be with him .” The way derision dripped over him had my spine straightening.
I hesitated, waiting for Parker to jump in and say I wasn’t with him, but he took a swig out of the wine glass in front of him, watching me with glittering eyes. Just as I was about to open my mouth, Matías beat me to it.
“She’s not Parker’s. Apparently, she’s Grey’s.”
Valentina has a good snort over that, and it did everything to ruin the beauty of her face.
“Please. That savage?” She shook her head and stared back at me.
“Honey, these boys,” she cut her gaze at Snow, “all boys are a waste of space. If you want to have a real place in our world, let me know. I can read the intelligence in your eyes as easily as I can sniff out a rat. You’d go far with me. ”
“Go far doing what? Blowing men under tables for favors? That’s what you do best for Vicente,” Parker drawled as he slouched down in his chair like he was relaxed with old friends. But the hatred that sizzled between brother and sister killed any impressions of that.
So different from his visible dislike of Matías. It was like comparing an annoying gnat to a venomous snake.
Snow knitted his brow as he watched the exchange.
Parker tapped his finger on his glass stem.
“Snow, I’m disappointed. I thought you invited me here to discuss a particular piece of merchandise I’ve had my eye on for ages.
I can’t say I’m happy about this turn of events.
I hate being ambushed.” Parker broke his stare with Valentina to quirk an irritated brow at Snow.
“As Snow said, this was my request.” Matías crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Vicente knows that I no longer have Amorette.” He flicked those cool brown eyes to me, then back to Parker. “You needed to know, and this was neutral ground.”
As if without his permission, Matías’ gaze landed on me again. It was a living, breathing thing as it swept over my body. Heat built under my skin and I turned to Valentina to give myself a breather, but she was eyeing me speculatively.
“Like you couldn’t use a burner to call Andre like before.
” Suddenly, Parker leaned into my side and used the back of his fingers to move my hair from my neck.
“Are you sure you didn’t ask us here so you’d have a chance to see Little Love?
” He dropped a hot kiss just below my ear, and goosebumps erupted over my skin.
I wanted to punch him in the balls, to kick him away from me, except I couldn’t.
Sitting at a table with three very dangerous unknowns, I had no idea the best way to play this, and Parker was taking advantage of that.
One of his hands slipped down to grip my hip and his fingers tightened, and I knew—I knew he was thinking about Grey fucking me.
Matías glared at Parker like he was two fries short of a meal. “How could I have known you’d bring her.” Then he switched to Spanish, and everyone at the table stiffened.
Parker responded, almost spitting at him with his reply, and shoved up from the table. “Thanks, Snow. Let’s never do this again.” He held his hand out, and I took it, for appearance's sake.
I allowed Parker to usher us out, looking every bit the intimate lovers he wanted us to be, as his hand on my back lowered to my ass just before we were out of sight.
The men who came with us joined us on our walk back to the helicopter. The way they fanned around us out of nowhere made me think they were watching and waiting for this very scenario to happen. It seemed too planned.
Anger burned so hot, my hand itched to rake down his chest and leave bloody welts in their place. How fucking dare he.
Snow’s men stood back, watching us with all the energy of docile alligators. Happy for us to leave, but ready to snap if provoked. As soon as we took off and our headsets were in place, Parker glanced back at the men behind us on the benches.
“Did you get it?”
When I glanced back, all the men accompanying us were utterly stone-faced. Until one cracked a smile and pulled an envelope out of his jacket. “Got it.”
“What did you do?” I turned to Parker, alarmed that there was so much more going on here than I had initially thought.
“I told you it was a job. I fucking hate Snow. If I had known he was going to pull that shit, I would have had my men grab more stuff.” He faced forward and continued our ride back to the compound.
The entire time I stewed, outlining exactly what I would say to Parker as soon as we got back.
Everything was too tame. There weren’t enough words for me to tell him what a fucking bastard he was for first, watching me with Grey, and second, for acting like he had rights to me when I couldn’t do anything about it.
I needed to know the stakes. I needed to understand the rules so I didn’t feel so fucking helpless ever again.
We landed, and I yanked off the headset and tossed it on the seat as I climbed out. Parker came around the corner, holding his hands out with a smirk like he intended to pull my hips flush against his.
It was an awkward angle, but I cocked back my fist and let go with everything I had, hitting the underside of his chin. His teeth clicked together, and he cursed as his head popped back.
“Don’t you ever—fucking ever—touch me again without my permission. And keep the hell out of my sex life.” I shoved at his chest as victory instantly hit me when he stumbled back a few steps.
That was probably more to do with the surprise coating his face than my strength. Regardless, I’d take it.
Lafe was walking toward us, his steps slowing to a near halt. I pointed at him. “Take me the fuck inside. I can’t look at him anymore.”
I stomped toward him, passing as he stepped aside. Parker didn’t follow us, and that was for the best.
My anger was starting to calm, but I already wanted another go at him.
Tomorrow. I’d ask myself if I still felt that way tomorrow.