15. Amorette
AMORETTE
“E l pequeno gato se sentó ,” I muttered as I walked around Grey’s apartment. Lafe had gotten me a few children’s books from someone outside their compound, and I had spent the last two hours reading and repeating the words.
I doubted small cats would ever come up in conversation, but Lafe was right. I needed a foundation if I was genuinely going to master the language. At least it was a phonetic language, and everything sounded like it looked.
“ El pequeno gato, ” I repeated, enjoying the foreign way my mouth moved to make the sounds.
“Mm….” Grey slid his hands around my waist and nuzzled my hair. “I’m going to spar in the courtyard. Come watch.”
“I can’t.” I placed my hand over his forearm. “I need to speak the language. I can’t stay here if I’m unable to understand anything happening around me.” What secrets would I learn when people assumed I couldn’t speak it? The thought of having the upper hand sparked excitement in my chest.
Grey groaned, pulling his face away. “You can bring the book with you.” He pulled the flap over so he could see what it was. "The kid’s story will be just as nice in the sun as it is here. Don’t you miss being around me?” He flexed his hips, digging his growing erection into the small of my back.
“It’s not about missing you. Or having sex with you, or anything else. This is about me and giving myself a tool to succeed. You four fought so hard to keep me here. Andre and Lafe brought me back. Let me help myself. Unless you want to help me.” I turned in his arms and raised my brows.
“I think about you and your sweet pussy all day long. When we’re together, I fantasize about stuffing you with my cum, shoving a tracking device under your skin in a place where you can’t tear it out.
I’d fuck you non-stop if I could. You’re telling me that I’m giving you an opportunity to be around me while still doing what you want to do, and you’re refusing?
” He gripped my waist, his face a mask of incredulity.
Taking a step back, I pressed the hand with the book against his stomach.
“What is your problem? We see each other every day. Every night. At least most of the time. This is something I want to do for me, and it has zero to do with you. If it’s such a big deal, why don’t you stay here while I work on learning these words!
” I raised the book and shook it at him.
This wasn’t a big deal, except the way he was treating me like a brainless Stepford hole was insulting, damn it.
“Fuck that. I have to stay sharp for what I do. For the life I live. Hell, you should be out there training too.” He pointed toward the courtyard.
“You’re right, I do,” I agreed, and some of the bluster left him.
“Then—”
“Just not now. This is as important as protecting myself. If I get taken again—”
“That’s not going to happen,” he growled.
“It’s not fucking up to you!” I heaved a breath and turned to the side.
All of the possible outcomes with their father were on my mind every day.
They were trying to…I didn’t know, shelter me from it?
Or just didn’t care to keep me in the loop.
But it was building and building until I felt like I constantly needed to be on alert and working to give myself every advantage conceivable. “What’s going on with Vicente?”
“What?” His face scrunched in confusion, and I turned back and took a step toward him.
“What’s going on with Vicente? Did you all make up? Is he still after you? Is he doing sneak attacks or about to storm the gates?”
His lips twitched and I wanted to claw his face for not taking this seriously.
“This isn’t funny!” I snapped, throwing the book on the couch. “These are things on my mind, and you all are ignoring me or keeping me in the dark on purpose. Is this the life you wanted me to have?”
Grey started to respond, but a knock came at the door. He just left me standing in the middle of the floor to go answer it. The bastard.
When he came back, a smirking Parker followed in his wake, and the joy on his face increased as he glanced between Grey and me.
“Tell me this is about to be a repeat, dear brother.” He rubbed his hands together and locked his gaze on my rapidly rising and falling chest.
“Don’t.” I pointed at him, a flush creeping up my chest at the memory of the last time we were all in this apartment.
"But, Little Love, that was downright the highlight of my week.” He started to walk toward me, but Grey gripped his shirt and pulled him back. Twisting, Parker shoved Grey away. “If you wanted to spar, say so. I’m not a fucking kid you can sling around.”
“I do want to spar. And mamí just gave me a hell of a motivation to beat the shit out of someone. That might as well be you.” He nodded toward the door for Parker to follow him, only Parker didn’t go anywhere.
“Sorry, can’t. I actually came here for Little Love. She owes me some work.” He kept his attention riveted to my face like he was waiting.
Did this mean I was going to be able to use the internet? That traitorous pounding started in my chest again. Even knowing I wouldn’t jeopardize what they had here to save myself, any crumb of freedom was intoxicating.
“The items you wanted me to research,” I breathed. “Let me grab my shoes.”
“Hold on a fucking minute. You’re stopping with the Spanish to go work with fucking Parker?
” His voice pitched in tone as he stalked forward.
He growled under his breath as he yanked me to him.
“It’s unacceptable that this is one-sided, mamí,” he whispered and crashed his mouth against mine.
Dipping down, he cupped his hands just under my ass cheeks and loose shorts to pick me up against him.
Lost in the familiar sensation of his drugging kisses, I opened my mouth to let his tongue slip in. Then he pulled back and bit my lip, hard.
“Ouch!” I yelped. The bastard used one hand to smack my ass.
“Mm. The recoil,” Parker murmured. I couldn’t even look at him, leaving my focus on Grey’s brilliant green eyes that seemed to brighten with his anger. Holding me almost to the point of pain, Grey leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on my lips. I didn’t return it, merely glaring at him.
“Remember when she’s with you that my bite mark is on her lip, and handprint is on her ass,” he said quietly, holding my gaze. He lowered me back to my feet and stormed out the front door, leaving a shit-eating grin on Parker’s face.
“Trouble in paradise?” He chuckled.
I almost lost it on all the ways Grey was showing his crazy, but I stopped myself.
Parker wasn’t my friend. We weren’t buddies, or even allies.
He only tolerated my presence because it amused him to watch his brothers lose their goddamn minds, and because at least Grey would kick his ass if he sent me away.
“Where do you want me to do my research?” When in doubt of how to react in a situation, pretend there wasn’t one.
He smirked as if he had my number and was happy to play along, for now. “At my place. Come on, Little Love. I’ll give you a lift if you’re scared to walk in the hallway barefoot.”
I scoffed. “It’s fine. Let’s go.” I led the way to the door when it was clear he wasn’t going to go first, but I dead-stopped at his next words.
“The imprint is half under your shorts, and half on the cheek that’s exposed, in case you wanted to know.”
Closing my eyes, I counted to ten. When I first came here, Parker was a wild card. He stirred up trouble to get a rise out of people. He was doing the same thing now, except everything out of his mouth was sexual. If I ignored him and his comments, he’d leave me the hell alone.
And that was what I did. I ignored him all the way to his apartment.
Inside, Parker already had his laptop sitting out on the coffee table.
He hit the mousepad and turned it on, then entered a short password that was too fast for me to catch.
“This laptop is monitored and restricted. You can Google search. However, any submissions, emails, or communications are prohibited. You can thank parental locks for that.” He smiled at the screen.
“And when you’re done, a detailed report of every click will be delivered to my own personal email.
Andre’s too. We’re trusting you just a little. Don’t make us regret it.”
He snickered, softening the sharp angles of his face. “Not that you can really do much, but you have to crawl before you can walk, right, Little Love?” The soothing tone of his voice was almost mesmerizing if it wasn’t for the insulting connotation of his words.
“Fuck you, Parker,” I said as I stepped around him to take a seat on his couch.
But it lacked the heat I’d had with Grey.
I expected this nastiness and distrust from Parker.
From Grey, because I’d shared my body with him, it felt like he should trust me or at least give me the information I needed to stay alive.
“I’d love to,” he grinned. “Though something tells me you’d be too much work with my brothers clamoring after your delightful charms.”
“Brothers?” That feeling that I’d done something wrong reared its ugly head.
“Come on. Like you don’t know.” He leaned toward me, his black eyes sparking with glee.
“Grey’s eating out of the palm of your hand.
Lafe, too, except he’s so afraid of his shadow, he’d never act on it.
Don’t you find it odd that that particular brother who never goes against anyone for anything was the one who took you? ”
Dropping my gaze, I pulled a pillow on my lap, then placed the laptop on it.
I didn’t like this kind of chat. My poker face was damn good.
Usually. There was just something about Parker that made me believe he’d know everything that happened to me as I would think it, especially if he was looking into my eyes.
“That’s not nice to talk about him that way. With Gr—” I sucked in a sharp breath. “With Grace, I’d never say anything so mean and condescending to her or about her to strangers.”