Chapter Sixteen
Several drinks later , the atmosphere in Siren’s Cove changed when the lights dimmed. Every table in the large space was occupied, mostly by the dinner crowd, but some people were there to drink and listen to the live band that was set up on the stage in the back.
Trinity swayed to the music. “They’re a pretty good cover band.”
Nikita poured them both another drink. “They are.”
“Another round? Fuck it, why not? I’ve got a nice buzz going. Let’s stay and get drunk tonight.”
“I don’t mind staying, but your men might.”
“I’m surprised they haven’t shown up yet.” She felt a little disappointed that they hadn’t even tried to call her.
“They’ve been here for half an hour.”
Surprised, Trinity glanced around. Sure enough, Jackson and Maxwell were seated at the long bar chowing down on a couple of burgers. Even though a crowd was starting to gather around the bar, the other patrons gave the two men a wide berth, probably due to Jackson’s fierce frown.
“I recognize Maxwell King,” Nikita commented. “I met him when he came to scout the area before they opened the Palace Resort in Ever After. And the other guy must be Lieutenant Jackson Stone.”
“The one with the perpetual scowl on his face? Yeah, that’s him. I’ll be right back. I’m going to the bathroom.”
Her friend smirked and said, “Sure thing.”
As soon as she stood up, Trinity immediately felt two pairs of eyes sighting down on her. Doing her best to ignore them, she made her way toward the bathroom. On her way back to the table, she got an idea. Detouring toward the opposite end of the bar from where Jackson and Maxwell were sitting, she made the deliberate choice to squeeze up to the bar next to Alan Browning, the foreman of the resort construction.
Browning was a lean man, but his body was packed with muscle from years of doing hard labor. He was ruggedly handsome, but there was something off about him that triggered Trinity’s internal alarm. Because of that, she wanted to see if she could get any information from the creep. As she leaned on the bar, one of the male bartenders immediately came over to serve her.
“What can I get you?” he asked with a suggestive smile.
“I just need a couple of bottles of water. My friend and I already have a bottle of the hard stuff.”
When she pointed toward the table behind her with her thumb, the bartender laughed. “Honey, I know what table you’re at. I think everyone in the bar does. You sure are a pretty pair. I’ll get those bottles for you.”
“Thanks.”
When he left to get her drinks, Alan Browning said, “Drinking some expensive stuff tonight.”
So, he’d noticed what she and Nikita were drinking.
“Good stuff,” Trinity corrected. Feigning surprise, she did a double take and smiled at him. “Oh, hey! I met you earlier. I’m sorry, I forgot your name…”
“Alan. Alan Browning. You were with Mr. King at the construction site today,” he said before taking a long pull of his draft beer.
“Yep.” She laughed lightly. “Not that I know much about building stuff.”
“Seemed like you did on your visit today. In fact, it seems like you played a big part in shutting us down today. We’ve got a schedule to keep and we’re already behind. My guys need to work. They’ve got families to feed.”
His eyes narrowed on her, and she could see his tiny little brain working behind those cold brown eyes. She wanted to roll her own when his gaze drifted lower to her cleavage.
The bartender came back with two bottles of water. “Here you go!”
Instead of charging the bottles to their tab, Trinity pulled a twenty out of her pocket and set it down on the bar.
“I’ll be right back with your change,” the bartender said.
“No need.”
“Thanks!”
“That’s generous of you,” Alan sneered, his creepy gaze still roaming over her body. “Must be nice to have money to spend. Or is it your boyfriend’s money?”
Oh man, she really wanted to hit him.
Well, if he wasn’t pulling punches, then neither would she. “Sorry, I don’t need a man to buy me things. And maybe your men would be working and getting paid if you guys hadn’t fucked up the build so bad.”
Alan Browning gulped down the last of his beer and slammed the glass down on the bar. He took out his wallet and threw down some money. He stood up, pressing closer to her than necessary. “You’ve got a smart mouth. When you’re done with the suit and want to give a real man a try, give me a call.”
He stormed away as the bartender came back.
“Hey, if you aren’t busy, why don’t you stick around? I get off work at—”
“She’s busy.”
“And taken.”
The bartender’s face paled as he stared at the two men standing behind her. She felt the heat of their bodies pressing against her. She sighed as she watched the bartender book it to the other end of the bar as fast as he could. Lifting the bottles of water in one hand, she turned and saw Jackson and Maxwell scowling at her.
She chose to smile in the face of danger. “Funny meeting you here.”
“Damn it, Katrina. What the hell were you doing talking to Alan Browning? Max told me what happened at the construction site earlier. That guy has every reason to hate your guts for closing down the project.”
“I didn’t close it down, Max did. And it’s not like he could have done anything to me here in front of all these people.”
“If he touched you, I would have killed him,” Maxwell said softly.
“Christ, you can’t say shit like that,” Jackson snapped. “And who’s to say he isn’t the one behind the attacks. You shouldn’t have gotten in his face like that.”
“Please, if that asshat would have made a move, I would have put him down myself. And I got close to him so I could see if I learned anything, and I did.”
“What did you learn, besides he likes to leer at women who don’t belong to him?” Maxwell asked evenly, setting her teeth on edge again.
“What I learned is that Browning has a problem with people who have money, even though he has plenty of his own,” she said slowly as if neither man were too bright. “His wallet was full of cash, and he was sporting a nice new Rolex on his wrist.”
“It could have been a fake,” Jackson argued.
She scoffed at that. “I knew how to tell the difference between fake and real by the time I was twelve and picking pockets on the street.”
Jackson’s vicious curse was drowned out by Maxwell’s laughter. “You have a strange and varied array of talents, love.”
Trinity grinned. “You know it.”
“Enough of this,” Jackson growled, grabbing her arm. “We’re leaving.”
“I can’t leave. I’m here with a friend.”
“Nikita left while you were in the bathroom,” Maxwell informed her. “She said you wouldn’t mind that she gave the rest of the bottle of scotch to the table next to yours. Although, the two of you drank most of it already.”
She glanced over, and sure enough, a party of four was already seated at the table Trinity and Nikita had been sitting at. She guessed she didn’t have that excuse anymore. Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she saw the text Nikita had left her telling her she was heading back to the resort.
With that confirmed, she put her phone away and grinned. “Well, I guess I’m free then.”
Sighing, she allowed herself to be pulled along in Jackson’s wake as Maxwell grabbed hold of her other hand, holding it as if they were out for a casual stroll instead of them dragging her out of the bar.
Enjoying her slight buzz, Trinity leaned into Jackson’s hard body, pressing up against him suggestively as soon as they were outside. She felt him take a deep breath, pushing his solid chest against her breasts, making her nipples tighten and tingle. “So, Lieutenant Stone…now that you found me, what are you going to do with me?”
His nostrils flared and his green eyes darkened with lust. “What I should do is spank you, you little hellion.”
Trinity raised a brow at that. “Is that supposed to be a threat? That could be fun. But I should warn you, if you spank me that means I get my turn next.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “I don’t get spanked, baby. I dish it out.”
She leaned in closer. “Well, you better learn to take it.” She nipped at his lower lip with her teeth, sucking it lightly before releasing it with a saucy grin. “Because I give as good as I get.”
He cursed again as she pressed herself close enough to rub against the erection straining his jeans. She felt Max crowd against her back, the hard ridge of his shaft settling against the crease of her ass. No matter how annoyed she was with them, these men definitely made her hot. She felt her core heat as she imagined those hard cocks working inside her together, bringing her the ultimate pleasure.
“Perhaps we should take this off the street before one of Jackson’s colleagues has to arrest us for indecent exposure.” Maxwell’s voice was a rough whisper of sound.
“We’ll go to my house. The three of us need privacy. Follow me there.” Jackson’s eyes gleamed with an unholy light. “Max will drive you since you’ve been drinking.”
Since the command in his voice irked her, she released him and wrapped herself around Max, who welcomed her into his embrace. “You going to take me for a ride, sugar?”
“I’d love to,” he said with a grin.
She loved looking into Maxwell’s sapphire blue eyes. Actually, she loved the way he looked at her. Like he was completely focused on her and her alone.
“Car. Now,” Jackson growled beside them.
Taking her hand again, Maxwell led her toward where he’d parked. She wasn’t surprised to see Jackson’s motorcycle squeezed up right behind her car. It figured. He was always on her ass. She snorted at her own joke, making both her guys glance at her. She shrugged, not bothering to explain.
Maybe they’d understand if they had a drink…or three.
She slid into the passenger seat of her convertible without opening the door and was glad the seat had already been moved all the way back so she could stretch her legs out. Maxwell got in and started the car as Jackson’s engine revved behind them. The throbbing sound of his bike increased as he pulled out of his spot, and Maxwell shifted into gear and pulled out after him.
The cool wind blew Trinity’s hair back, and she rested her head back, enjoying the perfect weather and the clear night sky. There was an air of seriousness that settled over them as they took the road out of town, headed toward the isolated side of the island where Jackson lived.
“I’m sorry about earlier, Trinity,” Maxwell said sincerely, breaking the silence. “Believe me, I never meant to make you feel like I was using you in any way.”
She sighed. “I know you didn’t, but it still pissed me off. I mean, how would you like it if I acted like any man would do while you were inside me?”
She watched as his jaw clenched. Clearly, he didn’t like that idea.
Warming to the discussion, she continued. “It’s pretty obvious that the chemistry and sexual attraction is there between me and both of you, but I don’t think you guys really know me . And that is the big fucking problem we have.”
“You have to tell us then. You can’t just walk away when we’re having an argument.”
“Honestly? I was too pissed to stick around and needed to walk away to think.”
Maxwell was quiet as they continued to drive. When they got to the residential area, it was surprising to see how much land each of the properties had. All of the houses located in that area were far away from one another, ensuring privacy.
No, not houses.
They were big ass villas.
She was surprised. Even though she knew Jackson came from money, it was still a shock to see the large white mansion they pulled up to. The house was surrounded by palm trees, shielding part of the front of the building, and there were various levels with balconies that opened up to the sea in the back.
The structure itself was white, but the roof was a dark gray, giving it some contrast. There were a lot of wide windows, allowing a lot of light into each of the levels, but that made Trinity cringe since it was a serious security risk. There was a smaller house on the property off to the left side. By normal standards, it was a good-sized house. However, next to the main structure it looked tiny in comparison.
They pulled up in the circular drive in front of the house and got out of the car as Jackson got off his bike. When she glanced at the smaller house, she had to fight back a smile as he fidgeted.
“My…housekeepers live there. Rosa, Maria, and Hector have been with my family since I was a kid. Let’s go in.”
He unlocked the front door and led them through a wide-open foyer. Maxwell gripped her hand in his as they led her up a flight of wooden stairs, then turned toward the left wing of the house. She had a nagging feeling that she was being led to her doom. It was the same feeling she often got when approaching an ambush in the field.
It was killing her buzz quick, and she didn’t like it.
She didn’t like it one bit.
They led her down a wide hallway to an enormous bedroom that was done up in dark colors, with deep, crimson-colored walls. The centerpiece of the room was a dark mahogany, four-poster bed that was as big as a lake. The bed was covered with a duvet a few shades lighter than the walls, with a dark gray throw folded at the end of the bed. There was also a large maroon couch and a few chairs in the room, but basically, that was it for furniture. It had a small balcony facing the back of the house and an opened doorway led to what she assumed was a bathroom.
It was a beautiful room, but somehow it felt…cold to her.
She frowned when Jackson moved a chair to the center of the room. When Maxwell led her to the wooden chair, she hesitated briefly until he tugged her forward lightly.
“Have a seat, love.”
She had a feeling that would be a really bad idea, but the scotch she’d consumed made her override her warning system. Giving in, she sat down cautiously, wondering what they were up to. Then, she jerked in surprise as both Jackson and Maxwell pulled out the attached straps on the armrests that she hadn’t seen.
“Have you two lost your fucking minds?” she asked softly, her voice a deadly whisper.
Both Jackson and Maxwell finished binding her to the chair and took a seat on the couch, facing her.
“No, but we’ve decided that we’re sick of you running off when we’re talking,” Jackson bit out angrily.
“You said we didn’t know you. So, we are going to talk. Here and now. This way you can’t leave if you don’t like what we have to say until this is done,” Maxwell said it so casually, had she been free she knew she would have slapped his handsome face.
She struggled against the straps, testing their strength, then stopped. She glanced around the room as she tried to get control of her rage, but it wasn’t working. This was the way they wanted to handle this? Like a fucking interrogation? The setup inside the room made her blood run cold as she finally realized what she’d been missing.
Her head whipped back so she could glare at Jackson. “This isn’t your bedroom.”
It was a statement, not a question.
He stilled. “Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s not. There are no personal items of any kind in here. Are you fucking kidding me? After what I told you today, you bring me into your fuck room in order to interrogate me?”
He cringed slightly at that, then narrowed his eyes at her. “I brought you in here because I knew I could make you stay put so we could finish a fucking conversation. I was going to blindfold your stubborn ass, too, but—”
“If you even try it, I promise you this will be the last time you ever see me.” She’d spoken in a voice so cold she wasn’t surprised when both men flinched. “This has got to be the most fucked-up thing any man has ever done who claims to be trying to have a relationship with me.”
“That’s just it,” Maxwell snapped. “We’re trying. This is so we can talk. If you need to tell us about yourself so we understand you better, then this is what we’re willing to do to make that happen. Trinity, we want you to tell us what you need—”
“What I need is to have my head examined for even considering having anything to do with either of you after you pull this shit. You want me to tell you about me? In here? Like this?”
Perhaps it was the liquid courage running through her system, or the advice that her friend had given her earlier that made her want to show them exactly why it was so dangerous to piss her off. Her breathing sped up despite her struggle to remain in control.
Fuck it, she was losing it fast.
They wanted the real her?
Then, she would give it to them.
“Want to know how my last mission went? I went undercover to help take down a pretty nasty human trafficking ring and had my hands tied behind my back before I was shoved into a cargo container with several other people who were just trying to buy their way to a new life. Then, imagine four men climbing into the back of the truck with you, and the only light is from one tiny little lamp that they’ve brought in so they can see what they’re doing. And what they’re trying to do is rape you and another young woman who is stuck in there with you.”
“My god…” Maxwell breathed out.
“Katrina—”
“No,” she barked out, aware that there were tears shimmering in her eyes now. She could see the regret on both of their faces, but she wasn’t backing down now.
She had things she had to say.
Things they needed to understand about her.
“You asked for it, so you’ll get it. I was able to grab the knife off of one of the men when he came for me and ended up slicing my own wrist trying to free my hands. I fought so damn hard, and when another came at me with a gun, I managed to take him out with just a graze instead of a bullet to my chest. I was finally able to free myself, but we broke the lamp in the process so it was pretty brutal and messy after that.”
She took a shuddering breath and forced herself to continue.
“I killed four men to save myself but was stuck there in the dark, bleeding from the wrist and stab wounds to my side until my team could come for me. That’s who I am. I’m not a woman who needs to be told what to do or will tolerate being fucking dictated to. I need control of myself and my actions. It’s not a preference for me. It’s survival. And this? Do you want to know what I really think of all this?”
Holding onto the arms of the chair, she shot to her feet and whirled around, slamming the chair against the bedpost. She was practically sobbing now, barely able to breathe, but pure rage was leading her actions now. She continued to slam the chair until the wood cracked into pieces and the bedpost snapped. Off balance, she fell to the ground.
Before she hit the floor, Jackson caught her to him, holding her tight. “Jesus Christ! I’m sorry, baby. I’m so fucking sorry.”
He hurried to help Maxwell undo the straps still binding her arms to the slates of broken wood. Once she was free, she hauled her fist back and let it fly. Jackson’s head snapped back as her fist connected with his pretty face.
“Son of a bitch!”
“That’s for being stupid,” she snarled at him, then slammed her mouth down on his in a brutal kiss. He gripped her hair in his hand, holding her still as he met her aggression head-on, feeding off of her as she did him, their tongues tangling together in wild fervor.
He pulled back with a curse and touched his lip. “You fucking wildcat.”
Her eyes narrowed on him at the new nickname, then she swung her head over to Maxwell as he laughed.
“Kat. It suits you,” he claimed. “One minute you’re purring and rubbing against us, and the next you’re spitting and swiping at us with your claws.”
“Oh, really? How about this?”
She reached up and got a good hold of Maxwell’s shirt, ripping it apart so the fabric was torn in half.
“Well, now…this shirt was expensive,” he said, his blue eyes practically glowing with lust and laughter.
“Bill me,” she retorted.
Maxwell growled as he yanked her into his arms. He took her lips in a searing kiss, sharing the same wild heat that she had with Jackson seconds earlier. She crawled onto his lap, straddling him and rubbing against his rock-hard shaft like the cat he’d nicknamed her.
“Not in here,” Jackson said, distracting them. “Not in this room.”
“Why,” she asked mockingly as she turned her head to glare at him. “Don’t you fuck all your women in here?”
His eyes narrowed. “And you’ve made it clear how you feel about that when you broke the fucking chair into pieces.”
“You’re lucky that’s all I did. I want to torch this damn room.”
“Jealous much?” Jackson shot back with a smirk.
“Hell, yes, I am,” she snapped. “If you’re serious about making this work, then you’re mine just as much as I’m yours. Do you want to hear about the last man I slept with before you two? How many times we did it and in what positions?”
“No!” both men shouted.
“Being in here is the equivalent of that. It’s like a fucking slap to the face.”
“Then, I’ll tear the damn place apart myself tomorrow,” Jackson swore as he hauled her into his arms as he stood. “But right now, I’m taking you to my room and we’re going to fuck you on my bed where you belong.”
He carried her out, taking her down the long hallway to the right wing of the house to his room at the end of the hallway. When they got to his room, he didn’t stop until he tossed her onto his massive bed.
Where the other room had been cold, this room felt like his personal domain. It had the same mahogany wood furniture as the other one, but the walls were a soft, pale blue that matched the duvet covering the bed. Clothes were thrown over one of the chairs and scattered over the floor. There was an enormous TV over a gas fireplace and a set of French doors leading to a large balcony that overlooked the sea. The glass balcony doors and wide windows let the moonlight spill into the room, giving them enough light to see everything clearly.
Jackson realized that having her here in his space felt right. It felt like she belonged there. That thought should have freaked him out, but strangely, it didn’t.
She had been right. The other room had been where he had taken women when he had them over. He never allowed anyone he was seeing into his own bedroom, his haven. And he had fucked up taking Trinity in there. She hadn’t belonged in that room, and he’d known it. Having her in there had felt wrong, but he had been determined to get her to open up to him.
He’d gone with his default, using sexual persuasion to get what he wanted, but that had been a mistake. But he hadn’t realized just how badly he’d miscalculated until she had started speaking.
She pushed him back when he tried to come down on top of her and shook her head. Without looking away from him, she reached out and pulled Maxwell down on the bed next to him.
“Uh uh, Jackson. You still need to be punished for pulling that shit in the other room.”
“What?”
“I’ll take care of you later. That’s a promise. But as your punishment, this first round you have to watch Max fuck my brains out.”
Maxwell suck in a sharp breath, then he grinned. “With pleasure.”
“Damn it, Katrina!” Jackson raged.
“Sit back and relax, Jackson. Because, baby, this is going to be a pleasurable ride.”