Chapter 2
Chapter Two
CASEY
I pulled my jacket tighter, missing the warmth of home as I made my way through the airport terminal. Even inside, it was cold. Snow had started falling as the plane landed, and I’d peered out, watching how the flakes gathered on the ground below. My mother had moved us from the province so long ago I’d forgotten what snow looked like. Armina was situated on the far west coast where the air stayed warm and pleasant year-round. I hadn’t returned since she packed us up when I was thirteen. That day had been emotional, having to leave my older brother Tyson behind. It had been his choice to stay. He was eight years older than me, and he and his best friend, Mason, were already building their empire.
Unlike Riley, Tyson had kept me informed. I knew what they were doing, as did our mother. Which was why she’d moved us, and why Tyson had suggested it after our father passed away. He didn’t want us anywhere near the business; it was too dangerous. But that didn’t mean he’d left me in the dark. Instead, we talked regularly and when he came out to visit, he would teach me. At first, it was the basics of the business and as I matured, it was the more dangerous aspects. I could defend myself, use every gun Tyson had bought for me, and read people and tell the threatening ones from the ordinary ones…something Riley had never learned.
I shifted my oversized purse and rested it on my carry-on, then returned to my hike through the airport. My brother had wanted me to take the private jet, but I’d argued about how wasteful that was. He’d still sent the two men currently tailing me and bought all three of us first-class tickets after making me promise to take the private jet back. My arguments had fallen on deaf ears, and I’d consented, happy that I’d at least gotten him to compromise.
Even though the airport was small, it was busy, and I couldn’t stop myself from looking around. It seemed odd to see people bundled up in heavy coats, and I plowed into a woman in front of me with my sight on everything but the path I was walking. She gave me a dirty look, especially when the man with her let his eyes linger on me a little longer than he should have.
I could have flirted with him just to annoy her, but I had other things on my mind and two intimidating men at my back. Throwing her a quick apology, I looked away from her companion and caught the eye of a cute pilot making his way down the terminal. I flashed him a sexy smile, which he returned with a grin that made me want to stop and give him my number. If Tyson hadn’t been waiting for me and Riley’s mental health hadn’t been in jeopardy, I would have. Giving him a wink, I kept my eyes locked ahead of me. I could go back to flirting and playing when I returned to Armina.
I already missed the sound of the waves on the coast and the smell of saltwater that wafted in through my open balcony at home. Maybe that was what Riley needed—a trip to the beach with me. Away from the cold winter air and depressing lack of green. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d come out to visit me.
Riley and I had been close as kids, and we still were, but I rarely saw her. We spoke infrequently, especially over the past year when her life had unraveled because of the secrets Mason had kept from her. She would come out with Tyson sometimes and visit me, but the last visit was years ago. And I never returned home, even after our mother grew sick. I was old enough to fend for myself when she passed away, mature enough to handle her death and the arrangements that went with it. Tyson had flown out, and we’d discussed my options as we’d packed up her house. Mason had remained behind to run the business, giving Tyson time to settle things, time to grieve. Even if my brother wasn’t the grieving type, he’d still needed the time, and Mason knew him well enough to make him take it.
As we’d packed the last of her belongings up, we’d agreed that I would stay in Armina. Tyson wanted me as far from their business as possible, and so I’d remained on the other side of the country, thousands of miles from him. As much as he’d wanted to keep me away, I’d still ended up in the business. Acting as a liaison to the family that ran the southern side of my province. It had taken some convincing, but I’d talked Tyson into it. They were allies, and having me work with the Donelli family ensured the relationship stayed secure.
“Do you ever work, Case? You look like all you do is sit on the beach.” Tyson’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“Better than looking like your pasty white ass,” I teased before dropping my bags and running into his arms.
He gave me a massive bear hug, his muscular arms squeezing me tight as he planted a kiss on my head. We may have lived on opposite sides of the country, but we were still close and being in his arms felt like coming home. He pushed me back and looked me over.
“You look good, Casey.” His brow creased as he pulled my jacket aside. It lifted when he spied the skin my crop top left exposed. “Really?”
I smacked his hand and pulled the jacket closed. “Shut up. It’s the style at home.”
“You are home. And that’s not a style I want my little sister in. Too much skin, Casey. Damn, I’ll have to kill everyone who looks at you now. Did you wear that skimpy thing on the plane?”
“Of course. It’s only cold enough to freeze my tits in this province.”
He pursed his lips. “Language, Case.”
“If you don’t stop with the overprotective bullshit, I’ll turn around and get back on that plane,” I replied, reaching up and mussing his thick, brown hair.
“No, you’re not because you’re here for Riley.”
He picked up my bags and started walking. His men followed close behind, joining the two who had been my shadows since leaving Armina.
“How is she?” I asked, trying to keep up with his long strides. Tyson took after our father. He was tall and built, towering over the petite frame I’d inherited from our mother. The only similarities between us were our curly brown hair and hazel eyes. Where he was a solid wall of muscle, I was soft and curvy. I’d struggled when I was younger, especially when I’d moved to a province where bikinis were regular attire and looks were everything. I was petite in height, but that was all. Everything else about me was full. It had taken me a long time to appreciate the larger curves, the bigger breasts, and handful of waist, hips, and ass that my body was. Now I worked it, knowing what parts to flaunt, and which ones left men weakened.
“She’s…not Riley,” Tyson replied, the sadness coating his voice.
“Well, I can guarantee her mopey ass will not remain that way with me there.”
“Always the obnoxious ray of sunshine,” he muttered.
“Always,” I said with a wink before climbing into the car.
The snow was coming down harder by the time we pulled up to the house. It was massive, a mansion that sat brightly against the night sky. Once we made it through the large iron gates, I sat forward in my seat, taking in the sight. The Donelli’s lived in a home of similar size, so the size didn’t intimidate me. It was what the house represented that astounded me. A sign of the power that Mason with Tyson alongside him had accumulated. A confirmation that Mason was a boss to be feared, one who was just as dangerous and powerful as the others. I’d known it from what Tyson had told me through the years and how Donelli talked about him. But seeing it was different and cemented the fact. And with Mason’s power came my brother’s. The two were a pair, which meant my older brother, who had once comforted me when the boys had bullied me for my changing body, who had let me snuggle with him during thunderstorms, who was my rock anytime I needed him, and would kill anyone who wronged me, was just as lethal.
“Stop gawking. You look like an idiot,” Tyson teased.
“Shut up, Ty.”
I followed him into the house, my eyes taking in Mason’s world and wondering how the cute older brother of my friend had amassed so much power. As we walked further into the home, I spotted Mason. His green eyes met mine, and I tried to breathe. Everything I remembered about Mason Brinks was a distorted memory to the man who sat before me. He was gorgeous, and the way those eyes devoured me left me completely drenched. His black hair was messy, as if he’d combed his hands through it, and I wondered what it would feel like to have my fingers running through it. He put his glass aside and stood, the rolled sleeves of his black button-down revealing sexy tattooed arms that looked strong enough to hold my body in place as he pounded me.
“I’d ask if you lost your sister along the way and picked up a treat, Ty, if that hair wasn’t the same mop of curls as yours.”
“Fuck you, Mason. That’s disgusting,” Tyson grumbled.
Mason laughed, his eyes sparkling with humor, and I struggled to find my voice. I was wondering how inappropriate it would be if I took my clothes off and straddled him.
“You look good, Casey,” he said, waking me up.
“The Armina sun helps,” I muttered, trying to get a grip. “You don’t look so bad yourself, Mason. I see you added some ink since the last time I saw you.”
“Damn, has it been that long?” he asked.
“Fifteen years and enough time for me to get my own ink. It’s good to see you, Mason,” I said, giving him a hug and questioning why the feel of his arms around me had my thighs quivering.
“You what?” Tyson asked.
“Let her be. She’s not a kid anymore, Ty.” His voice sent butterflies soaring through me.
“And what if Riley got a tattoo?” Tyson asked as I shook my head at his overprotective behavior. I was twenty-eight, not eighteen.
Mason shrugged, a move that made him even sexier. “I’d say that would be the least of my troubles with her.”
His face dropped, and I could see the toll this had taken on him.
“Well, I’m here to help and if I have my way, she’ll be back to her normal perky self before you know it.”
“Just a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Mason joked, his smirk returning.
“Too much of that west coast sun.” I elbowed my brother playfully for the comment. All the while, Mason’s sage eyes burned into me, turning my legs to jelly. “She still in her room?”
“Yeah, she’s sleeping. I tried talking to her earlier, but she made me leave.” He ran a hand through his thick hair, making it messier. The look only enhanced his sex appeal. “When I checked back in on her, she was asleep.”
“Did she take the ring?” Tyson asked.
“Ring?” I asked. Tyson had filled me in on the situation and we’d chatted about it on the way, but there had been no talk of a ring.
“He sent her a ring,” Mason said, his teeth slightly gritted. I noticed the pulse of the large vein in his neck. He was angry about the situation still, and I couldn’t blame him. Greyson Tides was a legend among the bosses, a feared, deadly, aggressive boss who no one crossed. Tyson had told me how they’d tried to cross him years ago, on edge since then that he’d strike back. I’d cussed him out, calling them both fucking idiots for doing such a stupid thing. They were both cocky, thinking they could outplay someone like Tides, who was older and wiser than both of them. He’d been in the business a lot longer and there was a reason no one crossed him.
It made me more in awe of Riley. Greyson wasn’t one to slip up, and he had with her. Something had happened between the two of them that had morphed whatever plan he’d had and left them both broken. I was curious to hear her side of the story, but I knew better than to ask Riley right away. She’d be in no condition to tell me. And I certainly couldn’t ask Mason or Tyson. The situation had them both pissed. Clint Randall was dead by Greyson’s doing, and he’d done it to protect Riley. That was the only reason he was still alive. He’d been vulnerable the night they found her, and they could easily have killed him, but they hadn’t. And that was saying a lot. Although I didn’t live near them, Tyson kept me informed and I knew from everything he’d told me that Mason didn’t play. He was a younger version of Greyson Tides. Just as deadly.
“An engagement ring,” Tyson said.
My mouth gaped, and I closed it quickly, not wanting Mason to see me dumbfounded. “He wants to marry her?”
“Wanted,” Tyson said. “I opened the box. It’s clear from the note he left that he bought the ring before things went south.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “That’s serious.”
Mason clenched his hands, and I tilted my head, studying him. “And if she says yes?” I asked him.
His eyes darkened, his sculpted jaw, which was covered by a few days' growth, tensed. “We’ll make it work.” But I could tell he wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t blame him. Having your younger sister marry your enemy would be an awkward position to be in. “Why don’t you show Casey to her room, Ty.”
“She staying near Riley?”
He nodded and Tyson grabbed my bags. I lingered for a moment, lost in Mason’s eyes, until I forced myself to follow Tyson. I could feel his eyes on me, watching each step I took, and I wondered why my body was suddenly craving my brother’s best friend and what I was going to do about it.