Chapter 26
Risk Management
Sara
My heart lodges in my throat at the almost feral look in Wyatt’s brown eyes. Tension races through me.
“Where’s Dante?” He steps into the room and it feels like it shrinks.
“Getting lunch.” Swallowing, I’m trapped. I’m in his room. I shouldn’t be in here at all.
“Finn?”
“He went to pick up Peabody.” My hands are shaking, so I clasp them together. Something about his energy and the way his eyes never leave me makes me nervous. Wyatt doesn’t look at me, ever. But right now, his focus is fixed on me.
“I should—” I gesture toward the door and step that way, but Wyatt stalks in my direction. My brain glitches because this isn’t what Wyatt does. Is he angry because I’m in his bedroom?
I draw in a ragged breath and pull up my big girl panties. I won’t cower before him.
“You saw my bedroom so I figured it was only fair that I saw yours.” I put my hands behind my back so he can’t see the trembling and tip my chin up in defiance.
He stops right before our bodies collide. The room smells divine with him in it. My insides soften even as I try to hold tight to that little bit of anger and hurt clawing within.
He didn’t come home last night.
“Where were you last night?” I ask. Even my voice trembles because Wyatt is so close and all my hormones are on high alert.
“I went to the Veiled Vixen.” He reaches out and grabs a lock of my hair, rubbing it between his fingers. Everything in me goes on high alert. Wyatt doesn’t touch me.
A shiver races through me but I try to ignore it. I’m ignoring the fire burning within me for an entirely different reason and focus on my anger. “Did you take advantage of their rooms?”
“I woke up on Drew Young’s couch.” His dark eyes focus on mine.
Fuck, the intensity of his gaze is almost too much. Until his words finally register. Drew? “What?”
He tugs on my hair slightly, making me gasp. His gaze drops to my mouth. My lips part at the heat in his eyes. Suddenly, all I can think about is his lips on mine. My breath quickens and anticipation grabs hold of my body.
I’m at war with myself. Part of me wants to collapse into his arms and beg him to take me. The quiet, fearful part of me wants to run, to avoid this confrontation, to avoid more rejection. And another part of me is so fucking confused by his attention.
“He said I should ask you about something.” He lifts his gaze to mine and I’m lost.
“What should you ask me?” I breathe, so far gone that I almost sway into his heat, let it consume me. He’s still only touching my hair. But his full focus is on me and it’s intoxicating.
“What have you been up to, trouble?”
Suddenly I’m captured in his gaze unable to look anywhere else.
Trouble?
“What do you mean?” I search his eyes, trying to figure out what is happening right now. He’s so close. Awareness of his heat sends my body into overload.
“You’re dating Drew.” He looks at the strand of hair between his fingers.
That wasn’t really a question. “Yes.”
His eyes flare with heat. “And Dante?”
My cheeks burn. “I’m not dating Dante.”
“Then why did you give him a show, trouble?”
When I masturbated for the camera, I thought Dante was watching and Wyatt must have figured that out. Anger floods through me. Fuck him and fuck this.
“What do you want, Wyatt? Do you want me to confess all my dirty little secrets to you so you can tell my big brother when he gets home?” I narrow my eyes.
The heat pouring off him sizzles through me. “You’re playing with fire, trouble.”
Don’t I know it. I’m burning from the inside out.
“That’s my choice. If I want to fuck every man I meet, that’s my choice. My brother doesn’t control me. You don’t control me.” Fuck, it feels freeing to say that.
He closes in on me and I back away. The only one that could truly burn me is Wyatt. I’m already singed from him. My back hits the wall and he puts his hands on either side of my head.
His breath fans my lips and a little gasp escapes me. Every inch of my body longs for the heat of his. The anticipation of his touch is killing me, but I know he won’t. I don’t know why, but Wyatt doesn’t touch me.
“Is that what you want, trouble? Someone to control you? Someone to put you in your place when you’re being a brat?” Wyatt rubs his nose against mine.
My breath rushes out of me as awareness floods me. Do I want that?
Barking fills the silence between us and then a growl. Wyatt yelps.
“Fucking terror.” Wyatt steps back and shakes his leg to free himself of the little white furball.
“Peabody!” I squat down and hold open my arms for him, and he rushes to me, proud of himself for biting Wyatt. I glance up at Wyatt and he runs a hand through his hair. My breathing and heart race.
Finn pops into the doorway and his wide green eyes bounce from me to Wyatt. “Hey, sorry. He’s a little beast when he wants to tear into Wyatt.”
I scoop Peabody up and shoulder past Wyatt into the living room. His scent is too intoxicating in there. I hand Finn Peabody and then turn to face Wyatt.
“Sit.” I point to the couch and Wyatt arches his dark eyebrow. “I need to look at your leg.”
He walks around the couch and sits. Finn brushes my arm. His eyes search mine.
“You okay, flower?”
I draw in a deep breath and nod. Some of my control returns as I walk around the couch and sit on the ottoman to face Wyatt.
The door opens and Dante walks in with a bag. His eyes take in everything as he sets the bag on the table. He walks up to Finn where Peabody is wiggling for Dante’s attention.
Dante pets Peabody. “We forgot about you.”
Peabody licks Dante’s hand.
I focus on what I can do. “Give me your leg.”
“It’s nothing.” Wyatt’s back to being a closed-off asshole. Fun.
“Just give me your leg.” I roll my eyes. All that fire and heat he stoked within me is still there, but I’ve got it carefully banked.
He lifts his leg to rest on the ottoman beside me. I push his pant leg up to see the tiny teeth marks. They barely bled but I should put something on them, so they don’t get infected.
I head for Tom’s bathroom where I know there’s some Band-Aids and ointment.
“So are you all fucking now?” Wyatt’s words stop me cold.
“What?” I turn and stare at him like he’s a stranger.
“I saw the video.” His eyes narrow on Finn and Dante. “I thought I might find out who broke into the townhouse. I didn’t expect to see you two fucking Sara on the dining room table.”
“More cameras?” I let my outrage be heard, because fuck this guy. “Wyatt Hawkins, what right do you have to put cameras in my house?” I put my hands on my hips.
“He’s just trying to protect you, pip.” Dante steps forward. Always trying to stop me and Wyatt from doing anything. Whether it be fighting or something else. I’m done with it.
“By watching me in my bedroom? He didn’t even know my parents weren’t home—”
“What?” Wyatt stands and closes the distance between us. His anger radiates off him. “I thought they just left.”
“They’ve been in Europe for a while.” I cross my arms and glare. “Not that it’s any of your business. None of this is.”
“Of course it’s my business. You’re my business. You’re in fucking danger and you were alone in that house. What if the guy broke in when you were there?”
A chill races through me. “One, we don’t know it’s a guy. Two, he didn’t.”
“Fuck, Sara, you could have been hurt. Why didn’t you just stay with us?” Wyatt yells those words. In another tone of voice, I might have felt chagrined or embarrassed.
“Because of you!” The words fall in the room like a fucking bomb.
He winces but doesn’t back off. Anger still laces his words, but there’s something else there too. “You could have been hurt.”
“I’m fine.” I don’t let him see the trembling of my hands, because all those thoughts went through my head. They could have broken in at any time. While I was sleeping. That guy across the street who watched me through the windows.
But why break in now? What changed? They could have gotten in at any point. The only difference was...
“How secure was the camera in my bedroom?” I turn to Dante since he was the one that planted it. “Could someone else have accessed it?”
“It’s always possible, pip. But we had it secure.”
Finn lets Peabody down. Peabody jumps up on the couch before sitting to glare at Wyatt. That’s my dog.
I swallow, trying to think through everything. This is easier to focus on than the angry man standing near me. “But was there a way for them to know it was there even if they couldn’t access it?”
“Possibly.” Finn sits down next to Peabody. “You think they knew the camera was gone from your room?”
“It makes sense.” I bite my lip. Wyatt is still glaring down at me.
“They could have seen you bring it into the office.” Dante leans his shoulder against the wall, watching me and Wyatt with a quiet intensity.
Maybe. Bracing myself, I look up into Wyatt’s dark eyes. “Who I fuck isn’t any of your concern.”
“Flower—” Finn sounds reasonable.
“No. He’s made it perfectly clear he doesn’t want me.” I can’t meet his eyes. “That gives him no right to say anything about my life.”
Dante’s lips press into a fine line. Finn runs a hand through his hair.
“Sara...” Wyatt’s voice isn’t angry and his hand lifts as if he’s going to touch me.
I back away because I’m not that fucking strong. I can act strong and believe I’m strong, but I have a weakness. And he’s standing in front of me.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” I steel myself and look up into Wyatt’s eyes. “You’re not my brother. You’re not my boyfriend. Hell, you’re not even my friend anymore.”
He winces and runs a hand through his hair. “You’re right.”
Tears choke me, but I hold them back. I don’t want to be right. I don’t want him to not want me.
“I’ve been an asshole.” Wyatt returns to the couch. “Fuck.”
Finn and Dante shift their attention between the two of us. I straighten and go into Tom’s room, needing the break and to grab the stuff for Wyatt’s leg.
Dante
When Sara disappears into Tom’s room, I go into the kitchen and pull lunch out of the bags. This was bound to happen. I’m so proud of Sara for sticking up for herself, but at the same time, I know what’s between them is deeper than attraction.
If it was just attraction, they would have gotten past it long ago. She wouldn’t have saved herself for him. She’s been willing to give herself to Finn and me, but we need to sort through this before it goes any further.
“We need to talk.” I grab some plates.
Wyatt’s eyes narrow on me. “Yes, we do.”
“You need to chill out.” Finn stands and walks over to me. Peabody growls at Wyatt before jumping down and flouncing over to us.
“I just watched you two fucking Sara on her dining room table. How am I supposed to chill out?” Wyatt growls.
“We didn’t technically fuck her.” I know it doesn’t make it better for him. This is the girl he’s been wanting forever but keeping at arm’s length. But there is a solution for this.
Wyatt joins us at the table. His fists clench at his sides. “Are we really going to get into semantics here?”
“Yes, we are.” I put my hands on the table and meet his eyes. “Because she means something to all of us. We all put our attraction on the back burner. Because she threw everything into wanting you. Now she’s realizing she wants all of us.”
“You know there’s an easy way to solve this,” Finn says quietly as he grabs a plate and fills it. “She doesn’t seem opposed to sharing.”
His green eyes flick up to mine and then to Wyatt’s before glancing toward Tom’s door.
“And you think Tom would be okay with that? He’d never be okay with me.” Wyatt hisses. “He may be gone, but eventually he’ll come back. It’s one thing if one of us is fucking her, but if all of us are...”
I glance up as Sara walks into the room. Her lips are pressed into a firm line. How much did she hear?
“You do know that Tom fucked your girlfriend behind your back in high school? It’s not like he has an honor code.” She pulls a chair out and glares at Wyatt. “Give me your leg.”
Wyatt sits next to her and pulls his jean leg up. “Are we having this discussion?”
“Appears so.” Finn takes a seat and so do I. Dishes are passed around until everyone has lunch, while Sara applies antibacterial ointment and a Band-Aid to Peabody’s most recent attempt on Wyatt’s life.
He’s just lucky Peabody isn’t a German shepherd.
Wyatt watches her with soft eyes as she works on him. This won’t work unless we’re all on board. It’s time we discussed the real reason Tom doesn’t want Wyatt with his sister.
She washes her hands and then returns to the table. We all begin to eat.
“Sara hasn’t properly fucked anyone.” I’m just going to start this out with a bang.
Wyatt’s dark eyes lift to mine in shock and then turn to Sara.
Her cheeks flush pink. She arches her eyebrow at me and I shrug. If we’re going to talk about sex, then that’s where this has to start.
“That doesn’t mean I’m inexperienced.” She doesn’t meet Wyatt’s eyes. “It just means—”
“You haven’t had a cock buried in your pussy.” Finn winks at her and her flush deepens . “Or ass.”
Wyatt remains still. I can’t tell how he’s processing this information. We all assumed she’s had some sexual experiences. Not that we dwelled on it or discussed it, but she’s twenty-two years old.
Her lips press together and her eyes narrow. “I don’t see how this information is pertinent. Especially since Wyatt doesn’t want me. He just wants to control me.”
“Oh, Wyatt wants to do more than control you, pip.” I sit back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest. “There’s a reason Tom doesn’t want Wyatt with you.”
Her brow furrows as she looks at each of us. Her gaze finally lands on Wyatt and she cocks her head to the side. “Why would Tom not want you with me?”
Wyatt glares at me before he stands up and walks away. His hand combs through his hair as he stalks back toward us. “Because he knows my sexual proclivities.”
Her lips part and she wets them. She leans forward a little and I can see the interest in her pale green eyes as she studies him.
“What kind of sexual proclivities?” Fuck, our girl is more than curious. I bet she’s wet just thinking about him having a kink. She clears her throat.
When Wyatt shakes his head, I know that bastard isn’t going to tell her. And as much as I want to, it’s not mine to tell.