48 - Kodiak
48
Kodiak
—
“No! Stop this!” Frankie jabs a finger at Monty and spins back to Leo and me. “Focus on me, not him.”
I glare into her eyes, recognizing the desperation she holds for him, the fierce need to protect and defend him.
The betrayal I feel is a gaping, unbearable, soul-deep wound, and that look on her face pours salt into it.
“You love him,” I whisper, my voice breaking.
“Yeah.” Her chin trembles. “I love him. And you. And Leo.”
Behind her, Monty’s eyes soften immediately, and a subtle quiver sweeps across his mouth as if he’s struggling to hold back a sappy declaration.
“For how long?” Leo pitches forward, bringing his face nearer to hers. “Have you been fucking around with him since we moved in?”
She flinches, curling in on herself as if he took a sledgehammer to her chest.
I snarl at him, baring my teeth.
Monty’s face turns to stone.
With a deep inhale, she lowers her arms and squares her shoulders.
“I told you I loved him in the gym three months ago. My feelings for him have been shifting, returning, deepening into something new. But I never acted on them. I haven’t so much as kissed him until tonight.” Her chin dips. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t kiss me!” Monty swipes a hand through the air. “Don’t apolog—”
“I never intended to hurt you.” She presses the heel of her hand to her sternum. “I’m so fucking sorry for your pain, and I won’t make excuses for my behavior. But I need to understand…” She aims her watery gaze at me. “You said I wasn’t a possession, a thing to own. You shared me with Leo because you knew we would be happier together than divided. Why is this different?”
“I trust Monty with our safety, with our business deals, but not with this. Not with you.” The pain in my chest intensifies. “Monty doesn’t share. His obsession with you threatens everything we have.”
“He’s right.” Monty inhales sharply. “I won’t share.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Leo roars. “You’ve caused enough damage.”
“Stop yelling.” She stands taller, fisting her hands at her sides. “Monty didn’t cause this. I did. You want to fight? Fight me.”
She’s lost her mind. None of us would harm a hair on her head.
And fighting each other doesn’t solve a damn thing.
Monty won’t share her with us. Leo won’t share her with Monty. I just want to be with her, but she’s drawn a line in the sand. She won’t choose between us.
There’s no win here.
I won’t live on this island and watch her fall deeper and deeper in love with a man who wants her for himself. They have a history, a marriage that Leo and I can’t rival. We need to get her away from him.
“We can’t stay here.” Anger and hurt throb beneath my skin as I meet her eyes. “You’re coming with us.”
“You’re not thinking rationally,” Monty says. “There’s a serial killer on the loose, and Frankie is the target.”
“We’ll take guards.” Leo turns and storms down the hall, his footsteps echoing like thunder. “Let’s go, Frankie.”
“Don’t do this.” She chases him, reaching for him, trying to stop him. “Don’t let this destroy everything we’ve built.”
“Him or us.” He whirls on her, catching her arms as she crashes into him. “Decide. Are you staying or going?”
“I won’t stay here without you.” She shakes her head rapidly, ignoring Monty’s objections. “And I won’t leave with you.”
“That right?” Leo laughs coldly. “Well, those are your only two options, love.”
“If you leave…” She juts her chin. “I leave. By myself.”
“I forbid it.” Monty’s eyes flash.
“Where the fuck would you go?” I ask incredulously.
“The on-call room at the hospital has a bunk bed and bathroom.” A tear splashes onto her cheek, and she slaps it away. “I’m the problem. I’m the one who needs to leave.”
Her anguish cuts through me like a knife, twisting deeper into raw wounds.
“That’s bullshit.” Leo tangles a hand in his hair. “Either you’re staying here or coming with us.”
“I’m not going with you.” She steps closer, her eyes pleading. “Stay with Monty. I choose all three of you. All three of you together, with or without me. I just want you to stay together and take care of one another.”
“They can’t be fixed,” Monty mutters so quietly, so deliberately imperceptible by the ear.
He forgets I hear tones most humans can’t.
“What the fuck did you say?” I lean toward him, a vein throbbing at my temple.
“You heard me.” He lifts his chin, daring me to hit him.
So I rear back my fist and drive it straight into his throat.
The force of the strike doubles him over, shock flashing in his eyes as he grabs his gullet and coughs through the pain.
Sissy.
“Kody!” she gasps.
“He’ll be fine.” I back up and lean against the wall.
I barely throat-punched him. Just enough to stun him. He’s already straightening, glaring at me like he wants another one.
But the look on her face…
Oh, shit.
She goes still, and a cold, dark shadow crosses her features.
“Out of line, Kodiak Strakh.” Her tone is so calm it chills. “Out of fucking line.”
“He deserved it.”
“Then I deserve it, too.”
I push off the wall. “I would never—”
“No. You know what? That’s it.” Turning, she paces off into the bedroom with Leo hot on her heels.
Monty and I stand with a stiff distance between us as our stares intertwine in a silent battle.
In the bedroom, I hear the sounds of drawers slamming and the rustling of bags being packed.
“You’re not leaving on your own,” Leo says.
The angry zip of a bag is the only response.
Monty opens his mouth to say something, but she charges out into the hall with two bags strapped over her shoulders.
She walks straight up to Monty and takes his face in her hands. “I would never force you into anything you don’t want to do. I love you.” Releasing him, she steps back, her eyes wet but determined. “The marriage between Frankie and Monty Novak ended a year ago. There is no you and me. There is only you, me, and them.” She points a shaky finger at us. “You are Strakhs, and in my dream of the future, I share that last name with all of you.”
“Frankie.” Monty reaches for her.
She evades his hand and pivots toward Leo. “I love you, and I want the best for you. Your anger is too great, and your trauma is too deep. It worries me. That goes for all of you.” She glances around at us and returns to Leo. “It affects you and your relationships. Seek help. If you won’t do it for me, do it for each other.”
“You’re turning this around on me?” Leo narrows his eyes angrily. “Like this is my fault?”
“No. I take full responsibility for what happened tonight.” Her gaze shifts to me.
I watch with pounding agony as she swallows back a sob and tries to hold herself together.
“Woman…”
“Monty and Leo are your family. You will never raise your hand against them again.” Her eyes harden with a fierceness that reminds me why I love her. “Promise me.”
“I promise.” My throat closes.
“I love you.” Her expression wobbles as she hitches the straps on her shoulders and strides toward the stairs.
“You’re not leaving without us.” Leo prowls after her.
We all do.
We chase her through the house and into the misty rain, barking demands at her, shouting over one another, trying to make her see reason.
She keeps walking, eyes straight ahead and swimming in tears. But she doesn’t cry. She doesn’t make a sound.
By the time we reach the dock, reality sets in.
She’s really fucking leaving.
How did this happen?
She betrayed us. And now she’s leaving us?
Monty looks as stunned as I am. At least he has enough sense to remember her safety.
“You’re taking guards.” He directs four of them to board her cruiser.
“Yeah. I am.” She meets his eyes, and something achy and lovesick passes between them.
That. That right there is why I want her away from him.
He’ll steal her. He’s been trying to steal her for five months.
She climbs into her boat and frees the lines.
“Explain this to me.” Leo grips the taffrail as if he can stop the cruiser from leaving the dock. “He kissed you. Why are you punishing us for it?”
“I’m not punishing you. I’m punishing myself.” Dewy rain clings to her face as she starts the engine.
“Why?” The heat of his frantic fury radiates off him as he yells at her over the motor. “What do you want?”
“I want the impossible.” Her shoulders slump, and her eyes pool with tears. “I’m sorry.”
She steers the cruiser into the drizzling fog, her four guards standing at attention around her.
Rain-soaked and numb, I watch her go, willing her to look back.
She doesn’t.
Too soon, she fades into the dark mist. Gone.
In the stillness, the silence of her absence settles over the island, and I know that the bond among us all has been irrevocably shattered.
“Let’s go.” Leo boards one of our yachts.
Yachts that Monty gave us.
Monty stands alone in the gloom, wearing only a pair of sweatpants, feet bare, seemingly impervious to the cold night. But he’s not bulletproof.
In the silent language of his remote expression, there’s a complexity that affects me, a deep vulnerability he tries to conceal behind a veneer of stoicism. So many layers make up the man I’ve come to know as my brother, and right now, I know he’s breaking inside.
He loves her, possibly as much as I do, and he’s already lost her once.
Montgomery Strakh is a strong and powerful man, but I don’t think he can survive without Frankie.
Our eyes connect, and I find something there I don’t expect. Love. Concern. For Leo and me.
He blinks and quickly looks away to direct more guards to go with us.
Then he pivots and stalks back to the house.
Leo and I could stay. Monty’s not making us leave. But none of us want Frankie out there alone.
Sending guards with her isn’t enough.
Monty knows I’ll keep an eye on her. Stalk her. It’s what I do.
As Leo and I leave the island behind, the future feels more uncertain than ever.