30. August
August
our mutual surre nder
S tanding in front of the door, the Glock still clutched in my hand, two ragged breaths fill my lungs before my hand closes around the handle of the door. It swings open, bright rays of early morning sunshine halo around Alley’s slight frame. Her eyes jump to the gun in my hand, and her smile falters, a frown creasing her brow.
“Gracious said you were expecting us,” she says. Holding the gun limply, with nowhere to holster it, I watch as Adam and his girlfriend stop behind Alley. I realize how deranged I must look. The girl, Thalia, glances at me nervously, her eyes falling to the pistol more than once. I smile in a half-assed attempt to ease her obvious fear.
Turning back to Alley, I smirk. “I was, but I thought I’d get a little heads up from you or Yves, who’s supposed to be watching the road in.”
“Oh, he is. He waved at us and everything,” she says, reinforcing my rising irritation, de spite knowing I need to direct it at him and not Alley.
“Right.” I scrub my free hand down my face. I’m about to step aside when Adam elbows his way past Alley.
“Catch up on your time,” he snaps, glaring at me before rushing into the house. “Nora?” he calls out.
The tall, willowy woman slinks in behind Alley. “Hi August,” she says timidly, offering me her hand.
“Er, yeah. Hey.” I offer her what I hope is a kind smile. “Sorry about this,” I say, lifting the gun slightly. Despite her shitty taste in men, she clearly isn’t used to seeing armed men.
“Nora?” Adam calls out again and shit, I know I’ll need every goddamn shred of patience I possess to get through the rest of the week.
“She’s in the shower,” I say, without bothering to look at him. “A word?” I look at Alley and nod toward the screened deck out back.
She follows me outside while Adam stomps around the living room like a toddler. From the corner of my eye, I see him scanning the space like I’ve hidden Nora behind a pillow or something. Shaking my head, I smirk at Alley as she drops into one of the plush armchairs on the deck.
“Where’s our little princess?” She raises her brows, a smirk of her own lifting the corners of her mouth. “Don’t tell me you killed her already,” she says.
“Pretty sure you heard me tell Adam that she’s taking a shower,” I retort, dropping into the chair next to her. “And drop the princess shit. Yves’ been laying it on pretty thick. I don’t need to hear it from you as well.”
She sits up a little straighter and glances over her shoulder, probably checking to see if Adam’s still pacing in the living room. “You know I adore her, right?” she asks, dropping her voice to an exaggerated whisper.
“I guessed. Why is that, Alison?” Her humorous gaze turns icy. She hates her full name.
“Don’t call me that. And the princess and I have bonded over our mutual love of money and a need for girl talk,” she replies.
“You hate girl talk.”
“I do, but I don’t hate Nora. So ease off the protective routine. I have her back in more ways than you could comprehend, boss.” She beams at me before propping her feet up on the coffee table. “Do you have any idea how mind numbing my existence has been with those two?” She jerks her thumb in Adam’s general direction. “They fight all the time, like every second of the day. Adam is a prick. I mean, this isn't news to anyone, but the girl? Thalia, God, I feel sorry for her. I almost wish I was back following that slimy fuck, Ricky, around.” She takes a deep breath before turning a beaming smile on me.
“So, we’re on the same page, no more princess shit, be nice,” I say, choosing to ignore her rant about boredom. She knows better than anyone what the job is.
“Jesus, Auggie, you wound me. I just told you I adore the girl.”
“Nora?” The sound of Adam’s annoying voice has both Alley and me turning to look at the living room.
He’s stomping around again. The angry pattering of his steps on the wooden floors sets me on edge. There’s no sign of his girl. He’s likely pushed her into one of the upstairs rooms and ordered her to stay put like the submissive little pet she probably is.
Alle y rolls her eyes dramatically, and honestly, it’s an effort not to roll mine, too.
“Just say the word, boss,” she mutters. “One word. Actually, you don’t even need to say it. Just blink twice and I’ll drop his ass. I’ll get it done, I’ll even be neat this time.” I laugh as a mental picture of Alley trying to murder Adam forms in my mind.
“Nonny?” Adam sounds like a lost child seeking his mother. His steady whining has moved from annoying to straight up emasculating. I turn, about to tell him to shut it the fuck down, but Nora beats me to it.
“I’m here, Adam.” She walks out of her room.
The white dress she’s wearing is sheer in all the wrong places. Wrong, because when I see the deep emerald green bikini underneath it, all I can think about is the way I ripped a different one off her last night. I clear my throat as Alley stands.
“Behave,” I warn, as she strolls back into the living room without a glance at me.
I push off the chair and follow her inside.
“Jesus, Nora, are you okay?” Alley rushes toward her; I cringe internally as she wraps her arms around Nora before pulling back slightly to examine the angry red scratches covering her throat and chest. “It looks like you got into a fight with a street cat. And I’m not gonna lie, from where I’m standing, it looks like the cat won.” She points to the angry red marks on Nora’s neck. The stubble burn I caused.
Nora ignores her and walks over to Adam. Rage bubbles inside me as he pulls her into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asks loud enough for all of us to hear. That urge to roll my eyes takes over yet again.
“N or?” The sound of Adam’s girlfriend racing down the stairs fills the living room.
When she sees Nora, her face lights up with a smile so genuine it puts Adam’s to shame. As soon as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, she flings herself into Nora's arms. An annoyed tick stiffens Adam's jaw as he stands next to the two women who’ve clearly forgotten he’s there.
Thalia leans in to whisper something to Nora, but I can’t catch what she says. Nora shakes her head in response. Their whispered conversation is impossible to make out, but the tension in their shoulders tells me it’s about one of two people—Adam or Ricky.
Adam moves abruptly, yanking Thalia away from Nora with an unnecessary amount of force. Alley and I stand in silence, trying to process what we’re seeing.
A n hour later, leaning against the kitchen island, I’m absentmindedly staring into nothing when Nora walks in and stops next to me. The whisper of a touch as her hand brushes against mine floods my mind with images from the night before. Her on her knees in front of me, my cock in her mouth, the desperate moans and savage rush of our bodies colliding. All of it is an assault on my senses.
“Can I talk to you?” she asks softly, glancing toward her bedroom.
“Yeah.” I clear my throat. “Yeah, of course,” I repeat, trying again to sound more in control than I feel.
Following her into her bedroom, I close the door softly behind us. “I need to take the road watch when Yves gets back,” I say as she moves closer to me. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I didn’t,” she whispers as she steps into my space, pushing her breasts against my chest. “I mean, I didn’t want to talk about anything.” The words leave her in a husky whisper.
“No?” I ask, moving my hand, snaking it around the side of her neck while the other wraps around her waist.
She shakes her head and smiles up at me. Those soft lips lifting in the most delicious way.
“I wanted…” she trails off.
Dropping my head a fraction of an inch, I pull her closer, stopping when our lips are almost touching. “You wanted…?” I urge her on.
“You,” she murmurs.
My lips slant over hers and I lose myself in a kiss that’s slow, delicate, and purposefully gentle. Every movement—each slide and stroke—an agonizing contradiction to the raw and feral way we fucked hours ago. If last night was a claiming, then this kiss, this moment, is our mutual surrender. And as my tongue slips between her lips, exploring her mouth and cataloging her sighs, I know that even though I’ve never surrendered to anything in my life, I will gladly surrender everything to Nora.
“Auggie?” Yves’ voice drifts toward us. Slowly, I pull my lips away from Nora’s. Slowly, but not completely, because as soon as I take in her glazed over eyes, I dip back down and kiss her again. This time, it’s fast and filthy and filled with promise.
“We’re going down to the beach,” she whispers, breaking our kiss by taking a small step away from me.
“Be careful with Adam, okay?” I reach for her chin and angle her face up, forcing her to meet my eyes. “He seems more volatile than usual.”
“He does. And I will. When will you be back?”
“Auggie?” Yves knocks and I close my eyes as frustration bubbles beneath my skin.
“Not till much later.” I drag her against my chest and bury my nose in her hair, inhaling deep lungfuls of her delicious scent. “Be good,” I murmur, before placing a kiss on her forehead and turning to open the door.
Yves is propped against the doorframe, wiggling his brows and grinning like a moron. “Fancy finding you in here, brother,” he says, glancing over my shoulder. “Hi, princess.” He winks at Nora.
“Get Alley. We need to have a quick briefing before I take over the road watch,” I say, stepping around him to walk out to the deck.
While I wait for Alley and Yves, Nora, Adam, and Thalia stroll out to join me. Adam announces what Nora’s already told me; they’re headed down to the beach. The three of them amble down the garden and then onto the boathouse deck, one by one, disappearing down the staircase that leads to the lake’s shore. Alley comes to a stop next to me and I smile at her.
“We need to talk about this,” I say, gesturing toward the boathouse steps. Yves walks out with a beer. He’s the only one not on duty today.
Toge ther, we walk down toward the boathouse.
“Yeah, we really do,” Alley mutters. “I say we kill Adam. I mean, it’s the second time I’ve said it, but I’ll say it again.” She turns away from the railing and glares at me.
“Oh no, absolutely not.” Yves says rounding on her, fake outrage twisting up his face. “I don’t know if Auggie told you, Alison, but I quite literally called dibs on the whole murdering Adam plan.”
Fuck, I need a break from this. Helen is off after her night shift, and Bassey is holed up wherever Yves left him. After giving both of them clear and strict instructions to keep Adam alive and under control, I head off to start my hours-long guard duty.
D arkness settled in after the sunset a while ago. Hidden in a nest of bushes, my luxury SUV provides the perfect vantage point at the start of the private road leading to the safe house. If it wasn't for the conversation I’m currently trying to survive, I would’ve been bored out of my mind.
“You never told me you came here with mom,” I say, doing my best to temper the accusation that hangs heavy in my tone.
“I don’t tell you everything, son,” Gracious says, and I laugh at that, because he definitely doesn’t.
“You could’ve told me this one thing, prepared me. Do you have any idea how it felt walking into that house and seeing photographs of her? Of you? Of me?” I demand.
“I imagine it must have been a punch to the gut.” If I was holding out for any hint of remorse, I’m going to be disappointed. He sighs before continuing. “She was my world, Auggie. The start and end of my entire existence and when she had you, you became my world, too. I know I ask for a lot, but you know I do none of it lightly. None of it lacks purpose.”
“Nora deserves the truth,” I say.
“And we agree on that. She’ll get it, soon.” The suffocating weight of awkward silence rests heavily between us for a moment. “Yves said you’re getting attached to her.” It’s not a question or an accusation, just a quiet observation. Calculating and leading.
“If I am, you only have yourself to thank,” I say, not bothering to confirm or deny anything.
“Abel and Beth would approve of you,” he remarks, speaking of Nora’s parents. “Your mother would have loved her too.”
“Yeah, well, they’re all dead, and we will be too, Dad. Sooner rather than later, if we don’t get things moving.”
“You’ve always lacked patience.” He chuckles.
I pull the phone away from my ear as it chimes with an incoming text.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“What is it?”
“Yves needs me back at the house. Something about Alley and Nora.”
“Patience, August. Now is a great time to practice.” His words have barely settled over me when the line goes dead. Groaning, I slam my hand against the steering wheel. After a pathetic attempt to calm my anger, I turn the car on and drive back to the house.