29. Grey
GREY
W here the fuck was Amorette?
It was just after ten, and she wasn’t in the apartment or the movie room. Unlikely, but I checked the gym and the offices too. Parker had given her a laptop, but she was only allowed to use it at his place.
Where was she?
I banged my fist on Lafe’s door. He’d been helping her with Spanish, so it wasn’t crazy to think that he was helping her study, and she lost track of time.
Footsteps creaked closer, and when he opened the door, he barely looked present. Dark purple circles covered the bags under his eyes, and his hair was a sopping wet mess.
“What happened to you?” I barked. When I’d left him, he was sober and going to bed. He still looked like shit.
Lafe shrugged. “I just got out of the shower.”
His voice was strong, and his eyes were focused. Good, but he hadn’t slept. He started to close the door, but I kicked it open. “We’re going to revisit this, but first, is Amorette in there with you?”
Some of the life popped back into his eyes for a brief second. “No, why would she be?” And then he sunk back into his pathetic existence.
I shook my head and backed away. Parker wasn’t here. Enrique had told me all about that shit show Parker had conducted yesterday. He still wasn’t back, but who the fuck cared. He did what he wanted and didn’t give a damn about anyone else.
“What’s wrong?” Lafe called after me, but I was already marching down the hallway.
My phone rang. “What?”
Enrique coughed. “ Hielo ! It’s burning down! Someone set fire to the building!”
“Argh!” I dropped my head back and screamed at the ceiling. “My fucking hotel ?” My entire life had been put into that business. I lived for the fights, but I’d build that hotel up from the ground.
“What happened?” Lafe caught up to me and yanked on my arm. “What happened?”
“Vicente is burning down my fucking hotel.”
“How do you know it’s Vicente?” Clarity hit Lafe’s eyes as the seriousness of the situation sobered him up.
“Because Parker torched his favorite spot yesterday.” I brought the phone back up to my ear. “Enrique, how bad is it?”
More coughing and sirens in the background. “We’ve called for help, but the sprinkler system isn’t working. We’re trying…We’re trying.”
Unimaginable rage set in as I stomped to Andre’s door. Flames should have sprouted in my steps because I was so fucking incensed.
Lafe’s phone rang, and he ran back to his apartment to get it.
“I’ll be there. Two hours. I’ll be there if I have to fucking take the boat.” I hung up and sent out a series of texts to my contacts in the city.
First, I’d save what I could of the hotel. That was my first priority. Then set up safeguards to keep Vicente’s men out of it.
When that was done, Vicente would die—a horribly painful death.
I’d strap him to the whipping post and dare his people to save his old ass.
I rained down my anger on Andre’s door. It took almost three minutes for him to shout from inside, then finally unlock and open it.
His eyes were bloodshot with his shirt half open and the top of his pants were undone. I narrowed my eyes. He was never disheveled, not like this. His cock was tucked away with the base showing.
Before I brought my gaze back to his face, I knew with a sinking in my stomach where Amorette was. It seemed to take eons for my eyes to meet his. When we finally locked eyes, my green to his brown.
“I fucking hate you,” I whispered. He’d really fucked with Lafe’s head at one time, but I stayed out of it. I understood it. We all did. And at the end of the day, it wasn’t any of my concern. We tried to live our lives the best we could.
I’d never had an issue with Andre, personally.
Except right now, seeing him standing there after fucking Amorette minutes or even hours ago, I hated his fucking guts.
Because my already bubbling rage needed somewhere to go, I attacked Andre, using my shoulder to slam into his stomach and tackling him to the ground. I wailed on his face, and he was still so wasted he didn’t stand a chance.
Amorette yelled, but it was a minute before she popped into the hallway. When she did, her sundress was askew, and she dove to knock me off of Andre.
Glad to see where her loyalties lie.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” I pried her arms from around my shoulders, careful not to hurt her.
“Stop! What are you doing?” she yelled right in my ear as she wrapped her arms and legs around me. Automatically, I dropped my hands to her ass, only to find her bare underneath.
I glared at Andre as he blinked and sat up. A little blood trickled from his lip and he wiped it away. “What is your problem?”
“My problem is my hotel is burning down, and you’re in here fucking my girl .”
“Your girl? You mean the girl we’ve all been taking care of?
The one you watched ride my lap on the plane?
That girl ?” Andre struggled to push to his feet, and when he stood, he fell into the wall.
Then slapped it. “Fuck. Did you say your hotel is on fire?” He turned and stumbled down the hall, disappearing from sight and moaning about his aching head.
Amorette still clung to me, her body trembling. I tried to pull her back, but she wouldn’t budge.
Sighing, I stood and followed Andre into the living room. Amorette’s panties were discarded in the corner, and a half-empty bottle of tequila was turned over on the floor. Music still played on the speakers like Andre had tried to set the mood.
How long had she been here? Now that I had a minute to think, he’d been passed out. They fucked hours ago, then took a nap. How fucking precious .
I sneered.
“ Mamí , I need you to get down.” I pulled at her arms, but she still wouldn’t let go. Her trembling turned to full-on shakes as she sniffed against my neck. “Are you…are you crying ?”
I wanted to punch Andre’s face in again. What the hell had he done to her to make her cry?
“I—” Then she stopped.
Moving to the couch, I sat down in the middle and tried to urge her to sit up. She refused. Everything inside of me screamed for me to run to the chopper and fly to the hotel, salvage what I could. Help the people, if possible.
But I had a crying girl on my lap, which did more to dampen the rage than anything I’d ever experienced. I drew in a deep breath, closing my eyes. When I was under control, I tipped her face to meet her gaze.
“Did he hurt you?” I asked slowly.
That got her to sit back. “No, absolutely not.” She shook her head vigorously.
Her eyes were impossibly blue next to the pink and shiny whites of her eyes. Tears clung to her lashes and wetted the skin underneath. She cried so pretty.
I wiped her face of tears and leaned forward to taste them. Salty but sweet. Just like our wicked little love. Breathing out a soft sigh, I dropped my forehead to hers.
“Tell me why you’re crying.” A command.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done this.” This . Fucked Andre.
I wanted to tell her no she shouldn’t have. But had I told her he was off limits? Had I told her to stay the hell away from my brothers and their cocks?
They all wanted her. I knew it. They each knew it.
The only one who might be struggling with it was Lafe, but on some level, he couldn’t deny his attraction either.
She’d begged me to tell her what I planned and if I wanted to share her.
I hadn’t wanted to. But I never found the words to tell her that. And when Parker watched us? Or when she rode Andre? I’d burned for an entirely different reason.
My cock twitched under her ass. Goddamn it.
Grimacing, I wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault, that Andre could fuck a nun seven ways from Sunday when he wanted to, but I also couldn’t give her an out either.
Because I was still fucking furious with her.
“I’m sorry. We’re not really together, but we are. Even if I did nothing wrong, this still makes me feel like a bad person.” She sniffed and turned her face away.
“I’ll take you back to my apartment.” I needed to take care of shit, and she needed time to gather herself.
“No!” She pressed a hand to my chest. “Take me to the birdcages.”
“Hell no. Those are people we don’t trust. Whether you fucked Andre or all of my brothers, you’re not our enemy.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she met my stare. She seemed to be trying to decipher how truthful I was.
“Stop making Amorette cry. We have bigger shit to worry about.” Andre breezed back into the room, dressed, hair brushed, and his phone in his hand.
"This is because of you, not me. She thinks she’s a bad person because she fucked you.” She stiffened in my arms but said nothing. Andre just tossed me a look that said, ‘are you serious?’
“Here,” I tapped her thigh, and she finally climbed off me. She stopped in the corner to grab her panties, purposely facing the wall as she put them back on. We both watched, and when she turned around, Andre resumed with the shit we should actually be focusing on.
“While I was…occupied,” Andre flicked a guilty gaze to Amorette, “Vicente has operated a series of attacks. One on your hotel, burning it like Parker burned his LA club. Another was hanging one of my men from his gates.” His mouth pressed together in a grim line.
When he glanced up, his eyes showed more emotion than I’d seen in a decade.
“He’s also taken over one of Lafe’s warehouses.
It seems the only person he hasn’t retaliated against is Parker. ”
“Because he knows Parker is the one who torched the club…” It made sense. He would have pulled the footage. Talked to the employees.
“What was he thinking?” Andre rubbed his temples. “Vicente wouldn’t just take that sitting down. Parker wouldn’t be able to hide that shit.”
Amorette sat on the end of the couch, not too close to Andre or me, and kept her gaze on the table between us.
“I need to get to the hotel. There’s probably a fuck ton of work to be done.” I started to stand.
“No,” Andre shouted. “That’s exactly what Vicente is hoping for. He’s trying to draw us out. He’ll take us, then use us against Parker.”
I laughed. “Like Parker gives a fuck if Vicente has us. He only cares about his revenge and getting out of there. But you know who does give a fuck? I do. For the people that run the hotel. About the fights that I run there.” I started for the door.
“You know who else cares? I fucking do!” He pounded his chest. “Good luck getting off the island. All the toys are grounded and shored.”
Slowing to a stop, I turned around. “You forget that you’re not the only leader around here. I have men just as loyal to me as they are to you.”
I skimmed my gaze over Amorette, taking in her sad eyes and the downturn to her mouth. Then I turned and walked out.
Twenty minutes later, I’d packed a bag and arranged as much backup for the hotel as I could. The boat was my best bet to get there quickly since Parker still had the chopper.
A loud, harsh pounding came at my door like it would splinter the damn thing open. Andre's panicked face met mine when I unlocked it and swung it open with a snarl.
“Lafe’s missing. Is he with you?”
No, he fucking wasn’t with me. I dropped the bag and ran toward his door.
“I’ve already checked there!”
“Where the hell is he?”
Andre stopped and typed on his phone. Within seconds it chimed, and his face paled. “He’s gone. Lafe left.”
“To where?”
“I don’t know.” Andre gulped and looked up at me.