43. Nyah
NYAH
Dear Diary,
I’m the rose, the thorn, and the blood on the tablecloth.
Icouldn’t face either of them as we walked off the plane. Lynx carried my bag for me, but I avoided his gaze, his gruff “off” when Luca had asked him about my panties burned into my brain.
It was supposed to just be sex. A way of keeping my head attached to my neck for as long as possible.
I wasn’t supposed to have enjoyed it. I wasn’t supposed to have loved the feel of Lynx watching. Wasn’t supposed to have gotten turned on by sliding up and down Luca’s cock and having pleasure course through me so hot and fast that I’d actually come, his name on my lips.
The scent of him was still all over my skin.
I walked a couple of paces ahead of both of them, weaving my way through the crowded airport, though I knew exactly where they were. After what we’d just done, I was so hyperaware of both of them.
Relief filled me when I spotted a suited driver holding up an iPad with the name Guerra written on it.
Luca spotted it at the same time I did and mumbled something about his father sending a babysitter for us, but I was glad to have an extra person in the vehicle for the drive to our hotel. It would have been unbearable if Luca had wanted to rent a car and drive himself.
Just me and the man I’d joined the Mile High Club with and our buddy who’d watched the whole thing.
I followed the driver without a word and took the front seat, leaving the two men to sit in the back.
I sure as hell didn’t want to sit squished between the two of them.
I stared out the window, watching the Scottish scenery roll by, and it was easy to lose myself in the beauty of it, rather than focus on the awkward situation we’d created.
Lynx leaned forward and rested a hand on the back of the driver’s seat. “You missed the turnoff. Our accommodation is down that road.”
The driver met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “I’ve been instructed to take you straight to Mr. MacGregor’s home.”
I stiffened. I was still wearing the underwear he’d “gifted” me.
Only now the panties were soaked in Luca’s cum. “We aren’t expected there for a few hours. I need to go to our rooms first. I’d like to change—”
The driver shook his head sharply. “My instructions were to bring ye directly to MacGregor.”
Luca’s voice was cool. “Instructions from who?”
The driver didn’t answer. And suddenly, I think all three of us were realizing we’d gotten into a car with a stranger without even questioning who had sent them or where we were going.
I closed my eyes and dropped my head back against the rest. “Just great. You’re one of MacGregor’s guys then?”
The driver’s eyes stayed trained on the road. “He’s very much looking forward to seeing you again, Miss Matish. And he said to tell you he hopes you like the gift he sent you.”
“What gift?” Luca asked.
I didn’t say anything, and neither did Lynx or the driver. A huge stone building rose in front of us, and I gawked at it.
“Is that a castle?”
“It used to be,” the driver confirmed, pulling up to the heavy wrought-iron gates that were centuries younger than the property they protected. “Now it’s just Mr. MacGregor’s home.”
It made the Guerras’ place in Providence, and every house I’d lived in from New York to Saint View and all the places in between, seem like a shack in comparison.
The driver followed the winding drive, surrounded by lush green grass, and parked on a gravel driveway, right at the foot of the steps leading up to the grand entrance.
The driver checked his watch. “We’re late,” he murmured, concern etched into the frown of his brow. “They’ll be waiting for you in the dining hall.”
“The dining hall,” Lynx muttered, sticking close to my back. “La-di-freaking-da. Bet these people have never just grabbed a sandwich and eaten it over the kitchen sink.”
I stifled a smile, but Luca’s serious expression didn’t budge. I didn’t miss the way he flanked me, making sure I was safely in the middle of the two of them, as we followed the driver through MacGregor’s ancient house.
“I don’t like this,” Luca muttered.
I glanced at him. “Aren’t we in Scotland because MacGregor invited us?”
“Yeah, but this feels off. We aren’t here on our own terms. We aren’t free to leave. We’re in the middle of nowhere with no vehicle to leave in. You think he didn’t do that on purpose?”
I bit my lip, understanding now why he’d gone so quiet and why his expression was as sour as lemons.
But there was nothing we could do about it now. The driver held open a door and motioned for us to go through it ahead of him.
The smell of a hot dinner wafted in the cool air inside the castle.
It had been warm and wet outside, and the damp feeling pervaded, even inside the stone walls.
But the room was beautifully decorated, with art lining each wall and rich wood paneling.
In the middle, a huge table stretched almost the full length of the room, giving enough space for at least twenty people to all dine together if they wanted to.
I definitely would have been of the “didn’t want to” opinion, but I had little choice when MacGregor’s booming voice filled the cavernous room.
“Carlos. Your blushing bride has arrived, accompanied by your strapping, virile son.” His gaze darted to Lynx. “And they’ve brought a friend.”
I wasn’t sure Lynx and I could ever be considered friends again after what he’d watched on that plane earlier in the day.
To my surprise, MacGregor had left the seat at the head of the table free. He sat on one side of the huge table, his entourage taking up the seats beside him. Carlos sat opposite, his two guards and Dax at his side.
My gaze collided with Dax’s, and it felt like all the air sucked out of the room so fast it was as if a vacuum had turned on. His gaze burned across mine.
But guilt swamped me so hard and fast I had to turn away.
I’d made peace with the fact I would have to betray Dax and sleep with one of the Guerras.
But I had never meant to enjoy it. I had never meant to come while I screamed Luca’s name and secretly wished for a third man to put his hands on me as well.
If I looked at Dax, all I could see was the man I loved with every inch of my heart, the man I’d do anything to protect and the man who had fathered the baby growing inside me. I’d done what I had to do. But that didn’t mean he would understand.
And it didn’t mean I hadn’t betrayed him. Cheated on what we’d had.
God, I wanted to go back to long nights in his bed, in his arms, when my life had felt so simple because all there was had been him.
But there was no going back. Not for any of us.
“Miss Matish.” MacGregor pointed to the seat at the head of the table. “We saved the place of honor just for ye.”
I shook my head, not wanting to sit anywhere near him or Carlos. And definitely not so far away from Lynx, who I knew without a doubt would have my back, even if we had just ruined our friendship. “Oh no. I couldn’t possibly…”
“Of course, ye can.” His tone became more demanding. “Sit, lass.”
His Scottish accent rolled through the room.
If I hadn’t been completely suspicious of the man and his intentions, I probably could have admitted that he was attractive.
Older than me but not as old as Carlos or my father.
Tall, broad-shouldered, his hair a reddish blond, his beard matching.
If he was graying as men his age would normally, I couldn’t tell because it blended with the lighter color of his hair.
I glanced at Carlos. He was the complete opposite of the man sitting across from him.
All dark eyes and tanned skin. And a deep scowl of barely concealed anger, directed at me.
I’d learned the hard way of Carlos’s jealousy when it came to MacGregor, and I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
So even though I’d been told to sit by the owner of the house, I waited for the man who owned me to give me permission.
Carlos smiled smugly at MacGregor and nodded at me. “Sit, Nyah.”
I left Luca and Lynx to take up the seats beside Dax, and I sat at the head of the table, between the two older men clearly fighting some unspoken battle while making out like they were acquaintances on vacation.
Immediately, MacGregor wrapped his fingers around the armrest of my chair and dragged it closer to him.
Close enough for him to lean in and whisper, “The rose between two thorns.” He breathed out heavily, his warm breath all over my neck.
“Is that the bra I bought you peeping out from beneath your shirt, Nyah Matish? I bet your tits look great in it.”
I yanked my chair away from him and back to the center of the table.
But the damage had already been done. It was like Carlos didn’t know who to glower at first, me or MacGregor.
MacGregor saw Carlos’s wrath, there was no missing it, but he clearly did not care. He eyed the older man. “Would you like to eat?”
Carlos sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. He opened his mouth to speak, but at the same time, the door at the end of the dining hall opened, and men filed in, taking up the remaining seats at the table without introduction.
Carlos watched them.
MacGregor didn’t acknowledge their presence. He didn’t need to. It was a show of silent force that had more power because it wasn’t mentioned. But it was a silent warning to Carlos that his side of the table sat six. While MacGregor’s side was full.
Carlos nodded stiffly. “Yes. We’ll eat.”
MacGregor nodded, picking up a wine bottle and pouring a healthy slug of it into both Carlos’s glass and then mine. I didn’t dare protest. Didn’t dare draw any attention to myself.
“Excellent.” MacGregor put the bottle down, his glass full of deep-red liquid. “Because there is something I’d like to discuss with you.”
A maid came over to Carlos’s side and lifted a rounded silver lid off his plate of juicy steak and perfectly sautéed vegetables. Carlos’s knife hovered over them.
“And what’s that? Arrangements for the fight night?”