Chapter 50 #2
He groaned as he fixed his hair back into its usual perfect place. “When are we having lunch on my yacht?”
“Ask Alex. That’s up to her.”
“You’ll have to ask my captors,” I said with my gaze on Marcello.
Marcello shook his head. “Whenever you want. As long as you don’t piss me off.”
“Little old me?” I covered my heart with my hand. “I wouldn’t dream of doing anything to annoy my warden.”
“Alex,” Marcello grunted. “We’re long past that.”
“I know. I just like getting under your skin.”
“We’re going sailing next weekend,” Sonny confirmed. “That’s happening whether Marcello is still in that chair.”
“I’m only in this chair because of our queen.”
“Excuses,” Damian said with a sinister grin. “Maybe you’re just a pussy.”
“Marcello’s playing his hand,” Finn said with eyes on me. “I’d sit in that chair if Alex would sit on my lap and feed me.”
“What is with you guys?” I said to the group, my eyes moving between them. “Do you need to get laid?”
They roared with laughter.
“It’s all you, girl.” Sonny flashed a cocky smile. “You’ve ruined us for other women.”
I laughed. “I highly doubt that.”
Sonny moved his hand from my back to the bench. “We only want our queen.”
“Sonny,” I warned. “If you put your hand on my thigh again, I’m going to break your fingers.”
A few of the guys laughed as Sonny frowned.
Sonny rolled his shoulders. “What can I say? Luca is one lucky bastard.”
Drake cleared his throat. “You mean Marcello?”
Bastian snickered. “Luca’s got this marriage locked down. Marcello will be lucky if he gets a pity fuck from our queen.”
My mouth dropped in horror.
Before anyone could speak, Kali said, “That wasn’t nice, Bash. Say you’re sorry.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he protested. “Don’t go all psycho on me.”
“Bash,” Kali said again. “Sometimes, you’re such an asshole.”
Bastian looked right at me. “I was joking, Alex. Sorry.”
I waved my hand. “It’s fine. I get it. Guy talk. Whatever.”
“Yeah, exactly,” he said with an evil grin.
Kali folded her arms beside me, staring at Bastian across the table. Even with the distance between them, I could feel an electric shock in the air.
“So,” Sonny said, drawing out the word. “Who’s down for sailing next weekend?”
I raised my hand. “I’m going. I never get to leave this damn house.”
Bastian and Damian burned a hole through Kali with their eyes.
“We’ll be there,” Bastian said.
Damian and Bastian weren’t brothers by blood, but still looked similar. Their pitch-black hair, high cheekbones, and pale skin made their lips look even more pronounced. Like Marcello and Luca, they were beautiful in different ways.
But the strength in their jaws and noses drew my attention. I loved to paint people with their bone structure. It was the reason I loved drawing Luca. My fingers itched to capture his essence with my charcoals and paintbrushes.
Kali patted Sonny on the shoulder, then moved to the other side of the table. She stood between Bastian and Damian, waiting for one of them to claim her. It was such a weird configuration. Everyone at the table went back to making bets about random shit, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Bastian hooked his arm around Kali’s leg and pulled her onto his lap. She giggled when he pinned her down, squeezing her throat as he brushed his lips against hers. He didn’t kiss her, but they were so close they could have. I wondered if he had intimacy issues like Luca.
Damian slid his chair closer to them, clutching her inner thigh with possession.
I could see his fingers digging into the flesh of her inner thigh as he pulled her mouth away from Bastian to kiss her.
Except it wasn’t a normal kiss. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, tugging on it with his teeth.
Damian pulled so hard I thought I saw blood, and that made him suck even harder.
After they claimed her, Kali turned on Bastian’s lap and looked at me. “Wanna go swimming?”
“Yeah, okay. I have to get changed.”
I got up from the chair, and the Knights moved with me, all rising to their full height. Even Bastian and Damian were on their feet with Kali between them. Marcello stayed in his wheelchair because he knew I would have killed him for making unnecessary movements.
I tapped Marcello’s arm. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go doing anything stupid while I’m gone.”
“I’m not handicapped, princess. I can walk without this stupid chair.”
“Just do this for me.” I gave him my best pouty face. “Please. And if you behave yourself, maybe I’ll consider that sponge bath later.”
“Go get changed,” he grunted.
As I walked away, Sonny and his brothers heckled Marcello.
They were such lovable assholes. The Cormacs were all entitled pricks with sexy smiles and hefty bank accounts.
And if the rumors were true, they were connected to the Irish Mob.
Luca had mentioned once that Sonny’s uncle was Jimmy O’Shea, a scary as fuck mob boss who lived in Beacon Bay.
Kali met me at the end of the long table. We walked into the house and didn’t speak again until we climbed the stairs to the second floor.
She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled. “I see you’re accepting your role as their queen.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I sighed. “Not like I have many choices.”
“It’s crazy how they move with you.”
“I’m not used to it,” I admitted.
“This must feel like second nature to you since you were always so close with them.”
I lifted an eyebrow at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, my bad. Bash said you got your memories back.”
“I have some of them. But there are black spots. It’s weird. When I’m with Drake and Sonny, I get this vibe as if I’ve known them for a long time. Like I know them intimately.”
She followed me down the second-floor hallway to my bedroom. “What do you remember about them?”
“Little things. It feels so familiar when Sonny brushes his fingers down my arms and thighs. I’m comfortable around him, which is weird because I’m usually not at ease with strangers.
I feel the same thing with Drake. I felt this instant connection with him the night we danced at the Midsummer Night’s Dream party. ”
“You’re making good progress in a short amount of time,” she said, which sounded strange coming from her mouth. “If your memories are already returning, the rest will follow.”
I forced a smile. “I hope so. It sucks forgetting shit everyone already knows. I hate feeling like the crazy girl.”
“You’re not crazy, Alex.”
She followed me into the walk-in closet, and I lifted the black and gold string bikini from the tiny hanger.
“Damn, girl,” she commented with laughter in her voice. “That thing doesn’t cover much. You’d have better luck wearing one of Luca’s ties around your monster boobs.”
I chuckled. “Luca enjoys showing me off to his friends.”
“Bash and Damian would have a stroke if I wore that. They hate when their friends stare at me.”
“I don’t think anyone would dare look at you with them around. They’re kinda scary.”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “That’s for sure.”
Kali walked out of the closet to give me some privacy. I stripped off my shorts and top and squeezed into a skimpy bathing suit. After I got changed, I fixed my curls, running my fingers through my wild mess. The summer heat and pool water would undoubtedly send my hair into frizzville.
Kali stripped off her dress and laid it on my bed with her purse. A navy blue bikini showed off her lithe body, which made me feel fat next to her. I was a skinny twig for most of my life, but gained thirty pounds during college.
“How are you feeling after the shooting?” Kali wrapped her long fingers around my wrist. “You seem okay, but that was a traumatic experience.”
“It was terrifying,” I confessed. “I was too worried about Marcello to process what happened to me. It seemed so insignificant compared to Marcello getting shot.”
“If you need to talk, I’m here for you. You can tell me anything.”
“My grandfather is giving me a choice between Luca and Marcello.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Shut up. You’re joking, right?”
I shook my head. “Pops called a meeting today with the Knights. I got into a massive fight with Luca. I’m marrying one of them in September.”
“Damn, girl. I thought I had it bad with my family. At least my dad isn’t forcing me to get married.”
“What does your dad think about you dating Bastian and Damian?”
She shrugged. “He’s too afraid of losing Arlo’s favor to make a big deal about it.
I doubt he cares, anyway. We have never been on good terms. I can’t think of a single time he showed up for my school plays or to watch my softball games.
He missed all of my graduations except for high school.
Arlo was the only reason he came to the ceremony.
I doubt my dad would have shown if I hadn’t graduated with Bash, Damian, and Luca. ”
I stepped into a pair of jeweled sandals and slipped black sunglasses onto my head. “My parents are the scum of the earth. I know all about shitty parents.”
“Unfortunately, that’s something most of us have in common.”
We headed down to the pool. All the Knights, except for Marcello, lounged on patio chairs, drinking bottles of imported beer. He sat in his wheelchair next to Sonny with a miserable look on his handsome face.
I wrapped my arms around Marcello’s neck, resting my chin on his shoulder. “Did you miss me?”
He turned his head, a smirk in place. “Always.”
I kissed his cheek, then moved around to stand in front of his chair. His eyes burned with lust as he stared at my body.
“Goddamn, Alex,” he hissed, leaning forward to place his hand on my hip. “You look beautiful.”
“I think he meant to say fuck-hot.” Sonny sat up, beer in hand, as he eyed me. He licked his lips and tapped his thigh. “I’m feeling feverish. Come sit on my lap, Little Wellington.”
I shook my head. “Stop flirting with me, Sonny.”
Kali tapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s go in the pool. Get away from these creeps,” she joked with her eyes on Sonny.