2. Sebastion
SEBASTION
SUSPECT EVERYTHING
“You haven’t changed a bit.” The woman, the fucking sprite, all five-feet-nothing of her, braces for her brother’s collision and allows him to crush her ribs in a hug that makes my brows pull tight.
I stop in the doorway and keep my distance from the infuriatingly beautiful Scarlett Castro while she presses a kiss to Lincoln’s cheek with lips I’ve already filed away in my mind for future dissection.
When he pulls back and she smiles, I add the two deep dimples popping in her cheeks to my mental file, and when he yanks her in for another hug, her tinkling laughter bounces from wall to wall.
Fuck me.
That filing cabinet is filling up fast.
“Is there a reason you two snuck inside to talk girlie shit?” His brows lift high as he shrewdly studies his sister. His sister! Lincoln Castro’s fucking sister! “I know your ass is here to see me, Little Girl. So why’d I only get twenty seconds before you were gone again?”
“Because you’re loud and obnoxious.” Finally, she steps out of his embrace and pastes on what I know is a fake grin. Wandering across the kitchen and helping herself to the fridge, she snags a soda can and pretends she doesn’t see me here at all.
Bright blue, drop-a-man-to-his-knees eyes flash across my face, inspecting but dismissing. Cataloging, but setting aside as if I barely exist. She closes the fridge and goes to stand beside Nova.
Battle lines have been drawn.
“Why do you assume I’m here to see you, anyway?” She tilts to the side and taps Nova’s shoulder with her own. “I heard you’re in love, big brother. You knew I’d come check her out eventually.”
Despite her efforts not to, her eyes stray back to mine. Wary, though she thinks she’s hiding it. Fearful, though it’s clear she’s practiced otherwise.
“Oh! Does this mean we’re taking Scarlett with us?” Nova’s lips curl into a wide grin. “Since we’re heading out today.”
“Hm?” Scarlett taps the side of her soda can with her nails. “You were going somewhere?”
“Yeah, we were—”
“We’ll postpone,” I cut in, my voice gravelly with… I don’t even know what. Lust. Curiosity. Suspicion. All of the above. As three sets of eyes come around and lock onto mine, I lean against the door frame and do as Scarlett does. Pretend. “We’re staying here for the next little while.”
“Really?” Nova challenges with a saucy smirk. “Weren’t you just saying we had to be in the truck in ten minutes, or else…?”
“Or else what?” Braver than she was on the porch, Scarlett stares down her dainty nose and hits me with sexy defiance. “Would you hurt her, mister… Tank?”
Nova snort-giggles. “Mr. Tank. Sounds so douchey.”
“Why are you even here?” Lincoln steamrolls across the kitchen and grabs his sister’s hand. He looks her up and down, from her long, mahogany locks to a pair of ankle boots that would be her undoing in a dangerous situation.
War and broken ankles complement each other as seamlessly as oil and water.
Instead of answering, Scarlett merely sips her soda.
In response, Lincoln’s brows knit with suspicion. “Scarlett?”
“What?” She tugs her hand from his and rolls her eyes the way younger siblings have been doing since the dawn of time. “I wanted to see you. I didn’t realize I needed a stone-etched invitation to spend time with my big brother.”
“You don’t. But I’m working right now, and you never, ever drop by when I’m working.”
“Really?” Nova snarls. “I’m still work for you, Lincoln?”
“No! That’s not what I—” He rakes his fingers through his hair, frustrated as the women so easily team up against him. “That’s not what I meant.” He shifts his focus to Scarlett. “Don’t act like this is normal.”
“But—”
“Yes, you’re always welcome. No, you never need an invitation. But this… here…” He gestures around the kitchen. “This is different, and you damn well know it. So why don’t you fess up, tell the truth, then we can get on to whatever the hell is going on.”
“There’s nothing to fess up about! Jesus. You’re never normally away this long, which is why I’ve broken protocol. You’ve gone on and on about how wonderful and beautiful and amazing and blah, blah, blah Nova is.”
“Aww,” Nova swoons. “He said those things?”
“You told me this place was safe and that your last job was done. So yeah, I came here instead of waiting for you back in Colorado. I thought it would be nice to try something new, meet you here amongst the pretty mountains, and most importantly, I wanted to meet Nova. This is her home, which is obviously the best place to get a feel for who she is. I might’ve made different choices if I knew I’d arrive to an interrogation, though. ”
Exasperated, Lincoln swings around and meets my eyes. He doesn’t believe a single damn thing she says. “You said we had to go. Is that no longer the case? Is this location under threat?”
No more than it usually is. “We can stay.” I fold my arms and study Scarlett Castro.
Sex on legs, that’s what she is. And beneath the tears I saw on the porch is a spine that makes me wary.
Every word she speaks makes my cock twitch.
Every time she glowers at Lincoln, my stomach tingles.
“I’ll make some calls.” I drag my phone from my pocket without breaking eye contact with the sorceress I had no clue existed mere minutes ago.
I mean, I knew she existed. I would never deal with a dude without first familiarizing myself with his entire life story. But I’d never met her, and I sure as fuck hadn’t looked into her defiant eyes while she lied right to our faces.
“I’ll get us squared away for this fun little family reunion.
” I unlock my phone, working on muscle memory alone.
“Let the appropriate people know what’s happening.
” Finally, I flash an arrogant smirk for the sprite in tight jeans.
“Then I’m gonna enjoy my vacation in this cozy little house set amongst snowy mountains. I wanna get to know our new friend.”
And there it is. Her bravery makes way for fear. Her hubris, for trembling hands.
That spine she showed her brother folds faster than a warm pretzel.
She’s afraid. And I… well, I’m not sensitive enough to give a fuck.
I turn on my heels and stalk back through the house, across the living room, and out the front door.
Moving down the porch steps, I wander toward the SUV that wasn’t here an hour ago, and hitting dial on my phone, I bring the device to my ear and peek inside the windows at the things Scarlett Castro brought along for the ride.
“Yeah?” a deep, masculine voice filters through my ear.
I expected a woman.
“La Bruja?” I straighten my back and shoot a heavy glare out toward the empty road. “Where is she?”
“Just stepped out. You alright?”
“Yeah. We’re not moving Nova today.”
Just like I do, the guy on the other end of the line speaks as few words as possible. “Why not? We had a plan.”
“Mm.” I stalk around the SUV and peek into the back. “Castro received a last-minute visitor. Unexpected.”
Tension grows thick and pulses from his end of the call to mine. “Trouble?”
“Dunno. Not the kind we’d normally expect. It’s his sister.”
“Castro’s sister?”
“Mm. He speaks highly of her, and she appears harmless enough. But Lincoln’s not gonna leave her so soon after she arrived, and I’m not bringing her along for the ride. So we’re gonna stay put for a few days and see what shakes out.”
“What do you think will shake out?”
I release a grunt. Something between an I dunno, and intolerance. “She’s lying about her reasons for coming. Claims she just wanted to see her brother.”
“You don’t believe her?”
“I believe her even less than I believe Nova’s claim of not memorizing the code. I don’t know what her plan is yet, but I’m gonna sit my ass down and keep an eye on both women for a few days. The truth will float eventually.”
“She hot?”
I cough out a laugh, unexpected and soothing enough to erase a modicum of the dread settled in my belly. “I knew you’d ask that. You’re a fuckin’ mess, Mav. Can’t help your damn self.”
“So she’s hot then.” His smile crackles and grows, audible despite our distance.
“You act like I don’t know you. Poor chick has no clue that when she climbs into your bed before the end of the week, willingly, by the way, she’ll have walked toward the plans you set from the outset. Anything to keep the secret.”
“Mmhmm.” I glance back toward the house and watch Lincoln step onto the porch, alone and pissed off. Which is basically his default setting. “You can shut up now,” I murmur into the phone. “I’ll keep you updated when things change. Otherwise, you know where I am. Let the team know.”
“Will do. Clean this up quickly, okay? I was looking forward to having you back.”
“Yep.” I step around the car as Lincoln stomps down the porch steps and moves onto the crackling snow. “Talk to you later.”
“K.”
I end our call and slip the device into my pocket. Tipping my chin toward the house, I let my smirk fly free. “Your sister’s lying. You know that, right?”
And if you don’t, you’re not nearly as good at your job as your reputation states.
“Yeah, I know she’s lying.” He scrubs a hand over his face.
She’s been here for all of five minutes, and he’s already exhausted.
“She’s not talking yet, but she’s easy to read.
She’ll confess soon enough. In the meantime—” He drops his hand and transforms from tired, older brother to straight-up fucking homicidal. “Stay the hell away from her.”
Smirking, I poke a thumb back at myself. “Me?”
“You. Don’t look at her. Don’t flirt with her. Don’t fucking smile at her. Your reputation precedes you in more ways than one, and your MO is to basically fuck anything with a hole and a heartbeat. I’m warning you now, stay—”
“You have a hole and a heartbeat.”
His mouth drops open in stunned silence.
Ironic, really.
“I didn’t fuck you yet, Castro. But it’s been a minute since I last had a hole and a heartbeat to exploit, so if you’re offering to lie head down, ass up, I suppose I could pretend you’re a chick long enough to get the job done.”
His face burns a furious red. “Stay away from her. Stay away from Nova. In fact, get in your truck and stay away from us all. We don’t need you.”
“Nah.” I fold my arms across my chest. “I just cleared a little vacation time with my employers, and the view here is just so…” The scenery outside? No, that’s not what I’m looking at. “Pretty.”
“I’ll slit your throat and end this nightmare,” he snarls.
“I didn’t wanna know you before September, and I sure as shit don’t wanna know you now.
You’re here because you took a bullet for Nova that one time, but no one is shooting at her anymore, which means my desire to keep you around no longer exists. ”
“You’re saying a lot of words for a dude who offered to be my bottom just a minute ago.
” I push away from the car and add the dozens of markers—pens, Sharpies, pencils, all strewn across the front passenger seat—to my mental files.
“I’m gonna need you to stop speaking now, so I can go inside and get to know your baby sister. ”
“Jameson!” He grabs my shoulder and wrenches me back around, strong enough to make my feet skid in the snow and put a crick in my neck. “This isn’t a game to me! She’s not a plaything for you to screw around with.”
“Why so serious, bruh? She’s a legal adult.
I’m a legal adult. She knows how to pop off at a man, considering all that huffing and puffing I saw in the kitchen.
” I bounce his hand off my shoulder and lean a little closer to leer at the overprotective big brother.
“I figure, if she doesn’t want me to pay attention to her, she’ll say so.
It’s not the 1950s anymore, Castro. She doesn’t need you guarding her door. ”
“I said no!”
“Bitch, I didn’t ask.” With a dismissive scoff, I turn on my heels and stalk back toward the house, up the porch steps, and through the front door. My phone vibrates in my pocket with incoming texts, and the chatter inside the house stops the instant I cross the threshold.
Scarlett Castro is exactly the type of woman my cock grows hard for. She’s here, she’s a liar, and she’s got enough of an attitude problem to make the next few days enjoyable.
There’s not much I’d trade time with my family for. But sparring with her? With the woman with eyes bluer than a summer sky, and two giant dimples that flash brighter than neon lights at night?
Yeah. I’ll invest a little time tormenting her.
She’ll give up her secrets, or she’ll run away and never show her face again.
Either outcome works for me.
Game on.