Chapter 6 #2
“There’s an urgent matter that requires the utmost care and attention.
” Alexei uses his gloved hands to push his hood back, unveiling that blond hair like it’s a gift bestowed by the heavens for all of womankind.
He smells like soap and laundry detergent.
I can smell him from here, like a clothesline in summer.
“I’ve tried to be patient this week. Really, I have. ”
He moves away from the door and steps toward me. I imagine that most people would take a step back if this Borisov boy approached them the way he’s approaching me. Like he’s on the hunt. My thumb plays with the rings on my finger, and his green eyes slither down to the pair of them.
The edge of his mouth lifts, displeased by the sight. Alexei’s attention drifts from me to the wet spot on my mattress and his pupils dilate until there’s not much color left in his irises. A visible shudder strikes him like a lightning bolt to the head, his gaze shooting over to Widow.
Alexei is visibly disgusted and he’s also…visibly hard? There’s a bulge in his joggers that I guess I’m supposed to pretend that I don’t see. I tuck my own hands casually into the pockets of my sweatpants, waiting to hear what he came all the way over here to say in person. Risky business.
“Spit it out, Marie. It’s P-Trip day.” I shake my head, drowning in fuckboys and romance and…
Bohnes is blatantly stealing my underwear from the hamper, stuffing a pair into his pocket and winking at me.
Wonder if Alexei brought his pair of stolen Scarlett panties with him?
He better not try to touch me without presenting them first.
Widow is a thundercloud, his brow furrowed, lips pressed flat.
He doesn’t appreciate the way Alexei is looking at me, like I already belong to him.
I get goose bumps and narrow my own eyes.
Snap, snap, snap goes the latex glove against Alexei’s wrist. There are a lot of dangerous people in this small room.
“I’m aware that Scarlett won a date off Widow at the track.
” Alexei shifts his focus wholly to Widow as Bohnes yawns dramatically, patting his mouth with klepto fingers.
“All week, I’ve wished fervently that one or the other of you would initiate it, so that it would be done.
I’m afraid that I can wait no longer.” Alexei lifts his chin, like a man dressed in a six-figure suit instead of used emo clothes that came out of a trash bag.
“Go out with me tonight, Scarlett. If not then, early tomorrow.”
“You want to take me out before the race because you think I’ll lose.
” I laugh at that, flicking a hot look over at Bohnes.
He has the audacity to not look guilty when we both know damn well that he’s up to something.
He smiles with teeth. Widow is fuming, like he knows more than he’s letting on.
Alexei blinks slowly, but doesn’t acknowledge my statement.
All three of them, colluding against me.
“Is that a yes?” Alexei clarifies, feasting on me with that hungry stare.
Starving. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a person look so hot and so cold at the same time.
His eyes are on fire, but his expression is a blizzard.
I notice that he can’t quite stop himself from stealing another glance at the dirty bed.
“Last night was basically a date anyway,” Widow growls, curling his lip.
He yanks at his wrinkled shirt with an angry hand, flowing into the bathroom like he’s riding his own cloud of rage.
Yikes. I didn’t see any of that anger last night.
“Go out with him and see what he wants. The pair of them are keeping secrets from us, and I don’t like it. ”
“Who, me?” Bohnes says, disturbingly coquettish. “Guilty as charged.”
I wave his half-assed confession aside with a flick of my hand. He’ll squeal for me later.
“Did the pair of them also shove a stick of dynamite up your ass?” I ask Widow, confused as to what’s going on in this stupid threeway plot. We definitely reached some sort of new stage in our relationship, so what’s this mercurial bullshit all about? “Why are you so pissy all of a sudden?”
“Do you have to argue with me every time I try to be nice? You’re making this really goddamn hard.” Widow turns back around in the bathroom doorway, parking his big shoulder against the jamb. In his other hand, he has a toothbrush. I’ve been letting him keep it here.
See? I am screwed. It’s over for me.
“That was you being nice?” I laugh again.
“Fine. I’ll go on a date with Alexei first.” I turn to the blond prince in question and he sighs, shuddering a little as he rubs his gloved fingertips together.
Staring at the bed. Nice big bulge between those devil horns printed on his pants.
“But after the race. Care to explain why it’s so crucial that we have a date beforehand? This is weird timing.”
Alexei curses under his breath in Russian, acting squirrelly in a way I wasn’t sure he was capable of. He’s usually so refined.
“The timing is a bit rushed.” Bohnes is examining items on my dressing table.
He pockets another item, but I don’t worry about it.
I’ve decided to put my full trust in him.
Except, you know, when we argue. Then I trust my own judgment over his.
I trust my own judgment over everyone else’s (possibly to my own detriment).
“But Alexei has these strange fantasies of how certain events should go.”
Certain events. My heart slams into my throat. My palms start to sweat.
“Certain things cannot be rushed.” Alexei closes his eyes like he’s in pain. About what, I have no idea. His father, Pavel, was just murdered. It hasn’t been long, even if it feels like eons. “There’s a way one goes about this.”
This. This. This. I exhale sharply and Alexei’s attention rams into my consciousness, our eyes locking. He’s a gentleman, Scarlett. He’s a hopeless romantic, Scarlett. Just like me, supposedly. I clack my engagement rings together and the sound reminds me of funeral bells.
“After we tame your ass on the track, I expect that diamond ring off your finger.” Widow shoves the toothbrush violently into his mouth. Bohnes turns around casually, smirking at my smoldering reaction. Alexei is the one who reaches out with a gloved hand and lifts mine up for his perusal.
He studies Ash’s diamond and sighs, almost wistfully.
“If we kill him, you’ll mourn him forever.
” The words are gentle, but horrible, too.
Alexei’s right about that. If they kill Ash, I’ll never get over Ash.
Never. They want me to hate him, too, so they’re giving me this chance on the track.
Surely, they know that they’ll lose? Alexei’s sea-glass-green eyes catch me off-guard. “Go outside, Scarlett. He’s waiting.”
Alexei steps aside like he expects me to take off running.
With a sigh, I put my hands up to my forehead and try to push back the headache that’s forming.
“Tame my ass, huh?” I whisper, more to myself than to them. I’m happy to hear the word we come out of Widow’s mouth. The word tame is going to be a problem though. The only people who are going to be tamed in this relationship are the four mad dogs with poor leash manners.
Whatever Ash is doing here, his main goal will be to piss me off.
He wants me to hate him, so that the odds of this battle are easier to beat.
If we’re not trying to keep him safe, we can make stronger, more decisive moves.
I have a much higher chance of survival if Ash removes himself from the picture. I get it.
Ash is trying to play the hero by pretending to be the villain.
I head downstairs at a leisurely pace, but make no mistake: I’m already pissed the fuck off.
“Get over here.” I grab Ash by the front of his tailored black shirt, slamming him into the blue ‘69 Shelby GT500 that’s parked at the curb in front of my house.
He’s definitely not Aspen or else he’d have countered the assault.
Ash didn’t even expect me to touch him; I had the element of surprise on my side.
Oh, those telltale eyes of his. “Why am I not shocked to see you making an ass out of yourself? You better be at that track to race tomorrow or you’ll be sorry, Kelly. ”
He tries to push me away, but I don’t make it easy for him.
My fingers become claws, wrinkling his shirt.
I could strangle him for ignoring me all week.
Widow was annoying enough with his refusal to put out.
But this? Ash curls his hands around my wrists, his grip strength astonishing. His black ink eyes are endless pools.
“Get the fuck off of me,” Ash hisses, his attention shifting to the two men standing behind me, the ones who are barely holding themselves back from murder in my front yard. If Ash plays his part too well here, they’ll try to kill him.
I don’t want to let him go. If I don’t though, he might struggle with me and trigger Bohnes and Widow. Alexei can’t be seen, so he’s in the house but…any one of them is capable of snapping and ending it here. Ash, included.
I throw him against the car and release him, stepping back and breathing through gritted teeth.
Ash sneers at me, and he’s so good at play-pretending Aspen that it gives me this little flick of frost in the heart.
“If you stand me up on that track…” I begin, a clear note of warning in my voice. I am a psychotic girlfriend. No, I am a psychotic fiancée. Ash sent me a ring. I’m wearing it. He’s not allowed to kill himself in the name of saving me. Never. No.