CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1374 Words
“Beware lest the one you love to hate becomes the one you can’t live without “
CAMERON
“Actually,” I say, pressing my body into Earl and sliding my palm up his chest. “We met at the scene of an accident.”
Nikolas' jaw ticks at the show of affection and Earl turns his head towards me, catching my wandering hand in his and pressing it closer to his bulging muscles.
A dark hint of warning flashes in his gaze just as Nikolas frowns at me. “An accident.?”
Earl’s grip on my waist tightens but I ignore it.
I turn to Nikolas, the sweetest smile on my face. “Yes, a very unusual accident actually, in fact it was so unusual it felt almost…arranged.”
“What?” Nikolas asks, tilting his head in confusion.
Earl’s jaw ticks. If he clenched his teeth any harder they would dissolve in his mouth. “It wasn’t arranged…”
I lean more into him. “By fate darling. Arranged by fate. That’s how perfect it was.” I can feel my breasts pushing up against him. “Wouldn’t you agree, love?”
Earl smiles sweetly at me but his left eye is twitching in anger.
I almost laugh out loud.
Fuck you too Earl Salvatore.
Nikolas steps up towards us but I might as well no longer be in the room for all the attention he pays me.
Instead his gaze narrows in on his brother.
“You think I don’t know what this is Earl?”
At this Earl lets go of me and turns towards him, chin tilted, eyes a flicker with something very close to danger.
“And what is it Nikolas?”
All the play is gone from Earl’s voice but he also still sounds bored.
Nikolas however sounds confrontational now. Like he has been waiting for this moment a long time.
His hands are closed in tight fists by his side and his nostrils are flaring.
The tension between the brothers is so thick you could cut it with a butter knife.
Nikolas opens his mouth like he wants to say something else but at the last minute he seems to remember that I am there.
He glances at me and the look in his eyes almost incinerates me where I stand.
Stepping back and squaring his broad shoulders, he shifts his attention back to Earl again.
“There is to be a meeting in the garden.”
Earl rolls his eyes. “I am aware.”
Finally Nikolas slips his gun back into his pocket.
“I suggest you put your…” he throws me another caustic look.
“Bride away first. We both know how well father takes to surprises.”
In response Earl steps past his brother’s seething form, grabbing my arm and taking me with him. “Thank you for your advice. I know my father just as well as you do.”
“Well I’ve known him for ten year ma more than you have.” Nikolas throws back in response and I feel Earl stiffen but he doesn’t reply.
What’s that about?
“You know I’m going to find out what this is all about don’t you?” Nikolas says, calling out to our retreating forms.
“f**k off Nick.” Earl replies, not even bothering to glance back.
But when I look over my shoulder, I see Nikolas standing exactly where we left him, gun by his side once more.
His gaze pierces through me as if searching for answers.
Even across this distance I can feel his distrust like a weight pressing between my shoulder blades
I feel like an intruder, caught in a web of family secrets and lies. It is like a tidal wave of deception is looming over me, just waiting to crash down and drown me before dragging me out to sea.
As Earl leads me away, Nikolas's gaze burns a hole into my back up until the last minute.
Earl's grip on my arm is firm, but not unkind, as he navigates us round a corner and into another hallway.
The minute we’re out of sight I pull my arm away from him.
Earl doesn’t even stop walking.
I hurry after him. “Any other family members with guns I need to watch out for.”
“All of them.” He says flatly and I almost run into a pillar. “Lucky me.”
Earl throws me half a glance as if to make sure I’m okay. “Nikolas can be…passionate when it comes to family matters.”
I look up at him, surprised by his calm demeanor.
"Passionate" seems like an understatement, given the intensity of Nikolas's outburst.
“I’m passionate.” I finally say. “don’t threaten people who accidentally open the wrong door.”
At this Earl shoots me a stern look. “Don’t talk about my brother.”
I shoot him one back. “Tell your brother not to wave his gun in my face.”
I may be scared shitless of them but I will not be bullied by the Salvatore brothers.
Earl’s glacier eyes darken with a warning but he lets it go, continuing towards the end of the hallway.
"Let's just say Nikolas has a strong sense of loyalty. He means well, even if he doesn't always show it."
“That’s odd. You don’t seem to like each other very much.” I tell him, looking at his profile.
Earl smiles bitterly. But he says nothing more.
We reach the end of the hallway and a set of double doors.
He pushes it open.
“Do not leave this room till I get back.”
I roll my eyes. “Relax, I have no plans of carting away all your precious yoghurt or your swimming pool.”
But Earl’s expression doesn’t change.
“I mean it Cameron.” He says flatly.
My mouth twists into a sad bitter scowl.
“What are you worried about, your gate is seven thousand feet high, there’s no house for miles that doesn’t belong to you. You have my parents’ lives in the palm of your hand. I may hate you Earl but I can’t exactly run away can I?”
For a split second, one so fast I can’t be sure I didn’t imagine it, Earl Salvatore looks stung.
But then the moment is gone and his eyes immediately go so cold and dark that I instantly start to panic.
Me and my big mouth.
He steps away from me. “I can stop my brother but if my father sees you before I have a chance to talk to him, I won’t be able to save you. Stay. here.”
I swallow hard, nodding and without another word, I start to go into the room.
But no sooner have I taken one step that Earl’s arm shoots out, grabbing me by the arm.
I freeze, my heart skipping a beat as I turn to look up and into his face.
He stares down at me, fingers digging almost painfully into my skin, gaze cold as ice.
“You’re hurting me.” I whimper, prying at his fingers but it’s no use, He doesn’t budge.
He leans in until his nose inches away from mine.
“And I could hurt you a whole lot more.”
“Let me go Earl.”
“You ever go into my father’s study again," he says quietly, his voice low and smooth. "I will rip that contract to shreds and put a bullet in your head myself. Are we clear?”
And despite the blood turning to ice in my veins, I tilt my chin up and look him in the eye.
He takes a step closer and towards me until I can feel the heat radiating from his body on my skin.
His eyes drop to my mouth, then back up to my eyes again.
“Are. We. Clear?”
I bite my lip hard, allowing the coppery taste of blood fills my mouth.
“Crystal.”
He reaches out and with the pad of his thumb pulls my bleeding lip out from beneath my teeth.
“Good girl.”
- Writer
