I couldn’t look away as those purple beauties danced over my face. Her hair was up in the messy ponytail I’d attempted last night in order to make her more comfortable. Some black strands had rebelled in her sleep and slipped from the rubber band I used to hold it all together.
She stared at me as her brain mulled over my words, chewing them up and swallowing them down. Her expression never betrayed her feelings on what I said though. She just sat on Quint’s lap with a smirk on her face. I couldn’t read her.
Fuck. I could read anyone—I’d always been able to see through another person’s bullshit. But apparently not her.
“It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I submit to you, Stony, but I’m here for whatever it is you have to say. I’m going to listen to you explain this shit to me, and then you’re going to leave me alone, all of you.” She looked at each one of us with a bored expression. Cabe nodded, Quint gave her a pouty face—about to protest, no doubt—but like the little monster she is, she just put her hand over his lips and rolled her eyes.
Annalise liked him. I could tell by the way her lips turned up just a little more when he joked with her. My gut clenched. I wanted her to like me but not enough to let her get closer than tentative friendship. I had to settle for her tolerating my presence until I could find a way out of this—a way to turn down this mating bond and get the fuck out of there. She wasn’t done with her mini speech though. “Then, once I have the chance to decide if what you told me is a bunch of bullshit or not, I will be the one deciding if I stay or if I go.”
“Oh he—” I began to protest.
She held up a finger, interrupting me. “And if you try to keep me here, you’ll find out really quick how I earned the Bad Bitch street name. Don’t fuck with me, boys, you’re too pretty to die.” She grabbed a piece of bacon, got up off Quint’s lap, and walked past us, going deeper into the kitchen. “Where are the mugs?”
Cabe was the one to answer, walking toward her, “They’re—they’re in here. Sorry, you’re too short, I’ll get it.”
It seemed like the new baby of the house had my brothers wrapped around her finger. She was a force, I’d give her that, but I couldn’t help the fear that creeped in when I thought about what she said.
“If I stay or if I go.”
She couldn’t go. That wasn’t an option, because if she left, she wouldn’t have our protection. We would be stronger together. The thought of her getting taken off the street and dragged into Hellfire was…unsettling. I needed her to stay where I could see her, where I could protect her myself.
I needed her to believe that I hated her though. I couldn’t get attached. She couldn’t get attached.
This bond—that I was still content to ignore—was going to be very hard to resist. Still, I didn’t have to be here; I didn’t have to argue with her or deal with her annoyingly sexy attitude. I could’ve just walked out.
My beast roared, “Mine!” His tone laced with warning. He’d give me hell if I left.
I struggled with his protectiveness and my own apprehension. She could ruin me. She could turn me inside out and toss all my plans into the trash.
I studied her as she waited for Cabe to get her a mug from the cupboard, the way she stood with her hip propped against the white marble countertop. She was just casually hanging out, but even that seemed permanent. Her being in our home set off the fire alarms in my head, my brain warning me to flee the danger. She was dangerous to us, to me.
Cabe didn’t seem to notice my fear though. He had a small smile on his face as he moved his body around hers to reach above her head. She shifted away from him and into her own space.
I didn’t have to like her just because my beast did. I just had to be nice to her, get her to trust me enough to stay here so that I could ensure she remained safe. We would figure out what all this was about, and then I would start searching for a way to turn down the bond and finally release the monster I’d spent the last fourteen years holding back.
But first, I had to admit to myself that the bond was real in the first place.
“Here.” I handed her a black mug with a Miami Dolphins logo on it. She looked up at me and narrowed her eyes. Confused by her expression, I asked, “What?”
“Miami Dolphins? Who the fuck likes them?” she asked as she walked over to the coffee bar in the corner of the room by the pantry and poured herself some. She dumped three spoonfuls of sugar in the cup before narrowing her eyes on the wall of floor-to-ceiling cabinets, no doubt wondering which one held the fridge.
We all watched silently as she opened each one of the bright white doors until she found what she was looking for and began rummaging through it until she found the creamer. Once she did, she turned back to look at us with raised eyebrows. “Hello? Are you all deaf?”
Completing her task, she jumped up on the white marble island, tucked her legs underneath her and wrapped her hands around the steaming coffee.
My heart stopped in my chest. She was so fucking cute.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you,” Lanier grumbled.
“You literally just finished telling me I’m basically your prisoner—I’m in survival mode. Fuck off, Lanier.” She then turned to face me. “Cabe, I know you’re the quiet one, but can you please answer my question, because I’m seriously considering your level of sanity if you actually like the Dolphins.”
I leaned back against the kitchen counter and crossed my legs. “We found it at TJ Maxx.”
She took a sip of her drink and quirked an eyebrow as if telling me to continue. When I didn’t, she huffed out a breath. “God, that’s it? You people suck.”
“Big football fan, Minx?” Quint asked, walking to get himself some coffee. He brushed past me and flicked my forehead as he went. I slapped him upside the head.
“Hell yeah, always have been. It’s the Bills for me though.” She grabbed more bacon, chewing as she looked at me. “Alright, let’s get on with this. If I’m supposedly an Angel—hilarious, by the way—and now I’m your prisoner, I would like to know why.”
“Hold the fucking phone, sweet cheeks.” Quint took a sip of his coffee and placed it next to her before he leaned down and put his elbows in her lap, looking up into her eyes. “Did you just bitch about the Dolphins and then casually say that you like the fucking Bills?”
She laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. “Yes, I did.”
He used his fist to knock on her forehead. “Is anyone in there? Hello?”
She slapped his hand away and pushed him off her lap, still chuckling. Her whole face was lit up, bright and shining. She was radiant when she laughed, when she was truly happy. I couldn’t really understand how this situation didn’t freak her out, but she seemed relaxed—like she was used to not really having a home, so she made herself comfortable in whatever situation life gave her. This could be her new home, or it could be a pit stop; either way, she didn’t care as long as we weren’t a threat to her.
I expected more yelling, a bigger fight, her threatening to call the police, but none of that had happened yet, and instead, she sat there looking like she belonged. Either she was in survival mode and was panicking inside, or she felt the bond with us as well, and her natural instincts told her we weren’t a threat.