“Yep,” Luna agreed.
“So why the fuck did we just walk out?” Ty looked at me. “And why the hell are you so damn quiet?” He jerked his head back toward the suite. “If that’s your woman in there, what the fuck are you doing out here?”
“She’s not mine.” Not anymore. Maybe she never was.
“Right.” Ty snorted. “And your brother’s face isn’t beat to hell.”
The elevator arrived, saving me from answering.
Except Ty didn’t let it go. The doors slid shut, and he looked at me. “For real, what’s the deal?”
Fuck him. “There is no deal.”
“Right,” Ty challenged. “You just took one look at her freshly fucked self and decided to beat your brother for sport?”
“Drop it,” Luna warned him.
“You were pissed too,” Ty accused Luna. “You took her into the hall for a come-to-Jesus meeting. What if the woman just likes it rough?”
Luna turned on Ty. “I said drop it.”
Ty shook his head in disgust. “Fine, but we both know why you left Harm there.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded.
Luna and Ty glanced at each other. Then Ty snorted, and Luna shook his head.
Goddamn it. “What?”
“You ever seen Harm pissed off?” Ty asked.
“No.” I barely knew him, but every interaction I’d had with him, he’d been calm. Almost too calm now that I thought about it.
Ty smirked. “Let’s just put it this way, unlike you, there won’t be anything left of your brother’s face if Harm gets mad.”
“That wasn’t me mad.” My brother was still conscious.
Ty looked me in the eye. “Exactly.”
My phone pinged with a new text, and I glanced at the unfamiliar number on the screen.
Your brother did not hurt me.
Three dots appeared, as if she was writing another text. Then they disappeared and no more messages came in.
I added the number to my contacts and waited.
Two minutes later, the dots appeared again. This time she hit send.
Songbird: I just wanted you to know that.
Against my better judgment, I typed a reply.
Me: I didn’t ask.
Songbird: I know, but I’m telling you.
Me: Telling me or justifying his sick behavior?
Songbird: That’s not fair.
Me: Life’s not fair.
Songbird: I didn’t have to tell you anything.
She didn’t have to take a beating either.
Me: No, you didn’t.
The dots appeared, then disappeared, then reappeared.
Songbird: What do you want me to say?
Everything that wasn’t true.
Me: Nothing
Songbird: That is a lie. You wouldn’t be texting me back if that was true.
I pointed out the obvious.
Me: Who texted who?
Songbird: Don’t play games. You know what I mean.
Me: I never played games with you.
Songbird: Didn’t you?
Who the fuck was she lying in bed next to right now as she texted me? Insulted, I tossed my phone aside and got up. Grabbing a water, I went above deck. I’d been pushing down shit emotions I didn’t want to deal with all day, but Ty was right. What if she liked it rough with Vance? What the hell was I going to do about it?
The answer was simple.
Nothing.
I heard my cell ping with another text, then a few seconds later another. Ignoring it, I stared at the clear night sky and inhaled the salt air.
“Figured you’d still be up.”
I glanced over my shoulder.
Carrying a six-pack, Luna stepped onto my boat. Still in his L&A polo and cargoes and ever-present 9mms on his hip and thigh, he sat down next to me. Grabbing one of the beers, he used his keychain to open it before handing it to me.
I took the cold bottle. “Permission to come aboard granted.”
Luna chuckled as he opened a second beer for himself. “I always wondered what it’d be like to live on the water. Born and raised in Miami and I was never on a damn boat until I joined the Marines.” He shook his head as he glanced at me. “How fucked up is that?”
I took a long drag of the ice-cold beer. “About as fucked up as me buying this fifty-two-foot Carver without ever having been on a yacht, let alone piloted one.” The reason behind the purchase was even more fucked up, but I didn’t tell Luna that.
Luna chuckled again. “I like your style, amigo. Cheers.” He clinked my beer.
In a rare display of letting his guard down, Luna stretched his legs out and looked up at the night sky. We drank in silence for a few minutes.
It was long enough for me to wonder why he’d shown up. Luna didn’t make house calls. “Why are you here?”
Glancing at me, half his mouth tipped up. “Thought I’d come check on my inheritance.”
“Inheritance,” I stated.
“Yeah.” He waved his beer around. “You kick the bucket, I get the boat.”
“Yacht,” I corrected, being a dick.
“Yacht,” he repeated, nodding. “Should come in handy with the business.” He took another swallow. “Didn’t know being a next-of-kin had so many advantages.”
I looked at him.
He burst out laughing. “I’m just fucking with you.”
“You’re in a good mood.” I drank more but the beer was no longer ice-cold.
His expression sobered. “Truth is, I’m in a shit mood. Figured you’d be in a worse one. So I came to check on you.” He looked out across the water. “Just wanted to bring some levity to your situation, hermano.”
“My situation.” I sounded like a fucking parrot.
“He took her from you, didn’t he?”
I didn’t pretend to not know what or who Luna was talking about. “It would appear so.” I drained my beer.
“I’m not talking about now,” Luna clarified. “I mean years ago.”
Luna wasn’t only the best sniper I’d ever served with, he was sharp, quick thinking and intuitive. He was the Marine you wanted at your side if shit went south.
“I was twenty,” I admitted, setting my empty bottle down. “It was the night before I was deploying for the first time.” I’d never told anyone this story. The only people who knew about it had been there, but none of them heard it from my mouth.
Luna uncapped another beer and handed it to me. “What happened?”
I took the bottle. “Thanks.” Taking a long swallow, the cold carbonation going down easy, I tried to think of the last time I’d had two beers and couldn’t. “She was the girl next door. Literally. Younger than me by three years, I heard her sing before I ever laid eyes on her.” I glanced at Luna. “I’ll never forget that day.”
“I bet.” He nodded like he knew what I was talking about, but he couldn’t possibly. “Was her voice as sultry back then as it is now?”
Familiar jealousy that until yesterday had been in remission reared. Angry, I drank, but then I answered him because I was losing my fucking mind. “It was different. More powerful, but raw and unpolished. Accented.” I still dreamt about it. “She came to the States from Trinidad before she started high school.”