I stared at the pool.
Melanie helped herself to the cheese board and drank from his glass of wine.
I knew the conversation was over.
Melanie lifted her gaze and looked at me as she ate. “Is Raven okay? You two left abruptly.”
“She’s fine.”
She drank from the wineglass, her eyes on me. “You’re lying. You and Fender make the same face when you do that.”
“I’m not lying. She’s fine.”
“Maybe now she’s fine, but she wasn’t.”
Fender stepped in. “She wasn’t feeling well. Supposedly.”
Melanie set down the glass and ignored the gourmet food in front of her. Every glass of wine she had was from a vintage bottle, and the butler took care of every single need she had, she swam in a big pool in a mansion and sat in the lap of a man who adored her. Why would she jeopardize any of that? She wasn’t like Raven whatsoever. She was superficial, dull, and weak. “Please tell me.”
It was hard for me to deny her when I knew she genuinely cared about her sister’s well-being. She couldn’t just call and ask her herself. It might be months before they saw each other again. “One of my old lovers said something to her.”
“What?” Melanie asked.
I shrugged. “That she doesn’t understand why I left her for someone much less attractive, basically.” It was untrue. Stasia had fake tits, plastic surgery, skipped breakfast, and only ate a hard-boiled egg for lunch every single day. She was worse than Melanie. “Which is completely untrue. She just said it to start shit.”
Melanie erupted like a volcano, dormant one moment then explosive the next. “I’m gonna knock that bitch out! Who the fuck is this skank?”
Fender chuckled at her anger. “Come on, she’s right. Stasia is sexy, and your sister is a swine.”
Melanie turned to him and gave him a vicious stare. She was still for a second before she pushed off him and got to her feet. Then she stared down at him, so furious she didn’t know what to do. Her palm slapped across his face so hard that an audible smack echoed over the grounds. “Don’t talk about my sister like that, asshole.”
My eyes were wide because I couldn’t believe that just happened.
Melanie marched back to the house, her legs moving quickly because she wanted to get away from Fender as quickly as possible.
Fender turned to watch her go, but he didn’t go after her. His hand moved to his cheek, and he rubbed the inflamed skin before he grabbed his wine and took a drink like nothing happened. “Kinda liked it.” He looked across the grounds and swirled his glass absentmindedly.
I’d never really liked Melanie because she was so submissive and stupid. Respect was difficult to earn from me, and it took courage and guts to get my admiration. But she’d earned a little bit tonight.
I didn’t return to the apartment until two.
I had other shit to do after leaving Fender’s place. I had to drop in on my distributors to make sure they were following the guidelines they agreed to once we signed them on. My job was all about accountability, both in and out of the camp.
I left my wallet and keys downstairs because I didn’t lock up anything around Raven. There were guns stowed in every room of the apartment, and I had no doubt she’d uncovered at least one at some point in time. But I’d dropped my guard around her the way I did with one other person—my brother.
I walked upstairs and noticed the light coming from the bedroom. One of the lamps was on. I stepped inside and found her sitting up in bed, reading a book by the light of the lamp. She must have been at a really good part because she didn’t look up at me right away. Her eyes trailed from left to right as she finished the page. Then she looked up at me. “Glad you’re home.”
I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor. My shoes and jeans were left in the same spot on the floor. “Why are you still awake?” She was usually up early, going for a walk and getting a coffee and muffin.
“It’s just too hard to sleep without you now.” She set the book on the nightstand then turned off the lamp.
I got into bed beside her and turned on my side to look at her.
She scooted right up next to me, so our bodies were close, her face just inches from mine. One hand slid under the sheets and moved to my chest so her fingers could feel the warm skin over my abs. “How’d it go?”
I didn’t want to tell her what Fender had said, but I wanted her to know that her sister had her back when she wasn’t even there. “Melanie asked about you.”
“How is she?”
“Living the life, frankly.”
She smiled slightly. “Yeah…I picked up on that.”
“She asked why you left the party early. I told her the real reason.”
Her fingers stopped moving against me.
“Fender made an asshole comment about it. Melanie told him off and slapped him across the face.”
Raven’s eyes immediately widened in surprise. “What?”
“And she slapped him hard.”
“Melanie?” She was incredulous at first but then started to laugh. “Oh my god, I cannot picture that.”
“Well, she did.” I smiled, loving the fact that she focused on the good part of the story instead of the bad.
“What did he do?”
“Just sat there. Said he liked it.”
“Damn, she’s got him wrapped around her finger.”
“Big-time.”
She chuckled again as she looked into my face. “You never smile…”
My lips slowly started to sink. “Not much to smile about.”
“But you look so handsome when you do it.” Her fingers moved to the corner of my mouth, and she gently brushed her thumb along my bottom lip. “I wish I could see you smile every day.”
“I wish I could see you laugh every day.”
Her eyes softened in a way I’d never seen before. “Maybe one day…we will.”
Twenty-Five
Always Be This Way
Overnight, everything changed.
She was different.
Cold. Distant. Quiet.
When we passed coffee shops, she didn’t have the same excitement she used to. There wasn’t affection in her eyes when she looked at me, if she looked at me at all. I hadn’t done anything to warrant her indifference, so I assumed it was a mood that would pass on its own.
The only time she was the woman I knew was when we made love.
When I woke up that morning, she had already gotten her morning coffee and muffins, and my cup of coffee was sitting on the counter. I grabbed it and took a drink, noticing she wasn’t reading in the living room.
I set the cup on the counter then walked into her old bedroom.
She sat in the armchair and read her book, her back angled slightly, earrings hanging down.
I leaned against the doorframe and stared at her.
She didn’t acknowledge me.
“What did I do?”
She stilled at the sound of my voice, her eyes lifting up to the window.
I waited for an explanation that never came. “You’ve been different for days. I thought your mood would pass, and it hasn’t. I don’t want to spend our remaining time this way.” My arms crossed over my chest, and I continued to watch her.