“Okay,” I agree. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
He smiles that killer smile that always manages to trip me up, and he grabs my wrist to pull me down. I straddle his waist and wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply. His hand moves to the back of my neck to pull me impossibly closer. I’m so lost in the feeling of him, I barely notice as Viola gags and walks out of the room.
“You scared her off,” I murmur against his lips.
Kage smiles into the kiss. “Good. That was part of my plan.”
TRUE TO HIS WORD, the next morning—after a makeshift transformation that turns me into a brunette with green eyes—we hop in the Escalade to head to Rhode Island. Viola follows behind in her Ferrari, wanting to drop it off at her place before we go. Kage reaches over and laces his fingers with mine.
“I still don’t like this,” he says.
I squeeze his hand. “I know, but you like me.”
“Something like that.”
It doesn’t take long before we’re pulling up to Raff’s, where Viola is staying, and she pulls into the driveway before making an excuse to run inside for a moment. Raff comes out and walks over to the driver’s side of the car, and things seem better between the two men than they have been lately.
“Vi said you’re all taking a road trip?” he asks.
Kage groans. “Her and this one becoming friends is going to be the death of me.”
Raff chuckles and looks over at me. “Sending him to an early grave, are you?”
“Mr. Dramatic will be just fine,” I say with a smile.
“After we get back, I want to sit down with you,” Kage tells him. “Bury the hatchet and all that.”
A genuine smile appears on his face. “I’d like that, son.”
Viola comes walking back out from the house with Nico in tow, and I can practically feel Kage’s mood shift. The two of them bounce down the steps, and Viola smiles cheerfully as she opens the back door.
“Little brother is coming with,” she says.
Kage shoots a look my direction, silently telling me that this is partly my fault. “Fucking splendid.”
Nico gets into the car behind Viola. “Vi, we’re twins. We share a birthday.”
“Yes, and I was born before you, which makes you little brother,” she reasons.
Thankfully, he lets her win this one and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, S. You look good.”
I smile back at him while Kage glares hard into the rearview mirror. Nico refuses to make eye contact, instead choosing to stay focused on me.
“He’s killing me in his mind, isn’t he?” he questions.
“Check her out one more time, and it’ll be a lot more than in my mind,” Kage threatens.
Nico settles back into the seat. “That’s fair.”
THE DRIVE TO RHODE Island isn’t the longest one I’ve ever taken, but with the Mancini twins in the car, it feels like a whole decade. The amount of times those two go from being the best of friends to arguing is enough to make your damn head spin. And by the time Kage parks the car in the middle of a small shopping strip downtown, he and I are damn near lunging to get out.
“This place is cute!” Vi says as she looks up and down the street. “But where are the designers? Or even Nordstrom or Bergdorf. Where did you bring us?”
Kage drapes his arm over my shoulders. “Somewhere safe where you can still shop.”
She cringes as she looks in the window of the thrift store in front of us. “Great. So, if she dies, it’ll be styleless.”
Nico spots a bar across the street and taps Kage’s arm with the back of his hand. “What do you say we go grab a beer while the girls shop?”
Kage isn’t having it. “If you think I’m taking my eyes off her for a second while we’re here, you’re out of your goddamn mind.”
“No beer it is then,” Nico agrees.
WE MANAGE TO FIND a few cute boutiques that may not be name brand, but they are unique. The one-of-a-kind appeal they have changes Viola’s opinion of this place, and she finally starts having fun.
The four of us find a cute little restaurant by the beach to have lunch, and I can’t deny how good this feels, to be out in the open, without feeling like I have to constantly look over my shoulder. Granted, Kage is doing that for me, but he’s constantly on edge when it comes to me. Not that I can say I blame him. He did watch me almost die…twice.
“You okay?” he asks, noticing me staring off into space.
I smile back at him and nod. “I like it here. It’s small and feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere, but it feels easy.”
He reaches under the table and grabs my hand. “It’s definitely less chaotic.”
As Kage takes a sip of his beer, I go back to looking around again. I could see myself settling down in a place like this, off the grid, where your every move isn’t being documented simply because of who you’re related to. This feels like my kind of place, and I find myself wondering if Kage would ever leave New York.
BEFORE DECIDING TO HEAD back, Viola and I convince Kage to hit one more strip, mainly for the bakery. He looks entirely fed up with our shit but ultimately agrees. It takes twenty minutes to get there with traffic, but when I see all the different cupcakes they have, I declare it worth it.
We’re walking down the street, licking the icing off our dessert, when my eyes land on a tattoo parlor. An open sign hangs in the window with the name of the place in graffiti style artwork above it.
Get Inked.
“Can we stop in here?” I ask, already heading for the door.
Kage’s eyes narrow. “If you wanted a tattoo, you could’ve told me. I have an artist.”
“In New York, where they’re not allowed to know I’m alive,” I counter.
He reaches forward and grabs the handle, opening it for me. “After you.”
We all enter the tattoo shop, and I look around at the artwork that papers the walls. A guy around my age gets up from his seat. His black hair swoops to the side, and the band T-shirt he’s wearing allows me to see that his arms are covered in tattoos.
“What can I do for you guys?” he greets us.
I snatch Viola’s phone out of her hand and type in what I’m looking for. When I find it, I turn the device toward him.
“I want this on my back.”
He picks up the phone, zooming in on certain details of the tattoo. “This is a pretty big piece. You’re looking at being here all night for something like that. I was planning on heading out, but if you want to do it tonight, I’ll stay.”
I look up at Kage, knowing that he wants to hit the road, but also not knowing when the next chance I’ll get is. As he looks back at me, I smile sweetly until he finally caves, waving his hand as if to say go ahead.
“Sounds good to me,” I tell the tattoo artist.
“Great,” he answers. “I’ll get this drawn up…”
“Viola,” I fill in for him, making Vi choke on air.
He nods. “Sweet. I’m Knox. And these are?”
Nico introduces himself first, being the second most social, but Viola is clearly scrambling to think of a fake name. Kage is busy sizing Knox up but manages to grumble out his name. When Knox turns to Viola, she looks like a deer in the headlights.