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Chapter Seventeen

SKYLA

As Aiden turns his glare on me, my stomach plummets to my feet and my pulse pounds.

Did he find out about Zoe’s visit to the laundromat before I had a chance to tell him?

Did he find out that I let her leave?

If this is about Zoe, then things are going to get nasty fast.

I glare at him, trying to put on a show of not being bothered by him. “We’re on a date right now. If you want to talk later, book an appointment with Kalani.”

His lips press into a thin line. “I don’t want this to be difficult. Either get in the van or I’ll make you get in. And if I have to do that, we’re going to have a big problem.”

With a sigh, I get in the back of the van.

Joshua follows, though anger is radiating off him in waves.

The last thing I need right now is for the two of them to start fighting.

Joshua takes the gun from his waistband and sets it in his lap, a subtle warning that doesn’t go unnoticed by Aiden when he looks in the mirror before pulling out into traffic.

He drums his fingers on the wheel to the soft music playing in the background, but his jaw is clenched, and the corners of his eyes are crinkled.

Aiden turns down one street and then another, leaving the heart of New York.

He has to know what I did. He’s going to take us out.

Joshua reaches over and puts his hand on my thigh. He gives it a squeeze when I look at him before slipping me the gun while Aiden isn’t looking.

I arch an eyebrow, but he shakes his head.

A few minutes later, Aiden pulls the van into an alley and cuts the engine. “I was wondering when the two of you agreed that dates were going to be part of your relationship.”

“That’s none of your business.” I shift in the seat, twisting to lean back against the door. “Now, why don’t you tell me why the hell you decided to kidnap us?”

“You’re not a kid.” Aiden smirks and takes off his sunglasses, setting them on the dash.

“Aiden, I swear to fuck?—”

Joshua snorts from beside me, looking out the window like he isn’t fully paying attention to what’s happening right now. His body language is tense, though, everything about him stiff like a snake coiled and ready to strike.

“Either of you want to tell me what you know about Zoe Esposito and what she’s doing right now?” Aiden seems calm, but there’s a red flush climbing to the tips of his ears.

I stare right back at him, not cowed in the slightest. “Why would either of us know anything about her? Try asking Royce or Gia. Hell, I bet even Bianca will take her thumb out of her mouth long enough to tell you that none of us have anything to do with that bitch.”

Aiden gives me a smile that looks more like he’s baring his teeth. “You’re always such a delight to deal with.”

“And you’re a royal pain in my ass.”

“Children, behave.” Joshua looks between the two of us like we’re about to start fist fighting for the last sippy cup at daycare.

Maybe we are.

Bashing Aiden’s head into the steering wheel was fun back when we were teenagers. It might be fun again now.

“We are behaving, dear . But if he wants to come here and accuse the two of us of turning against the family and colluding with the uber bitch, then we’re going to have a problem.”

Aiden rolls his eyes before crossing his arms. “Oh, because I have no reason to be suspicious of you? Really, Skyla?”

I kick his seat hard, smirking when he turns to try to lunge.

Joshua gets in the way, shoving Aiden back into his seat. “You’re not going to put a fucking hand on my wife, no matter how annoying she is.”

His protectiveness of me makes my chest warm inside.

I know it will change when he finds out the truth about me, but it is so good that just for this little while I’m not facing the world alone.

Aiden glowers at him, his hand hovering near the gun at his hip. “Stay out of this. You’re not even married to her.”

“Thank fuck for that.”

The pang to the chest comes out of nowhere.

I thought things might be evolving between us, that maybe this thing between us wasn’t so fake anymore. At least, it isn’t for me.

Stupid, Skyla. Real stupid to fall for him. You should know better.

And I should! But it still happened.

I swallow my hurt down.

I guess as soon as this arrangement ends, it will always be just me against the world as always.

Joshua settles back into his seat, but there’s still a deadly energy seeping through his pores. It seems to fill every corner of the van, sucking the oxygen from the air and making it hard to breathe.

This darkness, it calls to me.

But even if things were different between us, if he felt the same way I do, he’d never be able to accept the true me. My darkness would swallow him.

What if in time, he can learn to accept me, to understand the darkest parts of me?

More likely, he’s going to react the same way everybody else does. He’ll see those parts of me, and he’ll run and hide. Pretend that it doesn’t exist in the hopes that it will eventually go away.

No. He can never know. Not that it matters, since for him this is still nothing more than an arrangement, anyway.

Aiden rakes a hand through his hair. “I wanted to talk to you about the Zoe problem, not sit here and argue with you.”

“Then stop accusing me of doing shit I didn’t do.”

Joshua rolls his eyes, leaning his head against the window. “I don’t know why I have to be here for this.”

I don’t know why he’s here for this either. Usually, Aiden tries to keep big discussions limited to family. He doesn’t like having too much information spread.

Aiden’s gaze cuts toward him. “Because Zoe Esposito has been dropping bodies at my doorstep, and now I have to tell two women that they’re widows. And the third man is yours.”

“Fuck.” Joshua’s jaw works overtime as he grinds his teeth. “Who?”

“Don’t know. Andrew picked up the body this afternoon, though. Said he was going to call you.” Aiden arches an eyebrow, looking like a haughty bastard in the middle of a pissing contest.

Joshua looks at me, mischief in his eyes. “I was otherwise occupied, and he didn’t leave a message.”

Aiden starts gagging. “That’s fucked. I could live my whole life without knowing my sister has sex. You realize that, right?”

The smug smirk is the only answer he gives Aiden.

“Boys, we don’t have time for the two of you to do this either.” I lean forward to look at Aiden’s phone as he pulls up video footage of Zoe close to the family house. “Is there any evidence of her on the property?”

“Nope.” Aiden slides the phone away. “But it was her. She carved her initials into their foreheads. I don’t know what the fuck it is with this family and branding people.”

Joshua looks mildly interested. “I didn’t know the Rinaldos brand people.”

“And you still don’t know,” Aiden snaps. “Got it?”

“Fine.” Joshua smirks and looks at me. “I could brand you.”

I glower at him. “Do it, and I’ll force feed you your own balls.”

“Kinky.” He laughs.

When Aiden makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat again, Joshua turns his attention to my brother.

Aiden tilts his head back and looks up at the ceiling. “It’s like I’m running a fucking circus.”

Joshua shrugs, his smile sly and his gaze cold and calculating. “It would seem like it, considering dead bodies ended up at the front door of your house. Have to wonder what kind of operation you are actually running. You’d have to have clowns for a security team to allow that to happen.”

“I’ve had enough of your shit!” Aiden’s voice cracks through the van like a whip.

“And I’ve had enough of you wasting my time just so you can piss all over your sister’s leg while telling her that there’s a threat to the family. News-fucking-flash, there are always threats.”

I shift, making eye contact with Joshua. “Okay, why don’t the three of us talk about this like adults instead of both of you trying to prove that you’re the biggest badass in the van?”

“Fine.” Joshua shifts in his seat, arms crossing over his broad chest. “Although, Sky, maybe we should think about moving Summer and Jade in with us so we can make sure they’re properly protected.”

I sigh.

It would’ve been better if Joshua said nothing, and he knows that. For whatever reason, he’s decided this is the best time to get under Aiden’s skin.

Fuck my life.

Aiden presses his lips into a thin line, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. “Over my dead body.”

Joshua grins and leans forward. “That could be arranged. It would be fun to kill you. I bet you’re not half as tough as you like to pretend to be. At the end of the day, you’re going to be nothing but a coward like most of the other men I deal with.”

Aiden pulls a knife out of the cupholder and points it at him. “Try it. If you think you’re so fucking tough, go ahead and try something. I’ll gut you.”

The corner of Joshua’s mouth twitches as I press my fingers to my temples.

I don’t know what he is doing right now. He could keep pushing until Aiden actually tries to kill him. And maybe that’s what he wants.

Maybe the shit he’s hiding from me is the fact that he’s looking for a reason to kill Aiden.

Is that what this marriage is? Just one big reason to find a way to get into my family and kill us all?

Joshua sighs and shakes his head. “You know, as much fun as this is, I have other things that I would rather be doing with my day.”

“You’re the one that started this round of bullshit.” My hands go up in the air before dropping down at my sides. “Can we just figure this shit out? This was supposed to be a good day, and now it’s gone to shit. I would just like to go home and forget about all of this if we can.”

Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Zoe isn’t the only person I wanted to talk about right now.”

“What else?” I give Joshua an icy glare when he starts to open his mouth again.

He smirks, but the look in his eyes says this is far from funny.

Aiden looks at me. His frown deepens. “I went to your brownstone today. Thought I’d see how the place is doing and make sure there weren’t bodies there waiting for you, too.”

“And?”

If there are bodies piled up on my doorstep, me and Zoe are going to have more problems than we already do. I will go scorched earth on her ass, and she won’t know what hit her. And when I’m done with her, I’ll go after the rest of the Rinaldos.

The thought is appealing to a certain degree, but it feels like far more work than I’m willing to put in right now.

My marriage has to be the main focus for the next few months.

Zoe is too weak right now to make any big moves.

Aiden sighs, his shoulders slumping. “Logan was there. Looks like he broke in.”

Joshua sits up straighter. “Logan?”

“Yeah, you need to get a fucking handle on your brother.” Aiden glowers at Joshua, the knife still in his hand, though it’s not pointed at him anymore. “He was fucking jerking himself off to pictures of Skyla in the living room.”

Bile rises in the back of my throat. “I’m going to have to burn that couch now. I loved that couch.”

Joshua’s hands curl into fists. “You’re sure that he was in there?”

Aiden rolls his eyes. “It’s not like I walked in there with the intention of finding your brother jerking it, so yeah, I’m sure it was him.”

I groan and scrub a hand down the side of my face. “What did he do when he saw you there?”

“Got out of there pretty fucking quick.” Aiden puts the knife into the glovebox. “Should’ve killed him then and there.”

Joshua’s eyebrow arches. “He’s still alive, then?”

Aiden gives a sharp nod, his gaze drifting to mine. “He is. Thought someone else should handle it.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, a slight incline of my head that I make sure Joshua doesn’t catch as he takes the gun back from beside me.

Though I don’t know how I’m going to deal with Logan yet, he’ll be dealt with. He doesn’t get to disrespect my space like that.

Bringing him down is going to be the highlight of my life. After everything he’s ever done to me, he’s finally going to pay for it.

I just have to bide my time.

Tension fills the car as Aiden looks at Joshua again. His eyes narrow, and the muscle in his jaw twitches like he’s not sure what to say. Either that or he’s trying to keep the peace and holding back as much as possible.

Finally, Aiden blows out a breath. “He’s alive for now because you should be the one to handle your brother.”

“I will be,” Joshua says, his tone deadly. “Don’t you worry about that. He’s not going to be pulling this shit again.”

“You better deal with it. I don’t want this to be a problem I have to step in to handle.

That wouldn’t look good for either of us.

” Aiden smirks and starts the van once more.

“Especially you. The drug lord losing control is not an image you want to portray. Not with so many sharks circling in the water.”

“I’ll handle this.” Joshua looks at me, any ounce of warmth gone from his eyes, a monster looking back at me.

The air nearly crackles with electricity as Joshua leans closer to me.

My gaze drops to his mouth before flicking back up to his eyes.

I’m not letting you win this one, Joshua. So, let the games begin.

I kick off my shoes when we get home later that afternoon, heading straight for the fridge and pulling out the bottle of honey apple wine I have stashed in the back.

There’s no point in wasting time and searching for a glass. Instead, I crack open the screw top and toss it to the side before taking a long drink.

Joshua follows me into the kitchen. “You want to tell me what’s going on right now?”

“You heard my brother.” I haul myself up onto the counter, leaning back against the wall. “Logan is a fucking creep who abuses his power, and apparently since I’m married to you, that’s only going to get worse.”

“I’m going to handle this. You just have to trust me.”

I scoff and take a long pull of the wine before passing him the bottle. “You want me to trust you?”

“You expect me to trust you .” He puts the wine to the side. “I will handle my brother. You don’t have to worry.”

And even though I want to take care of Logan myself, there’s a part of me that likes the thought of being taken care of.

Maybe for once, I don’t have to be the one holding it together and trying to take care of the family.

Joshua wants to be the one to take care of me. He wants to handle this for me.

I want to let him. So bad.

Which is why I slide down from the counter, heart hammering in my chest.

That electric feeling sparks through the air again as I draw closer to Joshua, our bodies pressing close together.

“This fake marriage is nothing but a mistake.” I force the words out even though they feel wrong. “I should’ve told you to get bent when you proposed it.”

He reaches up, his fingers trailing along my jaw, sparks igniting everywhere he touches. “Then why are you still standing here?”

“I don’t know.” I look up at him.

What I do know is that even if I want to, leaving is not possible.

Not anymore.