Page 30 of Don’t Hate Me (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #2)

Freshly showered and with my ankle brace firmly back in place, I move cautiously back into the main living space, wondering what I’m going to find with all of them together.

The soft fabric of my baby-blue cotton wrap dress flows around my knees, and I fiddle with the tie at the side, not quite sure what to do with myself.

Reef and Onyx are the only ones in the living room.

Onyx stands by the window looking out over the ocean, watching the clouds roll in.

He has his arms crossed over his chest, the muscles bulging out of his T-shirt.

For a moment I just watch him; he’s not his normal self.

Yeah, he’s always broody and tense, but this is different, I can feel it.

He seems angrier than normal, like he’s about to snap.

Reef glances over his shoulder and smiles warmly when he sees me, motioning with his free hand for me to join him on the sofa.

The other has a glass of Coke in it, making him look too relaxed and comfortable for where he is.

At least nothing has changed between us.

He’s as warm to me as the first day we met, and I’m so fucking grateful.

As I approach the sofa, I look past Onyx, seeing an empty jetty, and feel the ping of disappointment. “Where is the boat you came here on?” I ask Reef, taking the seat beside him.

He places his drink down on the coffee table and pulls me into his solid body, kissing my hair as he inhales deeply. “Gone. We’re staying until a least tomorrow, and Orlando didn’t want a boat docked overnight.”

I pull away from him just a little, my brow raised in question. “In case I got out of this place and took off?” I sass.

“Probably.” Reef smirks back at me, his hand trailing up my neck and into my hair. “How many times have you tried to escape?”

“A couple.” I grin cheekily back at him, letting him pull me in for a proper kiss.

“Then what, you just gave up and decided to have some fun instead?” Onyx snips from his place by the window. It pulls me back into the room and out of my second of happiness with Reef.

I glare back at him as he leans into the window, his posture stiff.

There is only one way to deal with Onyx when he’s like this.

Fight fire with fire. I stand and move toward him, hobbling a little on my sore ankle, even though I’m trying to come across as tough.

“And then I realized hurting myself to try and escape an island with no fucking boat and no way of swimming the eight miles back to the mainland was just plain stupid. That’s why I emailed Romeo.

” I growl out the words through clenched teeth.

“Took you long enough,” he huffs, and I want to slap him for his snippy attitude. He’s infuriating.

My glare turns icy as my hands land on my hips.

Fuck him, he doesn’t know what I have been through trying to get back to them.

“His computer is in the lighthouse tower. I had to wait until he was distracted for long enough that I could get in there. Because he’s a controlling asshole like you!

He’s practically been my shadow since I got here.

It wasn’t like I had lots of opportunities.

You can’t hate me because I didn’t try hard enough.

I fucking did everything I could. I have been desperate to get back to all of you and the club.

” My words are sharp and cutting, but the desperation in my voice isn’t easy to hide.

His hate toward me hurts when none of this was my fucking choice.

I didn’t ask to be kidnapped and brought back here.

I never wanted to be away from him, so why is he acting like I did?

Reef comes to stand by my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

“It’s okay, I’m sure you did.” He kisses me, trying to comfort me, and I know we’re okay.

He believes me. But it’s Onyx who worries me.

He won’t even look at me properly. I have never seen him like this before.

“I bet that cut on his forehead was from you.” Reef grins cheekily.

I smile back, not able to help it. “Crowbar. Admittedly I thought he was Romeo at the time. But either way, you kidnap me and lock me in the trunk of your car and I’m going to come out swinging with whatever weapon I can.”

Reef chuckles lightheartedly, cutting through the tension Onyx is creating, and it’s the best sound ever. Exactly what I need to hear. “I’ll remember not to try it.”

I glance back at the big guy and see the flash of pride in his eyes at that idea.

I raise a brow toward him, saying See? I fucking tried .

But he doesn’t give me anything else back.

Tension swirls through the air, so damn thick I could carve it with a knife, as the silence between us hangs heavy.

There are so many things I need to say to him, but I can’t when he’s like this.

“Right, let’s get started,” Orlando announces from the doorway of his den.

He and Romeo must have been in there together.

Strange but intriguing. I was wondering where the two of them had gotten to.

As they walk toward us, I can see they both look a little roughed up, Orlando’s hair tousled and Romeo’s shirt all askew.

I guess they had catching up to do, a deal of no violence or not.

Orlando takes a seat in the armchair closest to the window and motions for the rest of us to do the same. It’s pretty damn obvious he wants to run this, whatever this is.

Reef’s arms are still wrapped around me, and the two of us move back to the sofa together.

It earns me a bitter look from Orlando, but fuck him.

He set me up this morning, I’m not going to make this meeting comfortable for him.

I haven’t seen Reef in a week, and right now, I want his hands on me.

So bad fucking luck, Orlando, you play me, and I’ll make you suffer.

Onyx doesn’t move from his spot standing by the window. Instead, he adjusts his posture so he’s facing Orlando and leans into the glass, watching over us all, arms still crossed over his chest.

Romeo comes to sit with me and Reef on the three-seater sofa.

The two of them share a serious look I don’t like.

He appears on edge, ready to fly across the room and kill his brother at any second, so maybe it’s a good thing he’s sitting at my side.

I might need to defuse this pressure before too long.

“Enlighten us, Brother,” he snips angrily, like he already knows exactly what’s about to happen.

“Yesterday I was sent a new hit job,” Orlando explains, his eyes coming to me in a way that instantly makes my palms sweaty.

My eyes shoot toward him. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?”

Orlando doesn’t answer me, his attention staying focused on the boys.

“Who?” Onyx growls, but we all know. That’s why they’re here, it’s the only thing that makes sense. He had to call them in for help because my situation is escalating.

“Ava Kingsley, AKA Sloane Stryker, the hit said. The reward is a million dollars. To be completely transparent, I accepted the hit so it didn’t go out to anyone else, also to avoid suspicion.

I have a week.” He looks between us. “We have a week, or they will send it to the next person on their list and we lose all control.”

A cold prickle comes over me, the reality of his words sinking under my skin. “Syd really wants me dead,” I whisper, a fresh wave of fear coming over me. This is exactly what happened to my mom. And I’m going to be next.

“It didn’t come from Syd, treasure.” His voice is softer now, and I get the impression he didn’t tell me because he couldn’t. There is so much more to this.

“What?” I snap my eyes up to Orlando. Someone else wants me dead?

Orlando’s haunted eyes shift to Romeo in a way that sends a shiver down my spine. “Our papa.”

Rage vibrates through Romeo; I can feel it from how close we are. Maybe he didn’t know what this was all about. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s who’s hiding Syd.” He shakes his head. “I should have seen this shit coming.”

Reef holds me a little tighter like it can save me from this asshole. “We all should have seen it coming. There are connections in the past, so of course it was Emilio Moretti calling the shots,” he agrees with Romeo.

“He was the one who sent me the paperwork for the club and said I needed to tie up any loose ends,” Romeo says.

“Take back what was ours. He’s the reason we’re all here right now.

If he wants Sloane dead, there is a fuck load more going on than what he’s admitting to.

” For the first time since I met him, I hear the tremble in his words.

Romeo’s scared, and that worries me more than hearing his papa wants me dead.

“Sounds like our papa. Did you not think that this could all be a fucking set-up, Brother?” Orlando growls like somehow this is Romeo’s fault.

I feel him sit up straighter; he’s about to fly across the room.

I place a hand on his thigh and meet his eyes.

I see the truth— he had no idea this was ever in the plans.

“Set-up for what? For years I have been taking over businesses in our family name, turning them around, and selling them off. This is what I do. Why is it different this time?” His words are bitter, but I don’t think that hate is directed at Orlando. I think he’s angry with himself.

The twins’ eyes lock in a knowing look. “This time it’s personal. He thinks that club owes him something, or someone,” Orlando seethes. “He set you up to take over knowing it would lead him to her.”

“Syd gets his revenge on Sloane for taking over his life and turning his family against him and your papa gets his revenge on Vice President Kingsley after all these years,” Reef agrees. “But why a hit? Didn’t he want her married into the family?”

“Yeah, that part doesn’t make sense to me either,” Romeo agrees, and I can see all of them are thinking this over.

I am as well. What the hell does he stand to gain from helping Syd and killing me? “Is it a set-up?” I ask, racking my brain for what else his papa could possibly stand to gain from this.

Onyx’s eyes narrow in on Orlando. “She’s been a target for years.

Nothing has really changed. What do you want with us?

” he snips, getting to the point, and I know this is back to being a job for him.

There is no emotion in his voice, none of the warmth he once had for me.

A little piece of my heart breaks knowing what I am to him, and I can’t help but stare back at him, pain radiating through my chest. He doesn’t even look at me.

“Sloane’s safe here. I want you and Reef to stay on the island with her, while Romeo and I take a little trip back home to visit our papa. It’s time the king was knocked off his throne.”

I stare at him, surprised he’s going to let the boys stay here with me. And even more surprised he’s going to leave this place. But I can see it in his eyes, he knows this is the only way to stop his papa from whatever the fuck he’s up to.

“If we don’t come back, it’s on you two to keep her safe,” Romeo adds.

His words send a chill down my spine. “You have to come back.”

“We will,” Romeo assures me, his eyes locking with mine in a way that doesn’t assure me at all. He’s worried.

Orlando nods, agreeing with him. “We leave as soon as the storm passes. I have a couple of guest rooms upstairs, and my staff will take care of everything else while you’re here.”

Storm? I glance back out the window and realize the sky has turned dark. Those clouds that were rolling in aren’t the fluffy kind. That would have been why he didn’t want his boat docked, not because of me escaping after all.

I look back to Romeo. If he’s off with Orlando trying to deal with his papa, what’s happening to my club? “Is the club okay?” I ask him.

He shakes his head, running a hand through his hair. “That’s what you’re worried about, doll face? We tell you someone wants you dead and you’re worried about your business.”

“Well, yeah. If you’re here and I’m here, who’s taking care of it?”

“I left Asher and Sally in charge,” he huffs, and I can tell he’s not impressed that I’m questioning him. But what did he expect? He knows what that place means to me.

I bury my head in my hands and inhale a deep breath. “Oh, dear God, you know Asher doesn’t have a responsible bone in his body.”

“Lucky Sally does then,” he mutters, his hand coming to my thigh as he tries to bring my attention back to him.

I nod, agreeing with him, my head swirling with all the possibilities of how bad this is going to get. “Can’t I just go back to the mainland with Onyx and Reef? They can take care of me there,” I suggest, thinking my idea is pure genius.

“Is she always this persistent when she wants something?” Orlando snips at his brother.

“Persistent, stubborn, tenacious, aggressive… the list goes on,” Romeo mutters.

My angry gaze flicks back to him. “Um, can we not talk about me like I’m not here? I might be all those things, but that club is important to me. I need to talk to the girls, at least let me call Sally and check in,” I ask a little more desperately.

Reef takes my hand, gripping it firmly. “I know how much you love that place, wildcat. But it’s best if you don’t talk to anyone outside of the four of us.

Any contact with the outside world could alert someone to your whereabouts, and we all know how catastrophic that could be.

This won’t be for long. Romeo and Orlando will sort it out, and then you can go back to your normal life. ”

I pull out of his grip and stand in a rush, a sudden surge of adrenaline pumping through me because I don’t believe him.

“I’m going to have no business to go back to.

Asher is going to fuck every staff member I have, and Sally’s going to have a nervous breakdown and quit on me,” I mutter almost to myself.

None of them get it, without that club I have nothing.

My life isn’t worth living. I know I’m being dramatic, but fuck, it really feels like it’s not.

The walls start to feel like they are caving in.

What’s worse than being stuck on an isolated island with one overprotective, possessive, controlling asshole? Being stuck with four of them.

With my heart hammering in my chest and a fresh burst of adrenaline pumping through me, I march out the front and go and sit down on one of the sandstone steps, needing space and time to wrap my head around it all without their opinions in my head.

Why does their papa want me dead? How would it benefit him?

It doesn’t make any sense. But maybe he’s cut a deal with Syd and he’s the one behind it all.

I can’t shake the feeling that there is more to all of this.

I’m no good to him dead. Originally he wanted me and my bloodline for his son, he wanted me married into the family having their babies. Why kill me?