Page 32 of Don’t Hate Me (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #2)

After Onyx and I came in from the storm, Romeo cracked a bottle of whiskey that he brought with him, and we sat around drinking.

Well, Reef, Romeo, and I did, anyway. Onyx lurked nearby, but he wasn’t indulging, and Orlando said he was working.

He came in and out of the den all afternoon, never too far away from us, but giving me space to catch up with the boys as well.

Something in it was slightly unnerving after being stuck at his side for so long.

I thought he would have kept up the possessive, you’re-mine thing, but he doesn’t really seem bothered by the boys.

It’s like he knows we have something together now, so they’re not the same threat they once were to him. At least I think that’s what this is.

Dinner was a range of incredible wood-fired pizza with the crispiest crust, four types of cheese, and the best selection of toppings I think I have ever had. We devoured it while watching the storm roll in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Onyx and Orlando are still causing the most tension.

They have been engaging in some sort of silent standoffs that don’t go anywhere, but both of them seem to understand what’s going on.

They put me on edge every time they do it, just waiting for one of them to throw a punch or pull a gun from somewhere.

Romeo and Reef are more relaxed, and I have no idea what went on between the twins when they were in the den earlier, but it has seemed to simmer Romeo’s anger toward his brother, and I’m glad.

I’m feeling nicely buzzed after enjoying the better part of a bottle of whiskey with the boys, the fear of knowing the twins’ papa is after me subsiding a little.

From my place sitting on the plush rug, I stare up at Reef relaxing on the armchair with a full tumbler in hand, taking him in.

He’s so damn gorgeous. I smile back at him.

I’m just so happy to have them here with me.

This past week it felt like part of me was missing.

Reef laces his fingers with mine and pulls me in for a quick kiss.

They don’t hold back because Orlando is around.

Everything between us has already fallen back into the same routine as it was at the safe house.

But tonight scares me. What happens when Orlando demands I stay with him like I have been?

Maybe I just get so drunk I pass out on the sofa and don’t have to go through the pissing match of who gets to share a bed with me.

Romeo’s hand brushes my arm, pulling my attention to him. “You’re cold.”

“I’m fine, it’s just chilled down a bit since the storm hit.”

He stands, finds a throw blanket, and brings it back to me, wrapping it over my shoulders. “Thank you.” I snuggle into it, leaning into his leg. “How are you going to deal with your papa? I’m worried, Romeo. What does Orlando mean knock the king off his throne ?”

His finger tilts my chin up as his thumb brushes my bottom lip. “Don’t let it worry you. Orlando has a plan.”

I stare up at him. “And you trust it?”

“Yeah, I do,” he responds, and I see the sincerity in his features.

My eyes narrow in on him. Why is he so quick to trust the brother who hid the fact he was even alive until he had me in his grasp? I feel like I’m missing something. “What happened when you two disappeared into the den together?”

He runs a hand through his stubble. “We worked out a few differences.”

“Oh yeah? And what, now you’re family again, years of animosity gone just like that.” I click my fingers.

His lips turn up at the sides. “Now we have a truce to save you. The rest we work out later.”

I nod, that making more sense. It’s kind of sweet that they are willing to set aside their differences for me.

I thought after all the shit Orlando did this week to bait them, there would be no chance.

“What if something happens while you’re both gone?

” I ask, fear creeping up my spine. In truth I don’t know either of them all that well, but I already know I don’t want to live without them in my life.

A cocky smile plays on his lips, and his eyes light up, knowing I’m worried about him. “It won’t. This is what we’re trained to do. Our papa should know, he made sure of it.”

Onyx finally comes to sit on the sofa with us.

“You convinced now this place is safe?” Romeo asks him, his voice a little more serious.

I didn’t know it was a question, but I guess it makes sense. That’s what Onyx was doing, his security checks. Guess he will be in charge while Orlando is away.

“Orlando has a solid set-up. No one is getting into this place unless we let them,” he mutters. Taking one of the tumblers and filling it with a couple of fingers of whiskey, he relaxes back into the recliner.

I offer him a silly smile, happy he’s finally putting his feet up and relaxing with us.

Orlando strolls back into the room. I feel him watching us together and wonder what he must be thinking. He doesn’t join us, and instead he lights the fire and goes about lighting candles, placing them strategically around the room.

“We going to have a seance?” I tease playfully, trying to include him.

I want the others to see what I do in Orlando.

He’s not the monster they all think. And I know I have a mammoth task on my hands trying to make that happen while this truce is in place, but it has to.

Because something has started between us, and I know it’s selfish, but I’m not willing to give any of them up without a fight.

“I just got a call. Looks like we might lose power tonight. The wind is expected to get up, and this rain isn’t going to ease anytime soon. It’s best we prepare for the worst.”

Right as he says it, another loud boom shakes the house and the lights flicker off.

I scream like the girl I am, my heart leaping into my throat.

Reef and Romeo’s hands are on me immediately.

I know it’s nothing to stress about, it’s just from the storm, but having the lights go out hasn’t worked out well for me in the past. And while I’m not scared of the dark, I don’t enjoy it either.

Orlando moves in front of us to place a candle on the coffee table, illuminating the boys’ faces. “I got you, treasure.” He winks at me, but it’s not in a cocky way, it’s in an I know what you need kind of way that makes my heart melt a little.

“Thank you,” I say, relaxing back against the sofa again, my heart settling. “Come have a drink with us. You can’t work now anyway,” I offer, needing him to be part of this.

He assesses me, Reef, and Romeo all cozy together, then looks over to Onyx. “You’re a little drunk already, aren’t you.”

I shrug. “Is there a problem with that?” I tilt my head up defiantly, not remembering any rule about getting drunk.

“No.” He looks back at Onyx as if he’s surprised he’s letting me drink so much.

Onyx raises a brow, but he hasn’t even tried to stop me.

I’m a little astonished myself but grateful.

The lights flicker back on, and I see the way he’s watching us all.

He looks a little lost, and part of me feels bad for him.

“The guest rooms are all made up, upstairs, so make yourselves at home. I’ll send my cook in with hot chocolates and desserts to help you sober up a bit. ” That part he says to me.

“Good idea,” Onyx agrees with him.

And I can’t help but smirk back at him cheekily, giving him a little salute.

“I’ll be in the den for the rest of the night,” he adds, I think just for me, before walking back through to the den.

I go to stand and go after him, but Romeo places a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “Let him go, doll face. He needs his space.”

I glance at the closed door then back to Romeo.

He’s probably right. The five of us in the one room, drinking, isn’t the best idea I ever had.

In fact, it could be downright dangerous.

And Orlando is used to being alone. This would be a whole thing for him, especially with these men and what they mean to me.

Romeo’s hand laces into mine, and he stares down at me, distracting me from worrying about Orlando. “I thought the worst when you were gone,” he admits, and I see the pain in his eyes.

“We thought the killer had you, Sloane. I’m still having nightmares.” Reef’s hand captures mine as well, and he tugs me up to standing, pulling me onto his lap so the three of us are sharing the sofa, all cozy under a blanket.

I sigh, imagining how horrible it would have been for them.

“I know it must have been awful, I’m so sorry you all had to go through that.

If it helps, I thought Orlando was Romeo gone fucking mental.

Scared the shit out of me as well. And then I tried to swim away from him and nearly drowned. It was a terrifying night.”

“It doesn’t help,” Onyx snips from his place in the armchair.

He polishes off his drink as if the weight of the world is resting on his shoulders, and I offer him a sympathetic smile.

I know this week would have been hell for him.

The two of us have been inseparable for years, and I know what it was like for me—torturous.

“But he saved you from Syd?” Reef asks, as though he still doesn’t believe it.

“Yeah. Looks like he did.”

One of Orlando’s staff wheels in a trolley with a stack of desserts on it and places it on the coffee table in front of us.

She then leaves some mugs and a pitcher of hot chocolate on the table as well.

I thank her, and she scurries off back to the kitchen.

This must be strange for the staff as well, so used to just looking after Orlando.

Reef pulls me toward him, kissing me as though he just can’t help it. Then Romeo does the same. The two of them just can’t keep their lips and hands off me, and I’m all for it. I missed them like crazy. I take the hot chocolate Onyx has poured for me, having a sip. It’s utterly delicious.

“You should eat as well,” he mutters. “Do you want cheesecake or chocolate pudding?” he asks, looking over the selection on the table in front of us.

“The pudding every time.” I smirk at him, and he hands me the dessert.

“Thank you.” I’m half surprised he gave me the option and didn’t just hand it to me and say eat.

The boys make their selection as well, and the four of us fall quiet, all trapped in our own thoughts.

There is so much I want to say to them. So many questions I want to ask, but it’s so hard in this place.

When I finish my pudding, I snuggle back on Reef’s chest as he strokes my hair tenderly.

Romeo watches us together, but not in a jealous way; it’s more like it makes him happy to see us together, and I wonder what it must be like for them.

They have been in a relationship for a long time, and now there is me, with all my complications.

It must be strange. He offers me a half smile back; it’s the sexy, slow type.

But we can’t go there tonight, no matter how much I know he wants to.

“Did you know he was alive? I saw his damn angel tattoo and thought I was seeing a ghost,” I ask the burning question I have had since he came out of the den with Orlando this afternoon.

Romeo shakes his head, and I see the pain he still holds.

This must have messed him up, finding out his brother was alive after all this time.

“I hadn’t heard anything from him since the night he was supposed to have died.

But I knew he was never buried and there was a small possibility he might be out there someplace. ”

“I shot him in the chest; he was bleeding out all over your bed, Sloane. He was dead,” grumbles Onyx, and I can tell by his tone he still doesn’t believe it.

“I thought so as well. But we rushed out of that room so quickly, we must have been wrong. He said some doctor found him in the back alley of the club, bleeding heavily and unconscious. He took him in, operated, and saved his life. He was extremely lucky. Your fucked-up papa left him for dead, Romeo. It’s utterly disgusting. ”

“Our papa is that kind of disgusting. I just don’t get it. Why hide, why fake your death and create this life away from society?”

I raise a brow, shocked he doesn’t understand. “Wouldn’t you, to escape that kind of life?”

“He was the golden child, our papa’s favorite, the perfect prodigy.

Why the fuck did he want out of that life?

He had it made, everything was about to be handed to him on a silver platter, including you.

Then he fakes his death and vanishes.” I hear the venom in Romeo’s voice; the anger he holds toward his brother is still there simmering just below the surface.

“I don’t think his life was as awesome as you’re making it out to be, Romeo,” I snap back, bitchy as all hell, but what the fuck, does he have no idea?

He huffs out a laugh. “He has you manipulated and wrapped around his little finger. It’s what he does, Sloane. He made you feel sorry for him so you would fall under his spell. I’m sure it wasn’t half as bad as he’s made it out to be.”

From the position where I’m sitting, I kick him in the ribs. He has no idea what he’s talking about, and that comment just rubbed me the wrong way.

“What was that for?” he complains, rubbing his ribs.

“For being a dick. You don’t know what you’re dribbling on about.” I wiggle out of Reef’s warm arms, needing space.

“Romeo,” Reef chastises him.

“What, I was just saying it how it is,” he grumbles.

I walk over to the window and look out at the storm.

I know Orlando suffered at the hands of his papa, I have seen the scars, both physical and mental.

Romeo was just a kid when he was sent away.

He wouldn’t know the half of what Orlando went through in his absence.

But it’s also not my place to tell his stories.

Maybe when the two of them are away this week, they can catch up properly.

Strong arms wrap around my body, and I smell Onyx’s scent.

I close my eyes and let him hold me. He doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t have to, he’s just here with me when I need him.

Navigating this new situation isn’t going to be easy.

There is so much hate between Romeo and Orlando, history I can’t begin to understand.

But somehow, I have to make it work and bring us all together, because I’m in too deep to give any of them up.