Page 5 of Mastered by Them (Rose and Dagger #2)

Danica

C ouples and families exit the ferry. A buzz of excitement fills the air and I breathe in the scent of the ocean and the flowery-sweet scent of Caperna.

Leah grips my arm. “Am I dreaming? This place is magical.”

It really is. I can’t believe we’re here. Late last night, Edmund texted me with ferry tickets and booking information for a suite at Hotel Stellina—the height of luxury.

After several minutes of gawking at the travel info, I texted him. A trip to Caperna, huh?

He wrote back immediately. An early honeymoon, perhaps .

I had laughed to myself as I wrote, I was thinking bachelorette trip .

They’re your tickets. Everything is paid for. Bring whoever you want.

Smooth. He’s so fucking smooth sometimes, it’s infuriating. I try to piss him off and he just rolls with it. I thought about needling him and suggesting I bring Troy, but I was merciful in the end.

I roped in Leah, instead.

I’m so glad I did. Her excitement about everything is contagious. I’ve felt so off-kilter the past week, and she’s one-hundred-percent present, at my side, keeping me sane.

We gawk like the tourists we are as our shuttle takes us from the dock to the “Lane,” where most of the clubs and casinos are located, along with our hotel.

The streets are crowded with tourists, mostly adults, but some children.

Everyone’s pointing, looking around, snapping photos of the tall palms, the ornate casinos, and views of the ocean.

I can see one of the other Capernian islands in the distance, but I have no sense of direction so I can’t tell which one.

“So he just gave you these tickets and the hotel?” Leah flings out her arms, nearly hitting another passenger on our shuttle bus. “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

The passenger, an older lady, waves her off with a grin. Everyone is smiling. There must be something in the air. Or maybe, in crossing the little stretch of Pacific between Mirarosa and Caperna, cares and worries are left behind.

“Yes. For the tenth time, yes. He gave me the tickets and hotel. I think he wanted me to come here with him, but then he said I could bring whoever.”

Leah smirks. “And I’m whoever .”

We bump fists.

Our suite is gorgeous. We flop down on either side of the giant bed and pretend we can’t see or hear each other because we’re too far away. I make my voice faint. “Leah! Where are you?”

“Danica?” She pretends to search across the wide mattress. “If I squint, I think I see you!”

We collapse into giggles. I crack open the complimentary bottle of champagne, and we drink while trying on dresses to wear to the club tonight.

“Dani, you got a text.” Leah glances at my phone. “It’s from Edmund.”

I growl as I try to tug up the zipper on the back of my favorite white dress. “What does it say?”

“He wants to know if we’re having fun.” She holds up my phone and takes a picture of me. “There we go. A little zoom-in on your tits, and…sent. Let him see what he’s missing.”

“You’re evil. And now he’s going to think I want him to have pics of my tits.”

“Don’t you?” She cackles. “I mean, from what you said about your engagement party…”

“Shut. Up. I never should’ve confided in you. He’s a menace, and so are you.”

She laughs harder. “I think you like him, like him.”

“What are we, twelve?”

Still chuckling to herself, she unpacks her bathing suit. “Should we hit the beach before we go dancing?”

“Leah.” I hoist myself onto the giant bed. “What’s it like loving two guys at once?”

Her gaze sharpens. “D. Dani. Danica. What haven’t you been telling me?”

“Let’s hit the beach.”

She throws my bathing suit at me. “Then you’ll tell me everything?”

“Yeah.”

Half an hour later, Leah and I are camped out in lounge chairs on the beach, soaking in the sun and drinking daiquiris. She points out every other young woman she sees, speculating if each one could be Princess Ruby in disguise.

Tearing her eyes away from a woman with light brown hair and Ruby’s trademark diamond studs, Leah says, “To answer your question, loving two guys at once is incredible. You know I couldn’t be happier. They bring out the best in me, and they bring out the best in each other.”

I nod. That’s what I hoped to hear. Happiness. It coats every single word she says.

“But.” She clears her throat. “It wasn’t easy. I was confused at first, and I think they were, too. Dmitri and I barely admitted to each other that we had feelings. Gage was manipulating things behind the scenes…it was a mess for quite a while.”

It’s hard to think of anything being messy while a warm breeze kisses our skin and the sweet taste of my daiquiri teases my tongue.

“It was worth it, though.” She grins. “Everything was worth it in the end. And now that I’ve answered your question, I have several of my own.”

I can’t ignore her pointed look. I groan. “Okay. Ask away.”

She gets the whole story from me, right up until this trip to Caperna. By the time I’m through, she has her sunglasses up on her forehead so she can look at me directly.

“That’s a lot.”

I laugh. “That’s all you have to say?”

Her lips curve up in a slight smile. In a mocking tone, she says, “I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Leah, just tell me.”

“I think you like Edmund.”

I stare.

“I don’t think you like him as much as Troy, but give it time.

Look what he’s doing to woo you.” She gestures at the beautiful beach, the palm trees, the brilliant water.

The dots of turquoise daisies clumped around like God said, Hey, this isn’t enough beauty with the beach and trees, now you need exotic daisies, too .

“I don’t like him,” I insist.

She grins. “You only don’t like him because the engagement was orchestrated. I bet if it wasn’t, you’d be stuck to him like one of those barnacles on the ferry.”

“Gross.” But I laugh as I say it.

* * *

Troy

Dani comes back from Caperna, her skin sun-kissed and her hair brighter. Her gray eyes sparkle like platinum.

Maybe they’re just reflecting all the shiny shit in the jewelry shop.

Her casual skirt and t-shirt give her a cute, girl-next-door vibe that doesn’t match the posh store. Doesn’t seem to matter to her, though—she walked in like she owns the place. Edmund, looking amused, followed after her. He’s in a suit, so I guess Dani doesn’t really match him, either.

Edmund tries to put his arm around Dani’s waist, but she moves off, pretending to be interested in a case several feet away. I hide a smile when he turns to give me an annoyed look.

He strides over to me while Dani browses the ring selection. In a low voice, he says, “You think I deserve her scorn.”

“You don’t deserve her .”

He leans back like I’ve punched him. “What?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“No.” He leans in closer, which is funny because I have a couple inches on him. “Tell me what the fuck that means.”

“It means, she likes us both. And you’re carrying on like this is just for the two of you.”

He scoffs. “If she wants to be shared before the wedding, fine. After that, when she’s wearing my ring? She fucks only me.”

I guessed as much. Fucking asshole. I thought he was my friend. Never thought he’d throw me out, shove me aside like this.

Without another word, he returns to Dani, pointing out rings she might like. For her part, she seems uninterested.

Fine. This is a job, I guess. I don’t know why I’ve been loyal to Edmund so long, anyway. Just because we grew up together and I was hired as his security straight out of high school—doesn’t mean shit.

I glance outside, taking stock of the street beyond the jewelry store. Part of the job, after all, is being aware of potential threats.

That’s when I see him—Faulk. Black hair, black beard. Still wearing his t-shirt a size too small to make himself look bigger and buffer. Did Amber send him? Probably. Can’t be a coincidence he’s here, all the way from San Francisco.

Fuck, I don’t have time for this.

Dani says something to Edmund, and he says something back, his eyes flashing with intensity. She frowns and whirls away. He follows.

My gaze returns to the street. Faulk sees me looking at him and gestures me out. I shake my head. He starts forward. No . I can’t let him anywhere near Dani.

“Guys, I have to take a call.” I hold up my phone. Edmund and Dani will be safe enough in here—the Laytons own the store. They closed it to the public this morning so Edmund and Dani could pick out Dani’s engagement ring.

Edmund nods without looking at me, so I duck out of the store. I wait for a break in traffic and stride across the street, phone held to my ear so it looks like I’m talking to someone on that fake call.

“Manchester.” Faulk grins when I reach him. He has a new scar trailing from the corner of his mouth. I wonder if Amber put it there. “Been waiting to talk to you.”

I take a few steps past him and face away. “I’m on duty. Can’t be seen with you.”

“Sure, whatever.” He leans against the faux-stone front of the building. His grungy military jacket is at odds with the pastel-colored stationery on display in the window next to him. “She wants you back.”

I nearly choke. “No.”

“Not like that—hell, Manchester. She’s over all that. She needs a new head of security for the satellite office they’re building down here.”

Satellite office. Down here. Shit. Part of the appeal of returning to the Laytons was getting far away from Amber.

“I’m not interested.”

“Whatever the Laytons are paying you, she’ll pay you four times that amount. She knows you’re the best.”

I stare at the sidewalk in front of me. Someone decorated it with chalk recently, but the foot traffic has obliterated the design into a mash of meaningless colors.

“Even better—nothing illegal. All above board. She knows about your arrests.”

“All charges have been dropped.”

He scoffs. “You really put the Layton lawyers through all kinds of acrobatics on those, don’t you?”

I got nothing to say to that.

Taking advantage of my silence, Faulk continues, “Look, you’d be earning four times as much, and you’d be head of security instead of a glorified babysitter for the spoiled prince. You know it’s a good deal, man.”

“Except for Amber.”

“This is a satellite office. She won’t be here.” He steps closer, but not so close as to show Edmund and Dani—if they’re even watching—that we’re in a conversation. “Think about it, will you? No need to answer now. You still have my number, yeah?”

“I still have your number.” We were never friends, but we were friendly enough to grab a drink in the beginning, before I was so isolated I wouldn’t have recognized a friend if I’d had one.

“Good. Don’t be a stranger. And think about the offer.”

I keep my phone held to my ear for a couple of minutes after Faulk turns and walks away.

His argument is solid, and if I’ve ever needed to quit working for the Laytons, it’s now.