Page 22 of Secret Pleasure (Bound Hearts 13)

“I think the two of you should leave.” She could feel the tears gathering behind her eyes, the sense of loss tearing her apart.

She’d started the day so happy, so confident, only to now see a side of Shane she knew she could never bear to see again.

Shane stiffened; behind him she heard Sebastian mutter a curse.

“Come on, sweets, you know what a bear Shane can be.” Sebastian deserved an A for effort.

Keeping her gaze locked with Shane’s as he slowly drew the dark sunglasses off, she glimpsed a wild, primitive flash of some emotion she didn’t want to define.

“What did you say?” he asked her softly.

“I didn’t stutter, Cowboy. Leave. Until you can learn some manners I don’t want to see you again.”

“Come on, Alyssa,” Sebastian protested behind him, obviously shocked. “I was polite. Gregory, tell her I was polite.”

Gregory said nothing.

“Gregory!” Sebastian snapped. “Tell her I was polite, dammit.”

“Well, he was polite.” Gregory didn’t seem the least bit intimidated.

“Doesn’t matter,” she informed him scathingly, still staring at Shane. “Evidently you forgot to remind your cousin that I’m no man’s property, even his. Nor am I a child to be dragged away as though I’ve broken some rule. I have no desire to speak to either of you for a while.” She could feel the tears building in her eyes now, threatening to fall. “Maybe not at all.”

Before they could stop her, Alyssa ran down the narrow walk, her heart breaking.

How could he have treated her like that? To embarrass her in front of her neighbor, to attempt to make it appear she were some possession no one else could speak to?

The tears were falling before she made it to the landing, the sound of Sebastian calling her name as he moved quickly up the walk, making her add speed to her retreat.

Slamming the door closed behind her, Alyssa threw the inner latch home once she locked the doors. Twenty keys wouldn’t get them in now. The shades came down and she retreated to her bedroom, where the sobs finally broke free.

“Damn you!” she cried, throwing the small bag she’d carried on her wrist from the spa. “You don’t own me. No one owns me.”

Sebastian heard the tear-filled declaration as it drifted through the open bedroom window. The sound of her quiet sobs following it broke his heart and infuriated him.

Not that he didn’t understand Shane. Hell, he’d hated seeing Alyssa smile at another man, a man closer to her age, one who lived just below her. Gregory was a charming little bastard, and they knew it. All the girls had loved him before he’d moved from the quiet little town close to the De Loren lands.

Still, even Sebastian knew better than to embarrass their siren in such a way. Her sweet song could lead them to paradise, but he’d also sensed that if they hurt her, treated her unfairly in any way, then she’d make damned sure that sweet voice lashed at them like the sharpest whip.

Sliding the key from his pocket, he attempted to open the door. It unlocked, but the inner bolt had been slid in place, ensuring the key would do him little good.

He was going to kill Shane.

Turning and moving quickly down the stairs, then the narrow walk, he met his cousin at the other side before lifting his lip in an insulting snarl.

“You are a fucking moron, Cousin,” he bit out. “She secured the door. There’s no getting in.”

Shane’s expression went blank, his blue eyes darkening.

“She’ll open the fucker for me,” he decided.

“And I will call the police if you try to force her to do so,” Gregory threatened, though he was smart enough to move back from Shane as his girlfriend, Marissa, glared at both of them.

Dammit to hell. They knew both of them, and neither Shane nor Sebastian cared for Gregory. The little bastard was always getting into everyone’s business.

“And I will call Lucien,” Marissa threw the ultimate threat at them. “He would be greatly displeased, Shane Connor, to know his cousin had so insulted such a young woman. She is not yet twenty and that the two of you play your games with her is bad enough. But to treat her so is uncalled for.” She turned to Gregory. “Never try such a thing with me or I will call Poppa immediately.”

Fuck.