Page 21 of Swept Away (Men of War #1)

G EMMA

I shove his chest away from me, and he steps back, laughing.

“I could ask you the same thing,” I say and pivot to Carter. “Can you please restore the power?”

He looks at Mason, who tilts his head in approval, and walks to the surge panel. Within seconds, the power is restored, and the lights come on.

Avoiding Mason’s eyes, I walk past him toward the kitchen when he grabs my wrist and stills me in place.

“Where’s your phone?”

I move my gaze to him.

I haven’t seen this man in a week. I missed him, hated him, jerked off at the idea of him. He felt close to me. Then he felt like a stranger to me, someone I never thought I’d ever see again, and had to remove from my head.

Whichever way I tried to break away from him has failed miserably.

He looks at me sternly, his expression divorced from the careless laughter I heard in my living room moments ago.

I’ve never seen Mason mad before, but he looks pretty pissed now.

“Bring me her backpack,” he says to Carter, who snatches it up from the table and tosses it to him.

He catches it with one hand, his eyes locked on mine.

“Where’s your phone, Gemma?” he asks, pushing my backpack toward me.

I reach inside my skirt, retrieve my phone, and hand it to him.

“Turn it on.”

I do as I’m told and give it to him.

“Why didn’t you answer my texts?”

I look at him like he has lost his mind and move away from him.

In the kitchen, I look for Gizmo.

“Gemma?” he barks from the doorway, and my finger shoots up.

“You have no right to question me. We are not together or something. You didn’t give me any details when you left last week. I didn’t even know whether you’d be back or not. To me, you and your friend were nothing more than two men I had some fun time with.”

He walks toward the middle of the room.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Seriously. I don’t like you when you’re like that,” I say, irritated that I cannot find my cat.

“Has any of you seen Gizmo?” I ask in a different voice, truly worried.

“Was he here when you got in? And how did you get in, by the way? Did you break in or something?” I ask, remembering that I haven’t seen signs of breaking and entering.

Their silence makes me shift my gaze up.

“How did you get in, Mason?” I bark.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “The cat wasn’t in.”

His answer makes a cold shiver sweep through my bones.

“Well, the window was locked, so unless someone else had broken in before you did, he must be in the house. And you two better find him.”

Carter spins around and starts looking for him while Mason closes the distance between us.

“I can’t tell you everything we do, Gemma. It’s not because I don’t want to. It’s better that way. It’s safer.”

I mull over his answer.

“Great. But then don’t come back to me and act all pissed because I’m not where you left me.”

“Where were you?” he asks in a heavy voice.

I study him for a few seconds.

“I spent the evening at my aunt’s place.”

He has a lifted eyebrow, his expression frozen.

“What’s in that box?” he asks, tilting his head toward the hallway outside.

“It’s a gift. Today’s my birthday.”

Finally, his expression thaws, a smile flickering through his eyes.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“I found him,” Carter says from the doorway. “He was sleeping in the bedroom. Where do you want me to put him?”

I take the kitten from him and pet it while I turn to them.

“Today’s her birthday,” Mason says, and Carter’s face lights up.

“No way.”

I don’t react.

“Today’s her birthday,” Mason continues, “and she’s mad at us.”

“I have every reason to be,” I say, no longer as mad at them as he thinks I am.

Reaching inside a bowl, I pull out a treat for Gizmo, who doesn’t seem impressed.

He sniffs it for a few seconds before turning his head away.

That’s a stark no.

He’d rather sleep than be part of this.

Furtively, I glance at them. They’re dressed like they’re about to go out.

“Next time, you'd better talk to me first. I don’t like to be ambushed,” I say.

Mason crosses his arms over his broad chest.

“I don’t think there will be a next time.”

“As you say…” I mutter.

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe everything you say.”

I roll my eyes.

“You’re coming with us,” Mason says, and something in his voice strikes me as strange.

It’s like he’s talking about different things.

“What are you talking about?”

He nods.

“Yes. Carter and I have a surprise for you. We didn’t know today would be your birthday, but it’s even better that it is.”

I look at Carter, whose eyes glint with knowledge I don’t have.

“I can’t go anywhere. I have Gizmo now. I don’t want to leave him alone.”

“You won’t. We’ll take him to Carter’s grandmother. She knows everything about him and can’t wait to see him.”

“He’s my cat.”

“He’ll always be your cat. She’ll just take care of him while you’re gone. Besides, he won’t sleep alone. She’s retired, has a lot of time on her hands, and adores cats. They’re her children.”

“And where are we going exactly?”

A soft smile curls his lips.

“We rented a cabin for the weekend and wanted it to be a surprise. It didn’t quite work, though, but I’m sure we can move past these moments.”

“What if I say no?”

He narrows his eyes at me, mischief glinting in his gaze.

He looks at me like someone who knows I slipped away–my talking back and misbehaving have clued him in–and can’t wait to put a spell on me again.

For now, he indulges me.

Negotiating, accepting my rebellion.

“Do you? Are you saying no to us?”

I look at Carter, who witnesses the exchange, emotionless, like we’re discussing the terms of a transaction.

I move my eyes back to Mason, who tilts an eyebrow at me.

“No.”

“Then let’s not talk about it.”

He slides my phone onto the table.

“We need to leave,” he adds. “It’s a two-hour drive, and I want to spend the night over there instead of driving the entire time.”

And just like that, he’s back in control.

GEMMA

I’ve never seen a woman happier than Carter’s grandmother.

She doesn’t mind that we’re dropping Gizmo off in the middle of the night–they must’ve talked to her before the fact, as she has everything ready for him.

A brand new bed, pillows, a couple of bowls, cat food, and plenty of snacks.

She lives alone–Carter slips to me as we walk out.

And he thinks I made her day, he also says.

In all fairness, Gizmo seems just as happy as he was at my place.

He loves the woman’s attention and doesn’t mind having a buddy while snoozing on the couch.

We leave Boston half an hour later, heading north.

The farther away we get from the city, the colder it gets.

I packed everything I thought I needed, and then some, even clothes for cold weather, but I don’t mind it.

I like the change of scenery.

Although looking outside, it’s hard not to see how spooky the place is. A full moon makes everything look silver as we follow a road snaking through a thick forest.

I don’t even know where we are, but if I were pressed to describe the place, I’d say it looked like the perfect spot to kill someone and hide the body.

A shudder moves through me at the idea.

I could’ve been home right now. Safe, at peace, not fearing anything.

Yet, here I am.

How much do I know about Mason and Carter?

Aside from pulling that prank on me, which wasn’t nice? And then Carter saying what he was saying about me not being ready?

What the hell was he talking about?

They occupy the front seats and talk about stuff that moves past my ears while I think about everything that happened.

The party, the gift I got from Christopher, and these two showing up unannounced and trying to scare me.

It’s almost two o’clock in the morning when the road narrows to a dead end and thicker trees surround us.

A dark cabin looms in front of us as we roll into a round driveway.

This is the end of the road, from what I can see.

We haven’t seen any homes in over an hour.

So I don’t know what kind of cabin this is, but to me, for sure, it doesn’t look like a rental. Some place where tourists pay a fee to spend the night.

It doesn’t even look like someone's vacation home. It’s too isolated and far from everything.

I hope the place is stocked with food and water, as I only packed the bare necessities, and they travel light from what I can see.

What possessed them to pick a place like this?

I wish I knew.

Mason turns the engine off, and a curtain of silence falls over us.

He opens the door and picks up his things while I listen to the outside world.

There’s nothing other than some forest noise, the perfect moon, the trees, and the smell of dirt and leaves.

There’s nothing and everything at the same time.

Mason helps me out, and I straighten into a magical world. The place is frightening and mesmerizing at once.

They collect the bags, and I follow Mason with my backpack slung over my shoulder.

Moments later, he unlocks the door and steps in first to turn on the lights. Carter follows us and stops in the hallway while I inch closer to the rooms.

It’s a nice place with a modern kitchen and a large living room. A hallway. And what looks like a bedroom.

The entire layout and how tidy it is make me think, yet again, that this is not a rented property.

It feels more personal than that.

“Make yourself comfortable,” he says to me as Carter seems to be quite familiar with the place.

“Is this yours?” I finally ask, no longer wanting to prolong the mystery.

“It was… once,” Mason says, making no sense.

“It’s still his,” Carter says while I move my eyes between the two of them, trying to understand. “He just doesn’t have good memories from living in it.”

“Carter?” Mason barks, and Carter moves to the refrigerator and looks for water, no longer willing to talk.

He pulls out a bottle of water and drinks half of it.

“Okay. I’ll use the bathroom then,” I say, eager to move away from them.

“It’s at the end of the corridor on the right,” Mason says, without looking at me.

I spin around and head in that direction, not sure if the three of us spending the night here is actually a good idea.