Page 84 of Obey

Silvano glances to Kyran again. “Did I say that? I don’t remember saying that.”

“I think you might have said that. It was, um… that day. With the…” Kyran trails off, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was blushing.

“Ohhh, right.” Silvano grins again. “That makes more sense.” He turns his attention back to us, still smiling. “You caught me in a bad mood. But really, running into a swamp unprepared… I suppose we’re all lucky you were resourceful enough to come out of this in one piece.”

“A bad mood?” I demand. “You made it pretty fucking clear that you weren’t going to give us any resources.”

“You obviously didn’t need them,” Kyran says snidely. “Since you managed to take on a whole biker gang by yourselves without getting a scratch on you.”

“We had scratches!” Knives shouts. “Maddox got shot! We were beaten! Devoured by mosquitos! There was mud and ash in every single crevice on our bodies!”

Silvano starts smiling harder. “That’s cute. Honestly, it appears like you should be thanking me, instead.”

“Thanking you?” I ask, baffled. “The fuck should we be thanking you for?”

“Hey,” Kyran barks, not sharing Silvano’s amusement. “Watch it, Gray.”

Silvano points between the two of us. “It looks like whatever the issue was between you two, you’ve resolved it. And, perhaps I’m reading into things, but those bruises on your arms look very hand-shaped, Maddox. Large, hairy hands, perhaps, that roughed you up and held you down?” He raises his eyebrows. “For once, not in one of my supply closets.”

I don’t think my cheeks have ever been redder, and I’m at a complete loss. I try to stammer something out, but words just won’t form. I look at Knives instead, silently imploring him to say something to get us out of this mess.

His cheeks are just as red, though, and he’s clenching his jaw. “What?”

Silvano’s smirk widens. “Was I wrong? Or did some other man restrain Maddox? In which case, my condolences, Knives. There are other fish in the sea.”

“It wasn’t somebody else!” Knives snaps. “But it could have been one of the bikers! We’re both bruised all over!”

“But you just said it wasn’t somebody else.” Silvano gets up and walks over to the small dry bar by the wall. He fills his glass up again and takes a sip, watching us the entire time.

I can’t believe it. All my anger has melted away into mortification.

“Boss,” I groan. “Okay. You can stop. Point made, point taken. But—” There’s something I want to say, I’m sure of it, but I don’t know how to put the words together. “Did you do this on purpose?” I finally manage to ask.

“Did I send the two men who were acting like fucking teenagers, who constantly fucked in my mansion, who couldn’t be civil to each other in front of their fucking boss’s face, on a close proximity mission so they would finally be forced to either hash things out or kill each other?” Silvano glances at Kyran. “Does that sound like something I’d do?”

“Nope. Never,” Kyran says, deadpan. “You’d be too worried about getting your precious product back to risk it.”

Knives groans loudly. “I was right. This whole mission was a punishment.”

“Absolutely,” Silvano agrees cheerfully. “Now, if you’re done worrying that I might have it out for you, can you get out so I can enjoy my afternoon in peace?”

“Yes, Boss,” I say sullenly. I cast an irritated look at Kyran, who only smirks at me, then grab Knives by the arm.

Knives glares at Silvano before grabbing my chin and kissing me. I gasp, my face heating up again, but I don’t pull away.

When Knives breaks the kiss, he turns to Silvano. “Happy?”

“I’m certain the two of you are happier. Now, please, just go to your own homes and fuck in your own beds like normal people.” Silvano makes a shooing motion.

Knives scowls, but he grips my hand and pulls me out of the room with him.

Evan is standing just outside, grinning. “Got things sorted, then?”

“You can fuck off, too,” Knives mutters, running a hand through his beard. Then his expression softens and he looks at me. “But I guess so.”

I smile back. “Yeah. Things are sorted.”

Knives lets go of my hand to sling his arm around my shoulders. “All right. Let’s get out of here. Might as well keep following Silvano’s orders.”

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