Page 12 of Hostile Cravings
“Would you two stop that?” Tyson grouched.
“What do you think, princess? Should we stop?”
She giggled and returned to kissing him.
“Fuck, you two are killing me.” Tyson turned back to me. “Let’s go.”
“But breakfast?—”
He snatched my arm and dragged me from the room. “No breakfast. You took your time sleeping in and getting ready, and now we’re late.”
“Have fun, you guys!” Casey shouted from the doorway as he continued to drag me.
“I’ll have fun when I’m strangling her,” Tyson mumbled.
“She might like that, Ty,” Mason joked.
“Get your hands off me, you big brute.” I smacked at him until he let me go faster than I thought he would and I lost my balance. Falling hard, my ankle turned slightly in my heels before my ass hit the floor. I winced but bit back the cry as pain flared through it.
Tyson loomed over me, a look of concern crossing his face until I said, “You’re such an asshole. I’d take Joey’s slimy hands over yours any day.”
Face contorting, his jaw went rigid. The hazel in his eyes was so dark they were almost brown. “Get up and stop playing the dumb spoiled girl card. It’s not sexy and the only reason anyone pays attention to you is because you whore yourself out andthrow your daddy’s money around. I’m not falling for it and I’m not picking your stupid ass up.”
He stormed off, his words stinging as much as the throbbing in my ankle. I’d never felt so small, so seen as I did then. Knowing Casey and Mason were watching, I huffed a breath to blow my hair from my face, yelling, “Just because the only way you can get a woman on her back is to drop her doesn’t mean that will work on me, prick.”
He stopped, his hand on the doorknob, the chilly air blowing in and reminding me that I had no clothes for this province. The air cut right through my thin dress.
I shoved the skirt lower as he snarled, “I prefer my women on their knees and knowing how snobby you and your preppy trust-fund pups are, I can guarantee they’ve never put that mouth to use like it should be which is why it does nothing but spew childish insults. Get up and get in the car before I take you to Joey and let him bruise those delicate knees.”
He threw the door open the rest of the way, the wind picking my skirt up and tossing it up to reveal my underwear. I heard him order one of his men to get my bags as I pulled it down. Glancing over, I noticed Casey and Mason had left us alone, and I wondered how much they’d heard and seen. With a sigh, I pushed up from the ground, gritting my teeth at the pain in my ankle but walking on it anyway. I made it to the car, flopping into the seat with anoof, relieved to be off it and hoping I could keep from crying because it was aching more. I wasn’t certain if the pressure behind my eyes was from my ankle, Tyson’s words, or how miserable this situation was. Whatever the reason, I bit my lip and stared out the window, glad he’d taken the front seat so I didn’t have to put up with him so close to me.
Chapter Five
TYSON
Running my hands down my face, I climbed into the front seat. Angie was driving me mad. Everything she did grated on my nerves and every comment from her mouth shredded them further. But there were moments when there was something about her that drew me to her. Like the way we’d spoken so easily about our sex lives, as if we talked like that all the time. Or the way she’d slept in my bed, curled up and innocent, seeming so small in my enormous bed, my mother’s scarf clutched in her hand. That she’d gone through my things had given me the urge to wake her and force her out, but something stopped me, that part of me that liked how vulnerable she seemed in that moment, that liked the freckles across her nose and cheeks, that enjoyed the way her eyes had greedily perused my chest before she’d caught herself. And that was bothering me like a bite that wouldn’t stop itching.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me or why she was having this effect on me. I hadn’t meant for her to fall. Hearing her ass hit the floor so hard had me cringing, but then she’d snapped back at me and the feeling had disappeared, the hatred returning. She was such a brat; I wanted to wrap my hands around her neck and snapit. I flexed my fingers, remembering how her eyes had lit when I’d brought my hand up her neck in Armina. She said she liked it rough, but I knew the type of men she let near her, the ones her father’s men vetted. The rich and image conscious who would never dare touch the daughter of Vince Donelli in any way she didn’t invite. And Angie wasn’t the kind to invite aggression, to want a man like me to take her, because no matter how easy she was or how experienced she made herself out to be, she couldn’t handle someone like me. She’d break too easily.
Raking my fingers through my hair, I questioned why I was thinking of breaking her, of being the one to test just how delicate she was. I needed to remember that she’d insulted me at every turn, that mouth never failing to put me down, those brown eyes flicking at me dismissively every time I saw her.
The irritation returned, my prior thoughts fleeing as we drew closer to the hangar. By the time I took my seat in the plane, watching her walk to a seat behind me, her head held high, nose in the air, and eyes avoiding me, the hatred had returned. I half wished I hadn’t told Mason to cancel the flight attendant just to annoy Angie more, but I’d had a touch of softness after our moment in the bedroom. One I was regretting as she sat silently behind me, just as she had in the car. What was wrong with her? She never stayed this quiet for more than a few seconds.
I glanced back at her as the plane pulled out of the hangar. She was looking out the window, biting her lip, her arms wrapped tight around her. Only then did I realize she wore another of those flimsy dresses she wore in Armina. She had to be freezing. Even though the weather was fine to me, she wasn’t used to our climate. I turned around, dropping my head against the seat. I had been hard on her at the house, and I’d seen the hurt in her eyes. We were always nasty to each other, but I’d hit low, and I could tell it had affected her. Not that I cared, because I didn’t.
The plane took off, and I motioned for Finchto get me a drink.
“A little early, isn’t it, boss?” he asked.
“No sexy flight attendant to occupy me this time, Finch. Besides, with that one on board, I need a few stiff drinks to survive.”
I waited for her to reply with some witty retort, anything to knock me down a level, but nothing came. I peeked back at her. She hadn’t moved. Finch fixed me a drink, and I motioned to her with my head. He shrugged and returned to his seat. With a sigh, I took a swig of the scotch and let it go, thinking I’d take the silence as a gift from her usual annoying mouth and hating that I suddenly missed it.
The flightto the island was a few hours and Angie stayed quiet the entire time. When we landed, my men disembarked first, scouting the area out, one heading to the resort to ensure there were no unexpected visitors. Mason owned the island and had built a luxury resort on it, one that housed only a handful of guests. The richest of the rich who paid a hefty price for the privacy. We wouldn’t be alone, but the resort manager knew to pass every guest through Mason and me, so whoever was here would be discreet and no threat to me or Angie.
Regardless, I waited for Finch to return, glancing back at Angie, who still hadn’t moved. Damn it. I rose and walked to her, pushing her legs aside and sitting in front of her. Leaning forward, I waited for her to say something smartassed. She was biting her lip so hard she’d broken the skin, and I nudged her foot with mine. The cry she tried to stifle clawed at me in a way I didn’t like, and I reached over and forced her to look at me. Her brown eyes were watery, the tears pushing to fall.
“Anj?”
