Page 75 of Pretty Pink Poison
Kee told me it was diabolical and that Bane scared her. Olive agreed with her but they both seemed to accept that I was just as twisted as that man. And quite frankly, I accepted that Dex Hardy who followed Kee around just as much was probably just as bad. Or worse. Those Hardy brothers would give Bane, Ezra, and Rafe Black a run for their money.
It’d been months of Kee staying at the resort, and Dex was specifically particular about where she went. That day, he’d said, “Stay here until I get back, then we can grab dinner.” I swear it was the fifth time that week, like we should just sit there all day doing nothing in the resort. She was just as bored as me. I huffed at him, though by that point, Bane had eased up a lot, giving me more freedom than Dex was allowing my friend. Granted, his protection was warranted. Keelani was a star in her own right—her voice carried to the masses, her beauty undeniable.
Plus Dex’s sisters, Izzy and Lilah, were visiting from out of town along with Clara and Evie, and of course they were here to see Kee perform. We weren’t close like I was with Kee and Olive, but Kee seemed to like them, and I was always open to more friends now that I’d found they could be supportive rather than mean.
And Izzy and Lilah were definitely supportive in that they wanted us to have fun, grab drinks, and bum around the city with them.
Instead Dex launched into a lecture the second they arrived. “Izzy, Lilah. Clara. Evie.” He gave them a glare that could slice anyone down. “You all know the concerns. Don’t leave the building.”
Izzy huffed, flipping her loose curls over her shoulder. “You’re acting like Dom.” Lilah mirrored her sister in every feature but looked a bit more innocent. Both were smaller,dark-haired versions of their older brothers. Twins, a few years younger than me, and somehow both married men people whispered were in another mafia family.
Better than Bane’s, I guess, because they seemed to be glowing with happiness.
“Well, we won’t go anywhere,” Lilah said sweetly, but you could tell the rebellion was brewing. Evie nodded and smiled. “We’ve got this under control.”
As soon as Dex left, Izzy grinned, mischief in her eyes. “We’re going to the rooftop pool for drinks. They can’t stop us.”
I whooped and we all threw on suits to go up to the rooftop. There, I felt a comfort in being surrounded by women who shared their own lives with me. Candidly. Openly. And took my own concerns in with the same sympathy I’d given them. We talked about Kee’s stalker, about how the guys handled it, about anything and everything we had concerns about.
Kee finally stretched after we’d all picked at one another’s lives and asked, “Who’s going in the pool?”
“Me,” Izzy said, standing. “Who’s skinny dipping in the pool?”
“How much have you had to drink?” Lilah lifted a brow.
Izzy put her hands on her hips as if she was downright appalled that everyone hadn’t drank as much as her. “More than you, obviously.”
“Oh no.” Lilah started to laugh. “I’ve had just as much.”
I didn’t have to have an ounce of alcohol to know I was going skinny dipping with my girls. This was my life now, no limits within that resort, and I didn’t care if it pissed Bane off.
“You guys.” Olive chimed in, frowning as we all started untying our bikini tops. “We’re on a rooftop, and Dex is concerned about the stalker—”
Kee shrugged. “So what? A stalker is going to keep us from having fun? One guy?”
She pointed toward the sky. “He could have drones!”
I probably shouldn’t have starting walking backward toward the pool, but when all of them followed, I turned and ran to jump in with my top off for the whole world to see… including the men in the pool who were more than happy with our display.
I chucked their beach ball at them and yelled, “Enjoying the show, boys?”
They laughed and bounced it back.
The fun didn’t last though.
I heard someone’s phone go off, and then they were all ringing. Over and over.
Izzy and Lilah were the first out, swearing but with small smiles on their faces.
And then I heard one of them murmuring “Oh shit,” and that’s when I glanced toward the door.
One by one, they emerged—Declan, Dom, Dex, Dimitri, Cade, Dante, and then Bane. He moved last, but he didn’t trail behind. He commanded the space without effort, his long strides eating up the concrete, every inch of him radiating the kind of control that made the air itself seem to tense. His suit was dark and the look he sent me was blacker than a storm cloud.
The others looked much the same, precise and intimidating in their own right, but Bane—he was different. His movements were almost calculated but vicious too. I hadn’t seen him emanate this sort of lethal anger for months. He’d been calm. Cool. Collected with me. I was his friend now, nothing more. But his jaw was sharp, his dark eyes scanning the rooftop as though he was cataloging all the men up there.
Shit.
The sun caught the men at just the right angles, glinting off the edges of their watches, the polished leather of their shoes, but all I could focus on was him. Bane Black, radiating a new type of danger, and somehow—impossibly—making the worldseem smaller around him. The rest of them looked pissed, yes, but Bane looked like the hurricane that was ready to finally strike.
