Page 21 of Shamelessly Loyal
“Freddie’s inside,” Kellan said. “No word from him or Sparrow. Liam and Rome are on watch.” His tone was dead even and almost too calm. The fact it had already taken a few days following her “disappearance” to get Freddie in place grated on me. Based on Jasper, Kellan, and Vaughn’s behavior, I wasn’t the only one.
Putting on a show was our job right now. Tracking down potential traitors in our midst, the people who had been hired to photograph us, and making sure all approaches to us had been sealed up was the task.
For them.
My job was to keep Mayhem safe. Despite her denial of being a good person, there was no way in Hell I was buying her statement. Maybe she was every bit the hard-ass she put on the airs of, but I’d seen the same kind of ferociousness in Ivy’s eyes.
Mayhem was not Ivy. That was clear. Although she was also nothing like I expected. At all. The desire to kiss her again grew more intense with each day that passed since our last kiss. The unreasonable attraction had begun a borderline addiction.
I spent my free time with her. Admittedly, most of it was when she was asleep. I could slip in there to watch over her without enduring the sharp sting of her biting wit.
Then again, maybe I was becoming something of a masochist, because I craved those verbal eviscerations on an entirely different level. It wasn’t just a demonstration of how intelligent she was, though that was definitely a turn-on. No, it was the ruthless, take-no-prisoners attitude that draped her like some cloak out of a fairy tale.
She was not the princess in the tower who needed to be rescued. No, my money was on her being the dragon in charge of guarding Ivy. That just made Mayhem so much fucking sexier to me.
Dammit.
“Milo,” Kellan said, and I dragged my attention back to the kitchen, where we stood drinking coffee. There were dirty plates and bowls in the sink and a faint smell in the trash can. We hadn’t really done more than stack the debris and dishes in here.
Downing the last of my coffee, I headed to the sink. Washing up gave me something else to focus on. Every single day Ivy spent in that facility scraped at me. Mayhem’s violent concern had rubbed off on me. I could tell myself all I wanted, that Ivy going home had been her choice. The level of doubt her best friend cast, though, made me wonder what we were all missing.
Even more alarming, Mayhem seemed uncertain of the precise danger beyond therewasdanger. Enough that she remained here, only reminding me that she stayed because she was willing. The funny thing about her cooperation? I believed her. I doubted anyone could contain her if she didn’t want to be somewhere.
I wouldn’t lie to myself on this particular subject. I found that part of her personality downright exhilarating. She just didn’t need to know that.
“Do what you have to,” I told Kellan after a moment. While he hadn’t asked about Mayhem, he was thinking about her. “I have her.”
“That’s what worries me,” Kel admitted.
“Then stop.” I cut a look at him. “Mayhem will be fine. You want to do things your way, I won’t fight you on this. You’re not going to fight me on her.” Because I would fight, and until I flat-out said it, I hadn’t recognized just how brutally true that was.
Eyebrows raised, Kel stared at me. The shock in his eyes was as tangible as the shock it mirrored inside me. We didn’t fight. Not like this. I’d fought them, in particular Jasper, over finding that not only had they brought my sister here, but at least a couple of them had also started fucking her.
If I focused on that fact for too long, pissed-off didn’t begin to describe it. So I let it go. She’d made her feelings on this subject clear. She wouldn’t put up with me telling her who to care about or see.
Exhaling, I shook my head. “Let it go, Kel. Just let it go. Focus on getting Ivy back. Focus on looking after Vandals business. I’ll keep Mayhem safe.”
I didn’t care what it took to get Ivy back, and I got the impression that Kel didn’t care either. I’d meant what I said to Mayhem. If they had to burn it down, they would.
“Tell me if you need anything,” Kel said, bumping my shoulder with a fist. It wasn’t a request. I nodded.
“Will do.” Relying on my brothers for help was something I’d always been able to do. Time in prison had sanded down some of the links between us. Nonetheless, they were some of the only people I could trust.
I just needed to trust them again.
Once I had the kitchen sink emptied, I headed upstairs. I’d taken Mayhem out on a couple of drives. More for me than for her, but I thought she liked them. She kept trying to take her purse, and I kept putting it back.
She had a gun in there, which I’d emptied the clip twice now. However, the gun made her more comfortable, so hopefully, she wouldn’t reload it again. I didn’t want to leave her without defenses, but I also didn’t want her to accidentally shoot me when I came in, either.
Course, based on everything I’d learned about her over the last few days, I doubted it would be an accident.
I’d barely made it in the room before the sound of the shower registered. The bed had been made, and the room neatened up. Gradually, bit by bit, she’d begun to organize my books.
Should a woman’s very thorough search of my personal space be so appealing? Probably not. But then, Mayhem wasn’t just any woman. The books on the coffee table were books on social etiquette. I’d been collecting them for years. The circles that Ivy had been adopted into weren’t exactly known for their uncouth behavior.
Crossing over to them, I picked up one of the first I’d ever purchased. Jasper had been so fucking amused, until I made him read it and then he’d been appalled. Liam laughed at both of us, but then he admitted his mother had given him several lessons in etiquette so…
Yeah.