December (The Oliver Brothers Book 1) (27 page)

The screams have stopped, and the smell of metallic blood scents the cold air in a thick wet cloud. 

“You must take her and go.”

“She’s bleeding.”

A balloon of joy bursts inside my chest.

My heart rate spikes.

That voice.

I know that voice.

My eyes flutter open, and Danny stands before me covered in wet blood that gleams black in the moonlight. He holds a sharp blade in one hand and a gun in the other. My gaze shifts to Luke bound to a tree. Several ropes are wound across his chest. Luke hangs there, lifeless or maybe just unconscious. Danny looks at me with empty dark eyes. Despite his alarming appearance, I run to him and jump into his arms.

I’m disorientated, drugged, cold, and scared out of my mind. My breaking point is seeing a dead body and the man I love fresh from torturing and killing.

“Don’t cry, December,” he whispers into my ear. “We can go home now.”

I pass out.

T
HE
P
RESENT

I wake once again to find myself in a bed, a hospital bed. My mother and all my sisters and Josh and Mia are cuddled in chairs across from me. They’re sleeping, draped in sheets and blankets.

I glance up and meet a pair of remarkable brown eyes. Danny. He sits next to my bed.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” I whisper in a rough voice.

“How are you feeling?”

I’m restricted by IV cords when I try to rise. “I’m okay, I think. Just thirsty.”

He gives me his can of Coca-Cola. Once the cold rim touches my dry lips, I chug the soda down. Danny pats my back gently. “Slow down.”

Nodding, I pass him the empty can. “How long have I been out?”

“Half the night.”

Reaching up, I touch under my bangs, feeling the stitches on my sealed wound. I wince from the soreness. “That’s going to leave a scar.”

A flare of anger flashes in his eyes. “That’s all it’ll leave,” he murmurs more to himself.

“I’m okay, Danny.” I grip his wrist. “How are you? You look exhausted. Have you gotten any sleep?”

He snorts, fighting a smile. “You’re the one in the hospital bed and you’re asking me if I’m okay.” He places his palm on my cheek, tenderly stroking my face. “I’m fine.”

“Luke?”

His jaw clenches. “He’s alive but missing.”

“Missing? I thought—”

“It’s all over, December.”

Okay.

It’s clear that this is a subject to be dropped and never picked up again.

“What about Silver Eyes? Did he save Mia?”

His brows furrow in amusement. “Who?”

“The guy with the silvery eyes,” I say, feeling frustrated because he’s acting like he has no idea who I’m referring to. “The man who brought me to you.”

“There was no man.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “There was a man, Danny.”

He shakes his head slightly. “You lost a lot of blood and happened to stumble onto the road. I found you just in time.”

He is lying.

That’s not how everything happened.

Danny’s protecting Silver Eyes for some reason.

I can play along.

“You’re right,” I whisper. “I did lose a lot of blood.”

He watches me closely and then graces me with a brilliant smile. “You’re getting better. We’ll be home in the morning.”

***

A month later, I’m sitting in the back of Danny’s gym, watching him train his boys. We’ve become like a full-fledged unit. We’re attached at the hip. It’s a healthy fixation we have with each other. Danny and I officially moved in together. We’re engaged and in love. We still bicker over really stupid things . . . and then have mind-blowing sex afterward. I don’t know where things go from here, but I’m happy with where I am in my life.

Josh sits on the bleachers next to me. He decided not to take the job and to also stick around for a while for his sister and me. He loves us that much. Josh is making an effort to bond with me and Danny, but he can’t take his eyes off his phone. It’s been glued to his palm all day.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” I ask, playfully bumping his shoulder with mine.

He smiles at me. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

“Pretty much.”

“It’s a little too early to put a name on what she is right now.”

“Well, who is she?”

“I don’t want to reveal too much. It’s just so early . . .” He trails off, glancing down at his cell.

“Oh my God. Is it Mia? It’s Mia, isn’t it?”

His golden brows furrow as amusement fills those breathtaking sea-blue eyes. “What? No. I think I blew my chance with her. I was an asshole to her. She probably hates me.”

“Who is she? Come on, the suspense is killing me.”

“Her name is Dream,” he says with a smile.

“Aww. Let me guess. Is she a dream come true?”

Josh gives his head a slight shake, smiling bigger. “She’s kind of a bitch.”

“Oh, no. Do I need to interfere?”

“No. I’m kind of into bitches,” Josh says, wiggling his brows suggestively at me. “I love a bitchy woman with a sharp tongue and a mean attitude. Nothing gets me off more.”

“Well, then I’m glad you found the bitch of your dreams.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“When do I get to meet her?”

“Soon.”

“If she hurts you, I will claw her eyes out.”

He laughs, throwing his arm around my shoulders, kissing my hair. “How bitchy of you.”

***

“Off, Chloe,” Danny orders as we cuddle in bed. He gives her a firm scowl when she’s hesitant to oblige. “You stay off the bed.”

She jumps down and looks to me like I should be doing something about it.

I wait until his eyes revert back to the television, and then I pat the space beside me.

She wags her nub of a tail and leaps back onto the bed with us, planting her big butt on my lap.

“Down, Chloe,” he commands, narrowing his eyes at me. “December, don’t you dare call her back up here. She needs discipline. Chloe will never learn if you keep spoiling her.”

She hops down, shooting Danny a fierce doggy look of annoyance.

“Don’t be a mean daddy.” I pout, kissing his shoulder. “It’s cold down on the floor.”

He lifts his brow. “She has a bed of her own.”

“But she wants to be with us,” I murmur sulkily, stroking his chest.

Danny seems to consider it before he replies, “No.”

I give her the signal to jump back up when he’s lost in
Game of Thrones
again.

“Jesus, December,” he mutters, shaking his head. “You seriously can’t help yourself.”

“We love you,” I say, grabbing Chloe’s paws and gesturing for a hug.

As soon as he cracks a smile, Chloe leaps up to lick at his face. “My girls completely own me. I’m shit out of luck.”

***

The sun has set when I leave from Piper’s bakery with a dozen vanilla cupcakes for Gray. He’s been treating my sister, January, like gold. He’s been doing his best to make sure she’s okay. I can’t begin to imagine the insanity that Luke put her through. I don’t know how she survived his brand of horror.

Gray loves food, so I can’t think of a better way to gift him.

My steps halt. A strong prickle races down my spine. I’m halfway across the lot when that eerie sense of being followed hits me tenfold.

My hands clutch the plastic container full of cupcakes. “I know you’re following me.”

I’m not sure who it is.

I can only pray it’s not Luke.

“I’ve been following you for a while,” a rich, accented voice replies.

My heart thuds erratically, and my breathing is ragged. I force myself to turn and meet the voice behind me. My lips part at the extremely handsome male with silver eyes. His platinum-blond hair is white under the pale light of the moon, and he wears all black, blending seamlessly into the night.

“Who are you?”

He steps forward.

I step back.

He grins, watching me closely with those uncanny radiant irises.

“There’s no need to fear me. I will never harm you. I’m your brother, sweet sister. Father has sent me to watch over all of you.”

END OF BOOK ONE

Here he sits in the home of his sister’s enemy. They’re seated at her formal kitchen table like neighbors having a friendly chat over coffee. He’d rather be with his beautiful Mia, whom he rescued in the snowy forest a day ago. He found her laid upon the white snow like a fallen angel in distress, her big black curls spread over her exquisite face. 

She was presented like a gift to him.

Shade gladly accepted. 

Shade grimaces at the woman in front of him. She is nothing like his lovely Mia. He doesn’t particularly like threatening women. He never enjoyed torturing one. He doesn’t believe in harming women. Shade loves women. He treats women like delicate creatures and cherished queens. Though, he never had a relationship with a woman that lasted more than a night. (By his choice alone, of course.) He still loves women and appreciates everything they are. Before his mother died, she installed the importance of a woman’s worth in his head. She told him on her death bed.

Treat a woman like she birthed the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth, son.

Women are goddesses.

Once you have a woman of your own, never take her for granted and love her with every part of you. Never forsake her. She will be the treasure of your kingdom.

He shakes off the gravity of his mother’s words. Shade has to go against his very instinct. This is difficult for him to do. This sickens him greatly, but not because this quivering flesh of a woman deserves any mercy. She doesn’t. In reality, he should simply end her life here. She hasn’t harmed December just once. She continues to do so. 

Shade stares at the tears dripping down Jessica’s face. She has a beautiful face with huge, disarming hazel eyes that are more deceptive than they appear. He throws his clean handkerchief across the table at her. He watches as she dabs her eyes with it. She’s been obedient thus far but only because her life is at risk.

“To whom do you owe your loyalty?”

“You. I’m sorry, sir.” She weeps, patting her wet cheeks with her fragile wrists that can easily be broken. “I wouldn’t have done it, I swear, but Luke threatened to kill my family. He threatened the lives of my sister and her newborn and her husband. I couldn’t . . . I didn’t think reporting December’s whereabouts to Luke would put her in danger, not while she was with Danny.” 

Shade curls his trigger finger on his pistol that rests perfectly in his lap.

Kill her and get it over with. You have better things to waste your time on.

She drops her gaze down to her twiddling fingers that toy with his black handkerchief. “I don’t expect you to believe me, which is fine. Clearly you’re not the forgiving kind. I only request that you allow me to write a letter to my sister.”

He smirks at the note of authority and arrogance in her voice. Jessica’s on the verge of death and still ever haughty.

“I don’t think you’re in the position to request anything.” 

Her tears drop harder, streaming down her face. “Please, sir. It’s all I ask. I know I’m a terrible person. Jesus Christ, do I know it. If my time is up, then my number is called and I can’t do anything about that. I only want to write my sister a letter.”

Even now his mind drifts back to his unmarked car.

What is his little Mia doing?

Shade doesn’t need to wonder any longer because she steps into the kitchen, her long raven-colored hair wild and spilling down her back in big ringlets. Mia’s watchful gaze flickers back and forth over him and Jessica.
 

“Don’t do it,” she whispers to him, trembling slightly.

“Why should I not?” he asks, lifting a questioning brow at Mia.

“If you want any chance with me at all, you won’t.”

Pleading for the coward’s life? This should be good.

Shade’s gunmetal-gray eyes travel down her lush body. He grins as she begins to shake harder under his admiring gaze.

“What do I get in return?”

“What do you mean?”

His grin turns into a full-blown smile. “I mean, if I spare her, what will you give me?”

She lowers her gaze, blushing deeply. “Whatever you ask.”

Whatever I ask?

He gives her a solemn nod. “Very well. She may live, then.”

Mia’s body instantly sags with relief, but her eyes glint with intent. She walks up to Jessica with all the calmness in the world and then slaps her across the face.

“You don’t deserve to breathe the air in your lungs, Jessica. Learn from this. I won’t ask him to spare you again.”

Jessica gasps, holding her reddened cheek in her hands.

Shade smiles so hard his cheeks ache along with other parts of him that throb. He loves Mia’s fierce loyalty to his sister and her wavering shyness. 

Yes.

Shade has found the woman fate has brought him.

Now if only he can keep his sisters from getting into more trouble.

That will be a great challenge.  

A challenge he has accepted.