Heads or Tails (44 page)

‘Ivyanne don’t!’ Garridan barked. ‘We need her in
tact
!’

‘Tough!’ Ivyanne snapped, advancing on Sahori. Under the light of the moon she looked like a fallen angel. Her dress was glowing white but her eyes were narrowed into angry slits. ‘She’s been challenging me with that little smile for weeks and now she’s getting her wish!’

‘Ivyanne don’t!’ Saraya shouted out, shoving her way past Lincoln. ‘You know it’s not
Sahori
you’re mad at! Put the blame where it belongs!’

‘
No!
’ Sahori exclaimed, glancing back at the boat. ‘Stay in there baby!’ She glared at Ivyanne. ‘That’s not fair to him-he’s well within his rights! It is I, who has broken my-’ Sahori’s protests were cut off as Ivyanne shot out her arm, pulling Sahori to her magnetically, grasping her by the throat. Sahori’s eyes bugged.

‘Don’t
you
tell me who I’m mad at!’ Ivyanne raged. To Lincoln’s horror, he saw her eyes overflow with tears. ‘You can both go to hell! I trusted you not to sacrifice your virtue with my-’ her voice cracked.

‘Your
what?!
’ The words ripped out of Lincoln. He stepped forward, to Pintang’s side. ‘Your
what
, Ivyanne? Friend? Suitor? Future
husband
? Part-time lover? What terminology
are
you using for him today, huh?’

Ivyanne glanced at him. In her hand, Sahori’s face was going bright red, her eyes bugging as she searched for air-apparently she’d forgotten to catch a breath before Ivyanne had snatched her.

‘Do not make this about
you
!’ she snapped. ‘I knew damn well there was a chance that one of you would crack-either of you-but not like
this
! Going behind my back? Thinking I was too dumb to find out? I’m insulted! And I’m
done
! I could never marry someone so deceptive, not when I’ve been so honest at the expense of my own reputation!’ She turned away. ‘Do you hear that Tristan?’ She shouted at the cabin. ‘I don’t care how far you went or what excuse you have-we’re
through
, got it?! Now get out here and look me dead in the eye, you lousy mother f-’ Ivyanne’s mouth snapped closed. ‘Asshole.’ She finished.

Lincoln wanted to jump for joy at that statement, but he was far too shaken by Ivyanne’s hysterical reaction to Tristan’s infidelity to leech any happiness out of the situation. Ivyanne was crushed-
beyond
crushed. Her pretty face was streaked with tears.

Then, there was the sound of a throat clearing behind them. ‘I
would
come forward…. but first can you let me know what I’ve actually
done
?’

Lincoln’s eyes slid to the door of the cabin, but no one emerged.

‘Oh shit.’ Pintang said from Lincoln’s side.

Lincoln looked at her, then followed her eyes, back along the dock and to the area where the sloped grassy hill dropped sharply to the retaining wall which kept the tide off the land.

Tristan was standing there, leaning against the lamp post which held the security camera, his blonde cap of curls shining like a halo above his smiling face. Lincoln’s heart sank as he saw
just
how expertly they had all been played for fools.

*

Tristan had been lying on the grass in the shadows, staring at the stars above and contemplating his placement in the grand scheme of things when he’d seen the mob pour out into the night air, lead by their gallant and furious-looking queen. He’d glanced at his watch and said to himself: ‘Eighteen minutes. Not too bad at all.’

Tristan had taken his time getting up, unable to hold back a wry smile as Ivyanne loudly defamed his character for all to hear while dangling poor Sahori over the water by the throat.

Oh my queen... how wrong you are!
He thought jovially as he’d sauntered down the slope and taken position before making his presence known. Pintang had been the first to look back, followed closely by Lincoln-who’s expression was so priceless that Tristan wished he’d filmed the entire thing just to watch it all in slow motion again.

‘Oh my-’

His eye caught Adele’s who had also finagled her way to the edge of the narrow dock, and she clapped a hand to her mouth to hold back her laughter, her blue eyes twinkling with genuine merriment.

Ivyanne looked up next. She glanced back at the dock first, her expression confused as her eyes skimmed over her entourage, and then followed their line of vision-directly to
him
. She had been bright red with fury, but now her complexion paled under the lamplight.

‘Tristan?!’ she squeaked. ‘What are you doing up
there
?’

‘Watching
you
.’ He said with a smirk. ‘You’re even more  bewitching when you’re mad, you know that?’

‘But I-
Ow
!’ Ivyanne cried out, dropping Sahori unceremoniously on the deck, before nursing her arm in her hand. Sahori must have struck it to break her grip. ‘You could have broken my arm!’ She snapped at her guard.

Sahori looked up, holding her throat, her eyes wide with apology. ‘I’m sorry-’ she croaked, yanking her skirt down. ‘You’d forgotten me-I couldn’t-b-breathe!’

Ivyanne scowled down at her, then lifted her gaze to Tristan. ‘So if you’re there… then who….?’ She frowned back at the cabin. Then her face crumpled. ‘Oh
no
…..!’

Tristan grinned and cupped his mouth. ‘Come out now Lachy-I swear she won’t hurt you!’

Lachlan scrambled up out of the cabin, eyes wide, tucking in his shirt. His gaze went from his cousin, to the girl on the deck. ‘Is she okay?’ he demanded, racing forward and wrapping his arms around Sahori. His mouth was rosy from shared lipstick. ‘I couldn’t get my pants up babe! I’m sorry! If I’d known she thought I was Tristan than I would have said something!’

Sahori shook her head, holding her hand to her throat. ‘It’s okay-’ she gasped. ‘I didn’t realize until a moment ago-and she was holding my throat too tight for me to explain!’

Ivyanne looked ill. ‘You were with
Lachlan
?’

‘I arranged a rendezvous for them.’ Tristan said smartly. ‘Figured we didn’t all have to be miserable this weekend. Then I did some star gazing for awhile... thinking about how
crazy
that moon can make people act...’ he winked at her. ‘Never anticipated a live display though!’ He shook his head ruefully. ‘You honestly think I would be able to squash my feelings for you so
easily
? That I’d go behind your back before setting you free? Once again, I’ve been underestimated. But hopefully, this is the last time.’

‘You are full of shit!’ Lincoln exclaimed, pushing the people between them aside roughly to advance on him. ‘This wasn’t some misunderstanding-look me dead in the eye and tell me that you didn’t want it to play out like this!’

Tristan cleared his throat, unable to hold back a smile. ‘My sketches were a little off, and I kind of hoped Ivyanne would be wearing a swimsuit at the time but...yes it went rather well.’

Ivyanne’s hands went to her face, like she was trying to hold her brains in. ‘You
wanted
me to to….?’ She let out a scream of frustration, turning her face to the sky, sliding her hands over her eyes, breathing heavily and obviously trying to get a hold of herself. ‘I could have
killed
her!’ she exclaimed. And the next thing Tristan knew, he was flying across the water and pulled into one of her outstretched hands, where she shook him violently. Adele and Pintang got knocked into the water by his broad shoulders on the way, landing with squeals and splashes.

‘Do you
get
that?!’ The lovely, furious queen raged as she jostled him. His teeth rattled. ‘I was prepared to-’

‘
Fight
.’ Tristan said, covering her hand with his own, using his strength to force down her movements, breathing heavily. ‘For
me
.’ He smiled at her tenderly, not allowing her to break the gaze. ‘For
once
.’

‘Don’t touch me!’ Ivyanne cried, wrenching her arm free. ‘I
hate
you!’

‘Um, once again-
you
grabbed
me
, your highness.’ But Tristan stood back, holding his hands up in a pose of surrender. ‘Not that I mind, of course.’

‘Dude.’ Lachlan looked incredibly annoyed as he fixed his clothes. ‘
Not
cool.’

‘
Tristan Loveridge
!’ Garridan bellowed, pushing his way to the front of the crowd. ‘That was a dirty trick! Poor Sahori and Lachlan were in genuine danger two minutes ago-do you know what I would have done to you if a broken bone had resulted from this chaos?’

Tristan glared at his uncle. ‘Oh shove a sock in it Garridan! Sahori would have handled herself, and you damn well know it!’ he stepped up to the other man, realizing he’d gotten taller at some unknown point over the years. ‘You wanted me to fight for her? Well... go get yourself some popcorn and enjoy the show, okay? Because I am
not
going to apologize for this!’ He turned around, frowning down at Sahori. ‘Except to
you
-of course. I thought she’d scream and Lachlan would come tumbling out-I didn’t realize she’d have you in a head lock before you could enlighten her.’

‘It’s fine,’ Sahori said stiffly, as Lachlan pulled her to her feet. ‘It was wrong of me, to act as I did, regardless of who I was with.’

‘Speak for yourself. If he wasn’t the hulk, I’d be trying to whoop his ass right now.’ Lachlan muttered, glowering at him with angry blue eyes.

Pintang vaulted herself up onto the dock, water streaming from her clothes. ‘Please tell me that
I
didn’t give you this bright idea?’

Tristan took her wrist and helped her to her feet. ‘Not in front of witnesses, I won’t.’

She rolled her eyes and wrung out her shirt. ‘Thanks…’ she muttered. But her lips were pursed, trying to hold back a smile.

‘Well I still think you’re a complete asshole,’ Lincoln said. ‘Messing with people’s heads? Embarrassing Ivyanne? You fight dirty Loveridge and then wonder why no one trusts you!’

Tristan lifted his chin. ‘I think I just proved that I am much more trustworthy than you were counting on. Besides
you
were
hoping that
I had hurt her. How messed up does that make
you
?’

Lincoln eyes flashed, and his fist flew at Tristan’s nose. But Tristan had seen his shoulder twitch and ducked the arm, coming up behind his rival’s back and shoving him towards the boat. ‘That all you got?’ Tristan teased. ‘After three weeks of training?’

‘Nah,’ Lincoln dropped and a beat later, Tristan was landing hard on his backside, pain shooting through his tailbone. Lincoln had swung one of his impossibly long legs and taken Tristan’s knees out from under him. ‘I’ve got some other stuff too!’

Tristan was stunned for a moment, and he almost smiled-impressed by Lincoln’s quick thinking and agility. But then there was a foot coming at his face and he remembered to be pissed off. Tristan caught it and yanked, pulling Lincoln down onto the dock, yet even as he was falling, Lincoln was already lifting his other leg to attempt a second kick. And though it missed his stomach, agony shot through Tristan’s still tender shin when it connected with his injured leg.

Lincoln grunted, but whether it was in pain from landing on his hip, or triumph at Tristan’s wince, Tristan didn’t know- and Lincoln was about to be too unconscious to clarify! The reminder that his rival was gaining on him, finding his weak spots and using them to his advantage, made him see red. Before Ivyanne, he’d had no weakness! He’d gone forty one years without so much as a pimple and suddenly, pain was coming at him from every direction and Lincoln was the cause of most of it!

‘Stop it!’ Pintang exclaimed as she shepherded everyone off the dock behind her.

‘Nah-let ’em go. It’ll get it out of their system!’ Someone else jeered.

Tristan jumped to his own feet, reached down and grabbed the collar of Lincoln’s polo shirt, holding his fist to his chin threateningly as he pulled him to his feet. The moon’s energy coursed through him, making him wild. ‘Had enough yet? You do know it’s pretty hard to hurt me, don’t you?’

‘You’re right-you’re
strong
.’ Lincoln grunted, gripping Tristan’s wrist. ‘But why throw a punch when I can just remind you of the way Ivyanne kissed me the day
after
you violated her?’ his eyes were mirthful. ‘Now
that’s
power.’

Tristan’s teeth snapped together, pain radiating through his heart worse now that time had passed and his feelings had intensified. ‘Must have felt good,’ he shook Lincoln. ‘Not as good as when I had her in my arms in the pantry at
your
engagement party though! I should have just slipped a ring onto her finger then, and gotten some use out of all
your
planning!’