Two days pass. Long and slow. I barely went downstairs and when I did, I made damn sure that Sin and Arrow were gone.
If I avoided them then we couldn't have another incident like the one that happened in the living room. And I could keep thinking of them as the horrible filthy mob bosses that I'd made them out to be in my head. It was hard to keep that imagine when they were around. They were so different from what I'd expected. Course, I couldn't justify that too much, I'd spent all of an hour with them over the past three days. So, we're they actually different? Or were they just acting that way when I was around?
She's ours.
Sin's words echo in my head. And I nearly trip on the stairs as I replay his hand slipping around my waist. Damn him. Damn them both.
I chew on my lip as I walk into the kitchen. But I freeze in my tracks. Because they're both sitting there, staring at me as I stand frozen. They should be gone, I heard the door slam like it does every morning.
The scent of bacon wafts in the air and my stomach growls. Heat creeps up my cheeks and tension sizzles in the air as I meet Sin's green eyes.
But Arrow tsks and I snap my eyes to his. He wears that wide goofy grin and leans causally against the counter in black jeans and a white T-shirt. Fuck, he looked good. At least he was smiling, I felt like he might never speak to me again after what happened in the living room.
"Told you she was avoiding us." Arrow sips the cup of steaming coffee in his hands. I look back at Sin who narrows his eyes on me. He's in black slacks and a dark grey button up. They both look so stupidly good it's ridiculous. I want to run my hands down the front of him and feel_
"Too bad," Sin turns back to his plate of food. Why I hadn't I smelt that on the way down? "I thought you were bigger than that."
A streak of fury shoots down my stomach. "W-what? I'm not avoiding you because of that!" I protest. But I can feel the lie on my tongue, I can feel it in the air. Arrow gives me a deadpan look and Sin doesn't even turn back to me.
"It doesn't matter," Arrow says. "We need your help."
"My help?" I echo, confused on how two mob bosses could possibly need my help. What on earth could I help them with? Burying a body? Unfortunately, being in writing, I actually knew a bit about that.
"Yep." Arrow pops the 'p' and takes another sip of his coffee.
"Care to explain?" I ask.
Sin turns to Arrow. "This is a bad idea. She can't do it."
A part of me feels like he's baiting me but the other part doesn't care. I hate Sin. I hate that he touches me and I like it. I hate that he's gorgeous beyond belief. And I hate that he challenges me. "Let's not jump to conclusions, big boy." I touch Sin's shoulder with my fingertip and he stiffens. I recoil and look back at Arrow. "What would I have to do?"
"It involves Tether," Arrow waits for my reaction. When I don't give one, he goes on. "He has something of ours and we need it back. And we need you, to be a distraction for us."
I stare at Arrow. Watching a stray piece of icy hair fall into his eyes. "What makes you think I could distract him at all? There's thousands of women in this city. All willing to do just about anything for you two."
"True," Arrow agrees. "But that's the problem. Tether won't be distracted by some random girl. But by our girl? Sin and I's girl? He won't be able to help himself. He's wanted our territory for years, he's wanted to expand for years and we put all of that to a stop."
I try to ignore that he called me theirs again. "So he wants revenge?" I ask.
"Revenge sounds juvenile. He wants what's ours. That's why he won't be able to help himself if you walk into his club."
"So, I distract him. You get back what's yours and we leave?" It sounded simple now. Though I was certain it wouldn't be.
Sin turns, pushing away his plate as he looks at me. There's something strange in his eyes. Like he has no idea why I'm agreeing to this. To be honest, I'm not sure why I am either. I don't need to help them. Fuck, I shouldn't help them. Whatever Tether had, it probably didn't even belong to them. But I missed this. I missed feeling alive. I miss adrenaline and power and lust. I might even miss pain. It'd been so damn long since I put myself in a situation to feel any of those things. And today, I couldn't help myself. Not with these two.
"Simple, right?" Arrow grins, moving to place his empty coffee mug in the sink.
Yep. Simple.
***
I tug at the bottom of my dress. The last time I went clubbing was weeks ago with Meg and I still refused to wear a dress. I couldn't believe Arrow had convinced me to put this damn thing on. It was red. And had a high neckline but the straps were just tiny little pieces of fabric. Plus the back was totally open. Just a few crisscrossed pieces of string keeping it together. I'm pretty sure you could see my whole ass if I bent over. At least the material was comfortable. Sorta.
Arrow had instructed me to put my hair up. Something about a women's neck construing vulnerability. I understood what he meant to a point but I didn't want to know the ins and outs of their games. So I put my hair up, letting it fall down my back in a long straight pony tail. I added the winged eyeliner and red lipstick myself. I didn't need Arrows opinion on everything.
I was tempted, so fucking tempted to pull on my black hightops but I stopped myself. Tonight wasn't about me. So I hooked my fingers on the only pair of heels I brought, a black stiletto, and pulled them on.
Giving myself a once-over in the mirror, I nearly fall over. Fuck, I haven't dressed like this since I was like 23. I guess I'd done everything I could to blend in these past couple of years. That wouldn't be the case tonight. Something about that thrilled me. I looked at the dark tattoos crawling up my arm. The few that were scattered up my legs and my large thigh piece. I looked dangerous. I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips.
Moving across the room, I reach for my doorknob but the door is wrenched open. I nearly fall backwards onto my ass but a strong arm wraps around my waist. Hips pressing into mine and I have to hold back a gasp. I find my footing and push off of him. My heels clicking on the floor as I take two steps back.
Sin looks just as good as he did earlier. Slacks, a dark button up but now he's got a jacket pulled over the top and his collar is loose. Relieving some smooth tanned skin on his chest. My mouth waters and I have to tear my gaze away, back up to his eyes. But he's not looking at my eyes either. His gaze is trailing down my breasts, down my stomach to my legs. Sin runs a hand through his hair.
"Fucking Arrow." He grates through clenched teeth. He takes two fast steps towards me. My heart jumps into my throat. But he just places a hand on my back, I can feel the warmth of his palm as we walk forward. I try not to fidget or to think about what happened in the living room. He's just so close, his scent so sweet and musky. It's intoxicating.
When we reach the bottom of the stairs, Arrow is waiting. He's dressed in the black jeans and white T-shirt but he's pulled on a leather jacket and fuck, he makes it look good. Arrow gives me a once over and grins like a madman.
"Fuck, Poison, you_"
Sin cuts him off. "We just needed Tether's attention. Not the whole damn clubs, Arrow."
Arrow just smiles wider, taking a step forward and brushing a stray hair from my eyes. "Ah, that's no fun. Don't you want everyone to know how sinfully gorgeous our girl is?" He gives me a wink.
"I'm not your anything." I snap, hating the way my heart picks up being pressed between the two of them again. Sin's fingers push into the skin of my back a little harder before he drops them.
Arrow just smirks. "You're ours for eleven more days. And if you think we're going to continue to let you hide in your room and read, you're sorely mistaken."
"You see, we like to play with our food." Sin shocks me by brushing his lips against my ear as he speaks.
Arrow chuckles and I can feel Sin's lips pull back into a grin against my ear. "Cmon, Poison," Arrow offers me his arm and I take it. He starts to move but I pull him back. Looking over my shoulder at Sin, I reach out my hand, waiting. Sin's lips part and if I wasn't feeling vulnerable like this, I might laugh. But he steps forward quickly, slipping his arm through mine.
It's nice. With the two of them, I feel invincible. But I know, soon, I'll be on my own again. Whether it's at the club or my own house. The feeling makes something in my stomach twist painfully and I don't know why.
Shaking my head, I focus on the task at hand. Keep Tether distracted.
Fuck, I haven't flirted in like two years. I probably should've warned them about that before we left on this little mission.
Oh well, here goes nothing.