Omens (The Triad 3)

ELLIOT

“You’d be right,” I said, exceptionally pissed that we’d been kept waiting all because Seb couldn’t keep his fucking hands to himself.

From the moment they stepped outside together, her in his arms and him with a stupid fucking smile on his face, I knew what they’d been up to. His fucking face was still glistening.

“Don’t be such a spoilsport,” Seb said, sitting her down on her feet as he reached the group. “You’re such a jealous little thing.”

“We don’t have time for your old-married-couple bickering shit,” Niamh groaned, opening his door for Motshan to climb in. “Our men are already there with yours, waiting for us to get there so we can get this the fuck over with.”

“You guys remember where to go?” Motshan asked us all, effectively ignoring Niamh’s shitty attitude.

“Do you need a nap, pretty boy?” I asked him, getting sick of his constant ordering us around like we worked for him. “Last I checked, we don’t work for you, which means we don’t have to listen to your shitty attitude, and we definitely don’t have to be at the next spot to help you not get yourself killed like we did a couple hours ago here.”

“You’re welcome for that, by the way,” Sebastian muttered under his breath but still loud enough for all of us to hear.

I could see Niamh’s face turn red with anger or embarrassment, I wasn’t sure. But his blood pressure skyrocketed at my tone, and I could have honestly given a shit less. I had listened to about all I could listen to of his constant bullshit.

“We know where to go,” Tristan said, cutting in and trying to diffuse the tension.

“Thank you,” Motshan said, making sure to catch each of our gazes before flicking Niamh on the ear. Scarlet burst out laughing.

“He just flicked you on the fucking ear like a child!” She was almost doubled over laughing before Tristan laughed and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up to give her a much longer kiss than necessary.

“Don’t antagonize the poor lad,” he said against her mouth before sitting her back down.

“Yes,” Niamh gritted through his teeth. “Thank you for helping us get rid of something that was your problem as well.”

With that, he climbed into his car, not waiting for Motshan any longer, and slammed the door before turning the ignition.

“He’s on edge, and he’s not happy that I was shot,” Motshan said. “Not that that’s an excuse, but he has a bit of a temper problem.”

“Oh, we have no idea what that’s like,” Seb said, nodding his head in my direction. Scarlet laughed at my expense, and I was over it. I was ready to go and get this fucking day over and done with. I wanted to be home, not having to worry about whether we or our men were going to get killed, and I wanted to be planning a very hot, very drunken vacation.

“Let’s go,” I said, grabbing the back of Scarlet’s neck like a scolded puppy. “She’s riding with me. I need a moment with her,” I told Seb and Tristan as I guided her over to the SUV that Seb and I had been using earlier.

Tristan and Seb could ride together, and we would follow. I needed this drive to tell her all the reasons I was as insufferable as I was. I knew that she had a vague idea of what my past was like, and she had seen the ugliest side of me, but she still didn’t know the full extent of just how badly my father had treated me. And after Tristan had told me it was time, I decided to listen for once and just tell her.

“Alright then,” Seb said, walking off with Tristan.

“You know you don’t have to manhandle me anytime you want to get me alone, right?” Scarlet asked as I opened the car door and waited for her to climb in.

I grunted.

Walking around to the other side of the car, I climbed in and made sure she was buckled before we followed the rest of the guys to the next location.

“Are you jealous of Seb?” she asked, her hand moving onto my thigh. “Because he was very giving, but we didn’t have time for me to give anything back, if that’s what you’re jealous of. But I’d be happy to give you a little pre-killing spree relief.”

There was a sexy smile on her face as I looked over at her, and as tempting as that fucking sounded, because she was right, I was jealous as fuck of what she and Seb had been up to in that bathroom, it wasn’t the time.

“I actually wanted you to ride with me so that I could open up to you a little bit before shit kicked off for the second time today.”

She pulled her hand back and turned as best she could to face me in her seat.

“Okay, talk to me.”

“So, when I was a kid, my father trained me to take over the family business. I guess kind of like what your father would’ve done for you had you been the right sex.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“But my father was ruthless. I know Tristan has hinted at what it was like, and I know you saw a few of the scars he left on me mentally, but I need you to understand the full extent of it if this is ever going to work between all four of us.”

I glanced over at her, and she remained silent, her full attention on me as she nodded for me to continue.

“He started young, as young as I can remember. There were constant tests of trust. He was always making sure I didn’t trust anyone, even himself. Once, when I was about five or so, he had me kidnapped after primary school.”

“What the fuck, Elliot?”