“Bash,” Kali said again. “Sometimes, you’re such an asshole.”
Bastian looked right at me. “I was joking, Alex. Sorry.”
I waved my hand. “It’s fine. I get it. Guy talk. Whatever.”
“Yeah, exactly,” he said with an evil grin.
Kali folded her arms beside me, staring at Bastian from across the table. Even with the distance between them, I could feel an electric shock in the air.
“So,” Sonny said, drawling out the word. “Who’s down for sailing next weekend?”
I raised my hand. “I’m going. I never get to leave this damn house.”
Bastian and Damian burned a hole through Kali with their eyes.
“We’ll be there,” Bastian said.
Damian and Bastian weren’t brothers by blood, but they still looked so similar. Their pitch-black hair, high cheekbones, and pale skin made their lips look even more pronounced. Like Marcello and Luca, they were beautiful in different ways.
But it was the strength in their jaws and noses that drew my attention to them. I loved to paint people with their bone structure. It was the reason I loved drawing Luca. My fingers itched to capture the essence of him with my charcoals and paintbrushes.
Kali patted Sonny on the shoulder, then she moved to the other side of the table. She stood between Bastian and Damian, waiting for one of them to claim her. It was such a weird configuration. Everyone at the table went back to making bets about random shit, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Bastian hooked his arm around Kali’s leg and pulled her onto his lap. She giggled when he pinned her down, squeezing her throat as he brushed his lips against hers. He didn’t kiss her, but they were so close they could have. I wondered if he had intimacy issues like Luca.
Damian slid his chair closer to them, clutching her inner thigh with possession. I could see his fingers digging into the flesh of her inner thigh as he pulled her mouth away from Bastian to kiss her. Except it wasn’t a normal kiss. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, tugging on it with his teeth. Damian pulled so hard I thought I saw blood, and that made him suck even harder.
After they finished claiming her, Kali turned on Bastian’s lap and looked over at me. “Wanna go swimming?”
“Yeah, okay. I have to get changed.”
I got up from the chair, and the Knights moved with me, all of them rising to their full height. Even Bastian and Damian were on their feet with Kali between them. Marcello stayed in his wheelchair because he knew I would have killed him for making unnecessary movements.
I tapped Marcello’s arm. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go doing anything stupid while I’m gone.”
“I’m not handicapped, princess. I can walk without this stupid chair.”
“Just do this for me.” I gave him my best pouty face. “Please. And if you behave yourself, maybe I’ll consider that sponge bath later.”
“Go get changed,” he grunted.
As I walked away, Sonny and his brothers heckled Marcello. They were such lovable assholes. The Cormacs were all entitled pricks with sexy smiles and hefty bank accounts. And if the rumors were true, connected to the Irish Mob. Luca had mentioned once that Sonny’s uncle was Jimmy O’Shea, a scary as fuck mob boss who lived in Beacon Bay.
Kali met me at the end of the long table. We walked into the house and didn’t speak again until we climbed the stairs to the second floor.
She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and smiled. “I see you’re accepting your role as their queen.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I sighed. “Not like I have many choices.”
“It’s crazy how they move with you.”
“I’m not used to it,” I admitted.
“This must feel like second nature to you since you were always so close with them.”
I lifted an eyebrow at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, my bad. Bash said you got your memories back.”
“I have some of them. But there are black spots. It’s weird. When I’m with Drake and Sonny, I get this vibe like I’ve known them for a long time. Like I know them intimately.”
She followed me down the second-floor hallway to my bedroom. “What do you remember about them?”
“Little things. Like when Sonny brushes his fingers down my arms and thighs, it feels so familiar. I’m comfortable around him, which is weird because I’m usually not at ease with strangers. I feel the same thing with Drake. The night we danced at the Midsummer Night’s Dream party, I felt this instant connection with him.”
“You’re making good progress in a short amount of time,” she said, which sounded strange coming from her mouth. “If your memories are already coming back, the rest will follow.”
I forced a smile. “I hope so. It sucks forgetting shit everyone already knows. I hate feeling like the crazy girl.”
“You’re not crazy, Alex.”