Riled (The Invincibles 4)

She walked down the rocks closer to me. “What part of ‘it’s my job to watch you’ don’t you understand?”

“It was a bloody walk on the beach.”

“Which you’re not supposed to do unaccompanied. Let’s go,” she said, reaching for my arm.

“That isn’t necessary,” I said, jerking it away from her. “All you have to do is inform me of my boundaries, and I’ll respect them. You don’t have to get nasty.”

When we reached the stairs, Teagon was coming down. “What’s wrong?”

“I found her down on the beach—alone.”

“Kenz, you can’t—”

“I got it,” I said, racing past her and up to the fourth floor.

Given I’d been sleeping in Cortez’s bed since the night after he left for Madrid, I’d insisted Casper take the master that sat empty. I went into one of the smaller bedrooms, closed the door behind me, and flopped on the bed.

“What part of ‘it’s my job to watch you’ don’t you understand?” I mimicked with a scowl. I hated being patronized.

There was a knock I wished I could ignore on the door. I wanted to be alone, but the knock persisted.

“Come in.”

The handle jiggled. “It’s locked.”

Since it was Teagon’s voice on the other side, I stood and let her in.

“Are you okay?” she asked, stepping in and closing it again behind her.

“As I said to her, it was a bloody walk on the beach.”

She nodded. “If you want to know the truth, I think she was angry that you slipped past her. Rile would be furious with her if he knew.”

“She doesn’t need to be such a bitch.”

“I know this is difficult, Kenzie, really I do.”

“Why is she still here? We didn’t need her here before. Is Cortez planning to leave again?”

“I can’t answer that. Casper works for Rile—err, Cortez.”

“I was in his bed when he arrived last night.”

“What happened?”

“He didn’t ask me to leave.”

She sat down on the small bed, and I sat beside her. “It’s just so confusing.”

“Believe me,” she sighed. “I understand.”

“It’s almost as though I can feel him. Does that make any sense?”

Teagon looked away.

“What?”

“There are rumors.”