Oscar scowled, clearly not chastened. Tate got the feeling this wasn’t the first time Selene had hit Oscar with that particular “told you so.”
That suspicion was confirmed when Oscar flat out ignored it. “The Grand Master didn’t have to send me a letter. She knows I’d follow you two to the ends of the Earth.”
Tate made sure not to react, since that was exactly what had happened.
“But the fact remains Luca and I haven’t been members long enough to be called to the altar,” Oscar pointed out.
“And yet, Luca was sent a letter,” Selene said as if that negated the point completely.
Oscar, in addition to being grumpy as hell, was a suspicious bastard. “I still think there’s something more going on. I think the whole wedding thing is a front.” Oscar’s voice had dropped to a growl.
Scarlet was still and glanced over the top of her tablet at Tate, who returned her look.
Oscar looked at Selene and Luca. “And I think that whatever shitty mission the Grand Master is about to send us on is still better than what she’ll do to us when she finds out what we did to them.” He gestured to Roman, Scarlet, and Tate.
Tate couldn’t help it. He grunted in agreement. The Grand Master would be pissed if they told her about the stun gun, the torture, and how the trio sitting in front of them had spent the better part of yesterday plotting to do the unspeakable. To run from the Trinity Masters rather than remain true to their vow to obey.
“They’re not going to tell her,” Selene announced.
Though he’d just thought that, Tate turned on her. “Is that a threat?”
“Does it need to be?” Selene asked smoothly.
“Honey, you don’t have a leg to stand on,” Tate pointed out.
“Don’t call her ‘honey’,” Oscar snapped. “She’ll rip your throat out.”
“Okay, sugar bear.” Tate made a kissy face at Oscar.
Luca sighed and shook his head at Tate as he placed his hand on Oscar’s arm, gripping tightly as the man tried to rise.
Oscar’s massage may as well have never happened. He went from relaxed to tense as hell in the blink of an eye. “Blow me another kiss,” Oscar taunted. “I dare you.”
“You’re not my type,” Tate retorted, revealing more than he should have when he glanced in Roman’s direction.
Roman winked covertly and Tate’s cock twitched. Jesus. The second they got off this plane, he was dragging Roman and Scarlet back to the hotel for round two, this time without the annoying fucking music.
“Please,” Luca said. “I think now would be a good time for calmer heads to prevail.”
Roman leaned forward, nodding. “I agree. Selene, stand down and call off your pit bull.”
Selene narrowed her eyes. “I will if you get your soldier boy in line.”
Tate was torn between snarling at being called a soldier boy or grinning over the fact Selene had referred to him as Roman’s.
Perhaps he should do a Google search to see if there were any lingering effects as a result of being tased because it felt like some of his synapses had been fried, and now they were firing wildly.
Roman glanced over at Tate, exasperation rife in his expression. “The fact that Selene is my favorite cousin should explain a lot to you about my extended family.”
Selene laughed. “My sister, Theia, is like me, but smarter, and with less self-control.”
And just like that, the tension between the warring factions broke as everyone looked at Selene in mild horror.
Before Tate could offer reassurance that he had never intended to tell the Grand Master what Selene, Oscar, and Luca had done, Scarlet intervened, her gaze locking with Selene’s.
“We’re not telling on you. Snitches get stitches. Besides, I’ve…” Scarlet stopped mid-sentence and hesitated just long enough that it was obvious she’d been about to say something she shouldn’t. “I’m over this whole thing already,” she added lamely, dropping her eyes back to her tablet.
A sly smile grew on Selene’s face. “Wonderful. And now that we have that settled, why don’t I pull up my Pinterest and show you some fun candy I’ve seen that would be great in a candy bar?”
Scarlet’s lip curled. “Candy bar…” She stood. “Didn’t you say something about a massage, Roman?”
“Coward,” Selene said, trying to disguise the word as half cough, half laugh.
Scarlet shot the woman a withering glance but said nothing to defend herself.
Tate followed them through the curtain, to the back of the jet. The masseuse, who’d been sitting, stood up, but Scarlet shook her head when the woman asked if they’d like a massage or facial.
“No, thank you. We’re landing soon. I was hoping we could steal a few minutes back here alone.”
The masseuse nodded and then walked to the front of the plane to chat with the flight attendant. Scarlet drew the curtain behind her.
“Damn it,” she whispered. “I almost cracked out there. Almost said I wasn’t about to do anything that would keep this wedding from happening,” she confessed quietly. “Selene is…” Scarlet glanced at Roman, and it was obvious she just realized she was about to say something unflattering about his cousin.
Roman chuckled, and then reached over, placing a comforting hand on the back of Scarlet’s neck as he pulled her toward him. “She’s a pain in the ass,” he murmured, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head.
Tate watched the two of them embrace for just a moment before shifting closer, needing to be a part of them, not apart.
He placed his hands on Scarlet’s hips, erasing the distance between their bodies as his chest brushed against her back.
Roman kept one hand on Scarlet’s neck, while the other traveled over her shoulder to cup Tate’s face. “I want another night—tonight—with the two of you,” Roman confessed. “We still have our rooms at the hotel. There’s a king-sized bed in mine that’s perfect for what I have planned ,and it’s much more comfortable than that mattress on the floor.”
Tate smiled and nodded, grateful they were on the same page. Yesterday had been
