Unveiled Wishes (Iron Shield MC #2)

10. Actions Speak Louder

Chapter 10

Actions Speak Louder

E mily

I knew why my brother, and Tyler to some extent, had patched in with the Iron Shield. There was noise and chaos everywhere, and for my brother, it differed from what we had grown up in. My parents had hardly been home, instead choosing to leave us with nannies and staff. The penthouse halls had been silent, but the club filled their home with laughter. It was addictive.

There was this charge in the atmosphere. I didn’t know what it was, but I wanted to gather some of it and take it with me back to New York. The city was a lonely place, and I was collecting as many memories as possible.

It was a good thing that Eric and I had discussed the past. Anytime Tyler and I were in the same room, the brothers targeted him mercilessly. They didn’t direct the comments at me, so I didn’t feel uncomfortable. However, I had secondhand embarrassment for Tyler. If one brother started in on him, it wouldn’t take long for a few more to keep the conversation going. My brother never joined in, but he’d diffuse the situation if necessary.

I was grabbing a seat across from Eric at breakfast when, a little further down the table, Op pulled out the chair next to him. He patted the seat and called out to me, “Hey, Emily. Why don’t you come sit next to me? I need some answers about your man over here.” He pointed to Tyler, who was sitting across from him.

“I’m single.” I sat my plate down on the table and pulled out my seat.

“See, Zook? Even better,” Op said, pointing his fork at him. “Emily, your man said he had to make amends, but I haven’t heard him speak two words since you got here.”

“You know, Op. It’s not really words that matter. Actions speak louder.” I didn’t want to put Tyler on the spot. If he wanted to get into my good graces, then he had to be the one to make the effort, and not just because one of his brothers pushed him into it.

“Seriously, Op. Leave them alone,” Eric stepped in. “Just because you love ’em and leave ’em, doesn’t mean everyone else does.”

“What about you? I don’t see you bringing anyone home to meet the family.” Op turned to my brother.

“If I was, you’d be the last person I’d introduce them to. ‘This is Op. He’s the creepy uncle, so make sure you’re not alone with him.’” My brother winked at me and then swallowed a forkful of egg.

“I accept that.” Op went back to eating breakfast, but it wasn’t long before he tried again. “So, Em, do you have any prospects in New York?”

“Why? You thinking about moving to the city?” I asked, not taking him seriously at all.

“Nah, it’s too fucking cold.” He pondered that thought for a minute. “If I found myself a rich cougar, I could play kept husband.” Op stroked his chin, as if it was a real possibility.

I looked at my brother, and he raised his head to look at me. We both smiled at the same time and said, “Mrs. Porter.”

“Is she still on the prowl?” Eric asked me.

“Her latest boy toy just aged out of her system. Once they hit twenty-five, she’s done with them. I haven’t heard that she’s looking for a replacement, but it’s probably only a matter of time. Op might be a little old.” I loaded my fork with a piece of watermelon.

“I’m not old. This is Grade A choice beef.” Op stood from his chair. Raising the bottom hem of his shirt, he displayed his six-pack stomach and one side of his adonis belt.

“Don’t ruin my breakfast. No one wants to see that shit,” Tyler spoke up. I could appreciate a well-built man, but Op would never be Tyler.

“Eleven words. That’s progress.”

“How about two more? Fuck off.” Tyler flipped Op the middle finger and then grabbed his coffee mug.

“That’s technically six more.” Op had his finger in the air, like he was counting the words to make sure he was accurate.

“It’s a good day for the beach. If you want to kill each other, you can do it in the sand,” Sabre said from the head of the table, eating his breakfast.

Eric had told me that the brothers were off until the new year. I could tell that they weren’t used to having so much downtime, and it was causing problems. They acted like caged animals, and eventually, one of them would snap, causing a melee. I didn’t know if Sabre could feel the same energy swirling around, but it made sense to get them into fresh air.

“I’ll get you a helmet, and you can ride with me,” Eric said.

“Sounds good. I’ve never seen the Pacific.” I nodded. Heading to the beach sounded like a good plan for today.

Breakfast was a quiet affair from then on. They didn’t shovel the food in, but there was no need to talk to each other. Instead, each person took over a role to make sure that we could leave quicker. I had tried to help, but I was more of a nuisance than anything else. I grabbed the pan of eggs to lug it into the kitchen, when Chef met me at the door to take it from me.

“Hey, Zook! Your girl is under the mistletoe with Chef.”

I closed my eyes, praying that the ground would swallow me whole. I wanted to be anywhere else. My cheeks flamed at my embarrassment. “I am sorry, I was just trying to help,” I whispered to Chef, opening my eyes.

“Let’s get this over with. The beach is calling.” He shifted the pan underneath his arm and ran his thumb from my hairline to the apple of my cheek. Leaning forward, he laid the gentlest kiss on my lips. It did nothing for me.

“That’s not how you’re supposed to do it. Zook! He needs a demonstration.”

“Go to your room and wait until it’s time to go. Otherwise, these animals won’t stop bothering him.” Chef turned to head back to the sink with the pan.

I wouldn’t lower my head to anyone. It was a kiss under the mistletoe, and I was a grown woman. Chef hadn’t stuck his tongue down my throat and bent me backwards like I had seen some of the other brothers do.

As I turned, I met Tyler’s eyes. We stared at each other, and I wasn’t sure if he knew I was silently apologizing. His eyes held such pain.

***

Zook

I didn’t want to admit that I was angry, so I kept telling myself that it was innocent. She’d only been trying to help clean up breakfast. It was just an awkward situation and meant nothing. Yet, I wanted to grab her, stick her under the mistletoe and show her what an actual kiss was. If I was lucky, I’d take her back to my room,and show her a few other things. It wouldn’t happen, but I could dream.

“You okay?” How asked, folding the table legs, so that we could stick it back into the supply closet.

“Yeah.” I kept it simple. I didn’t want to discuss how I wanted to rage in the middle of the main room and tell every motherfucker in here that she was mine.

“What can I do to help?” he pushed.

“Nothing. I am the one who fucked up, and I have to be the one to fix it.” Em had made a point of saying that actions meant more than pretty words. I knew exactly what she’d meant. It wouldn’t matter what I said to her, because I had already had that chance. If I wanted her, I was going to have to make the move.

“No one’s going to take her from you.”

“She’s here to visit you for Christmas.” I didn’t want to overthink this, which was more my style.

“I know my sister. She might have thought she was coming here to visit me, but she’s waiting to see if there’s still something there. She won’t put herself out again, so if you want her, you’re going to have to put in the work.” He looped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his body. “It’s the beach.” When I didn’t understand, he followed it up with, “Skin, dude.”

I brought my arm up, wrapped it around his neck and held him in a headlock. “That’s weird. Don’t talk about her like that.” I rubbed my knuckles across the top of his head and then let him go, a smile slowly creeping onto my face.

***

It was the middle of the afternoon, and we’d just had lunch. Someone had packed coolers full of hodgepodge, and we’d dived in after a few hours at the beach.

I was laying on my side, finishing a sandwich, when I noticed Cyph was drawing brackets on a piece of paper.

“Is that for beach volleyball?” I asked.

“Yeah, you want in?” He didn’t bother to look up as he continued to draw.

“Yeah, Em’s my partner.” I sat up and clapped my hands, getting rid of the bread crumbs.

“Does she know that?” Cyph snorted.

“I am staking my claim before anyone else does.” I turned my hat backwards, getting ready to tell my partner what I had done.

“That’s the way it’s done, lover boy.”

“What would you know about it? You’ve brought no one home to meet the family.” I laughed, using Op’s words from earlier. Thinking about it, I couldn’t even pinpoint a rumor that involved Cyph.

“Strippers are one step up from club girls. You don’t bring them home.”

“You could. No one would say anything.” It was common knowledge that Cyph liked when the strippers came to party at the club.

“Nah, I am good. I prefer to watch other people crash and burn.” He raised his eyes to look at me over his glasses.

“Hear you loud and clear.” I stood and walked over to where Em and How were laying in the sun. “Don’t tell me you tan, How.” I kicked his bare foot with mine, jiggling him.

“I just had lunch. Don’t shake me,” he groaned, shielding his eyes with his arm.

“Cyph is drawing the brackets for volleyball.” I waited for my words to sink in.

How sat straight up, turned his hat around, and told Em that they had to win.

“Got to be quicker than that. I already signed us up. Em’s my partner.” She wasn’t looking, so I gave How a toothy grin. His eyes shifted over to her. Making sure she wasn’t paying attention, he gave me a thumbs up.

“I need a partner,” he yelled, running over to the rest of the group.

I sat down on his towel and waited.

“I am not good at volleyball, so you picked the wrong person,” she said.

“No, I picked the right partner for me.” I turned so that I faced her. “I also didn’t want to go through this morning again. Actions speak louder than words, Em, but you’re mine. I don’t share.” Standing from How’s towel, I walked away from her with a smile dancing on my lips. I had just laid the foundation for getting Emily back.

We ended up winning our first two matches and were waiting to play the winner of Prez and Flo versus Pretty and Wreck. I was standing next to Em and a few of the other teams, listening to Pretty run his mouth.

“Come on. I know you can hit harder than that. You left a red mark the other day,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

Flo’s head did a swivel to look at him. “I didn’t leave a mark, and if you hadn’t been moving so slowly, I wouldn’t have had to grab your arm.”

“You grabbed him?” Prez spoke up, holding the ball in the middle of his serve.

“It was nothing,” she brushed him off.

Prez went to serve the ball again, but I could see the displeasure furrowing in his brow at the conversation.

“It was something, alright,” Pretty chimed in, causing the serve to sail straight into the net. Prez wasn’t happy.

Pretty grabbed the ball from the net, handing it to Wreck to serve. “This is like that movie, but we didn’t play any montage music. I’d be the hot one.” He looked at Flo across the net. “Don’t you think I’d be the hot one since you checked out my ass?”

Prez’s head instantly snapped to look at Pretty, but Wreck had already served the ball to him. It hit him in the forehead.

“Ouch, that’s going to leave a mark,” Pretty said.

“I will deal with you later,” Prez pointed his finger at Flo. “You,” he said to Pretty. “You better fucking run.”

Pretty took off, as Prez followed him down the beach, until they ended up in the sand in a mixture of limbs. No one paid attention as they beat the hell out of each other. They’d be fine.

Wreck went underneath the net to stand next to Flo. “My new partner,” he said to Cyph. “Those two won’t be able to play after that.”

“I don’t know how you put up with him,” Flo said to Wreck. Yelling at Pretty, she said, “No potato salad for you.”

“Hang on,” Cyph called, changing the brackets. “The two of you will play Emily and Zook.”

“You ready, partner?” I’d been calling her partner ever since I’d signed us up. I wanted her as a partner for life, and I hoped that the word was sticking.

“Yup, let’s do this.” She adjusted the hat she’d stolen from How in our first game.

We were pretty evenly matched, but Wreck and I were trying to not use full strength towards the women. This was supposed to be a friendly competition, and even though Prez and Pretty were still beating each other down the beach, no one else wanted to get hurt.

Wreck hit a ball down the middle of the court, and I moved to return it to him. I miscalculated where I was in the sand because as I went to hit the ball, a smaller set of arms did the same thing. We returned the ball together, but we were on top of each other, and our feet tangled as we pulled away. Falling into the sand, I made sure that most of my weight wouldn’t end up on Emily. As we hit the sand, I looked down into her upturned face and claimed the kiss that I should have gotten under the mistletoe, not even hearing the catcalls.