Across the room, Bryce slid into a chair across from his sisters. Bree talked about her siblings often, but not until now did Darby realize just how close they really were. Bryce’s shoulders weren’t as rigid or his expression so distant or arrogant while talking to his sisters.
Riley handed her a shot glass and waited until she drank the alcohol before looking a little too serious.
“I’ve been telling myself for years that eventually you’d tell me why you hate him so much, but that’s a secret that will always stay between you and Dante, isn’t it?” Only those who knew Riley well would pick up on the trace of hurt in her voice.
Before Darby could think up a response that didn’t involve changing the subject right off, Riley continued.
“Even Dante, as protective of you as he is, can’t hide the evidence of a broken heart.”
Darby stirred the ice in her glass. “And you think it involved Bryce.”
“You cried in your sleep off and on for weeks, but only once did you call out his name.”
“That was a long time ago.” She forced a smile. “It’s easy to confuse infatuation with love when you’re too young to know the difference.”
Riley opened her mouth to respond just as Alex walked by with a redhead clinging to his arm.
“I would have been so grateful if I had been the kitten’s owner. It’s just such a shame that you broke your leg saving the poor thing.”
Broke his leg saving a kitten?
Alex winked as he hobbled past them.
“Speaking of saving.” Riley nodded across the room to where Dante was weaving his way through friends and family, his eyes locked on Bryce. “I don’t think I’m the only one who noticed the way Bryce has been looking at you.”
Crap. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”
The expression on Dante’s face, however, said it sure as hell was something.
Suddenly anxious, Darby hovered on the edge of her stool before finally standing. “I’ll be right back.”
She ignored the voice in her head that ordered her to sit back down and stay out of it. Whatever Dante’s beef with Bryce was, it couldn’t possibly involve her. Yet she couldn’t let the two of them get into anything here. No one else seemed to care about the dark look on her twin’s face.
Bryce left his family but didn’t take more than a handful of steps before he finally noticed Dante and stopped. Or maybe it was the I’m-gonna-kick-your-ass look on her brother’s face that had Bryce freezing in his tracks.
Darby was one of the few people not the least bit intimidated by her brother, but watching him move toward Bryce with that single-minded stride, she understood why some people didn’t wait until he got close before they got the hell out of his way.
By sheer luck she managed to close in on Bryce before her twin, but that wouldn’t mean anything. In fact, her being anywhere near him would probably drive Dante’s overprotective streak to the surface even faster.
Catching sight of Finn leaning back in his chair—and one of these days he really would learn to stop doing that—Darby whispered “Occido” under her breath as she brushed past his table.
Her brother flailed backward, his own magic not quick enough to counter hers. The chair—and Finn—toppled to the floor, directly in Dante’s path.
She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know Dante would stop to help the groom-to-be up, giving her a chance to usher Bryce outside.
“Down that way.” She pointed to the veranda that wrapped around the left side of the ballroom and led to the beach.
When Bryce reached the corner and saw the steps she pointed at, he turned around. “What’s really waiting for me down there?”
She peered down into the deepening shadows cast by the setting sun. “What?”
“This is one of your family’s pranks, isn’t it? Like what you just pulled with Finn.”
Seeing the disapproval in his eyes—probably because she’d used magic in a room with people who didn’t know about its existence—made her wish she’d left him to Dante. Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure why she’d felt the need to intervene at all.
She’d made a deliberate point to not care about anything to do with Bryce for years now. Not caring had been much easier and far less painful than the alternative, and now she found herself skating closer to that line than she had in nearly a decade.
“An island wedding will be great,” Bree had said weeks ago. “The perfect setting to make everyone forget about all the drama.”
Too perfect, as it turned out.
“It may be difficult to believe, but I have better things to do than plot against you.” Just not enough to stop from putting herself smack in the middle of Bryce and Dante. And it wasn’t the first time.
Bryce crossed his arms, looking every inch the hard-ass lawyer. “Then what’s this about?”
“I’m just trying to preserve the peace.”
Her natural instinct to smooth ruffled feathers and play peacekeeper was why her father and uncle had made her the head of the firm’s public relations, among other things, leaving her to liaise with the different offices and agencies they coordinated with on various cases.
“By preventing your brother from talking to me? The ass?” Bryce tacked on.
Okay, clearly he had overheard her. She didn’t offer an apology, though. That would mean she didn’t really believe it. A few hours of truce didn’t change who he was.
“I can’t imagine what I’ve done to piss your brother off this time.”
Since it couldn’t hurt to test Riley’s theory, she leaned against the railing, settling in for a few minutes. “My sister thinks it’s because of what you were doing.”
“You’re going to need to get a bit more specific.”
“She thinks you may have been…” Why did it sound so stupid now that she was about to say it out loud? Bryce couldn’t really have been staring at her, and Dante wouldn’t have gotten in Bryce’s face about it at Finn and Bree’s rehearsal dinner. Right?
“Spit it out, Darby.”
“Watching me.” She sneaked a peek from the corner of her eye, but his face didn’t give anything away.
“Watching you,” he repeated slowly.
Forget stupid. Hearing it aloud made the whole thing sound utterly ridiculous. She laughed, breaking the tension that gripped her the second Riley opened her mouth. “You weren’t watching me, were you?”
He hesitated just long enough to make her wonder. “No.” He looked out at the water, then back at her. “Are you sure it was even me that your brother wanted to talk to?”
“Seventy-five percent sure.”
“As flattering as it is to think you’d protect me—”
Whoa boy. “That’s not what I was doing.”
He didn’t appear convinced, and she knew right then she should have stayed with Riley.
She pivoted on her heel to go back inside.
“Wait.”
Facing him, she crossed her arms.
“Let’s say, hypothetically, that your brother did think I was watching you.” Judging by the doubt in his voice, it was a wonder he managed to say it without laughing. “He might be annoyed with you for slowing him down.”
“So now you’re protecting me?”
He laughed, the engaging, sexy sound nothing like the harsh, mocking tone she’d grown accustomed to. “How about we call it two people enjoying some fresh air. I think that falls under the truce.”
Silence fell between them, but it thankfully wasn’t weighed down with the usual strained awkwardness they generated without even trying.
“Falling star,” he murmured a few minutes later.
Darby tipped her head back, catching only the fading streak as it vanished over the other side of the island. “I haven’t seen one in years…” She trailed off, feeling Bryce’s gaze on her.
Hoping she hadn’t just reminded him of the night they’d sat on the hood of a friend’s car, leaning back against the windshield to wa
tch a meteor shower, she scrambled for something to say.
“I was sure your father would have passed on this weekend’s festivities.”
“That makes two of us.”
“He’s not…” She paused, for once thinking over her words where Bryce was concerned.
“Going to cause trouble?” Bryce put in. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Good.” She cringed inwardly at how mean that sounded. “I should head back inside.” She glanced over her shoulder to see if he was coming.
“I think I’ll stay out here a little longer. Probably better if Dante doesn’t see us go back in together. I’d hate to give him a reason to try and intimidate me.”
She smiled at the emphasis on try. Although her brother had broody and intimidating down to an art form, she’d seen Bryce hold his own with Dante more than a few times. Which made her wonder, again, why she’d even bothered to stop them from speaking in the first place.
“Okay.” There was nothing else to say, so how come she found herself lingering?
A loud splash sounded behind them, and they both leaned over the railing.
Lights from both the ballroom and the veranda made it easy to spot someone in the water. “Is that your cousin Reggie?”
“I think so.”
Ahead of them, Riley walked to the railing and leaned over. “Next time you won’t be landing in the water.” Without another word, she spun around and strode back inside.
“Have I ever mentioned that your sister is scary?”
Darby laughed, and leaving Bryce to shake his head at his cousin, she trailed inside after her sibling. She caught up with her and Bree at the bar. In under thirty seconds Riley had shot glasses in their hands.
“To Bree and her last night as a single woman,” Riley toasted.
The three of them clinked glasses and tossed back their drinks. The back of Darby’s neck tingled and she scanned the room, but Bryce stood with his back to her, talking to Alex.
“Are you and Finn staying together tonight?” Darby asked.
Bree snorted. “Your brother seems to think he’s too much of a gentleman to break the tradition of spending tonight apart.”
“No,” Riley corrected. “Our mother just threatened to let Reece dye Finn’s hair pink if he didn’t stay with Dante tonight.”
The three of them laughed, and then Bree got a wistful look on her face. “I’m going to really miss your brother’s—”
“Let me just stop you there,” Riley cut in, “because I can’t handle hearing any intimate details that may involve Finn.” She flagged down a passing waiter and grabbed them each another drink. “Not when I’m sober anyway.” She grinned.
“What are we toasting to?” Their Aunt Libby winked as she joined them, her cheeks already flushed from either the wine or the fact she hadn’t stopped circulating since the evening had started.
The former Tribunal elder hadn’t wasted a moment of her retirement since their cousin Tate had taken over the Calder position on the council. If Libby had a healthy zest for life before she’d left the Tribunal, there was no keeping up with her now that she no longer had the responsibility of keeping everyone else in line.
“We’re toasting to…” Riley nodded for Bree to finish her earlier comment before she’d been cut off.
Blushing, the bride-to-be clutched her glass, visibly struggling for something to say now that their aunt had joined the trio.
“To second chances,” Libby offered, winking at Darby as she tapped her glass against the others.
“Second chances,” Bree echoed in a knowing tone that had Darby draining her glass.
* * *
“I’m beginning to think a broken leg isn’t such a bad thing,” Alex murmured, then slapped Bryce on the back before nodding at the redhead across the room. “Have fun on your hike in the morning. I’ll be enjoying a cold beer by the pool.”
The party crowd had thinned and now that Alex was vanishing for what was left of the night, Bryce figured it was about time he called it a night.
It didn’t hurt that Dante was preoccupied across the room and was nowhere near the ballroom’s rear door. Bryce had caught him glaring in his direction more than once after Darby’s interception, but Dante hadn’t approached him.
Avoiding both his father and Dante had left Bryce with a headache that a few drinks hadn’t put so much as a dent in. Suddenly a little solitude and a solid eight hours of sleep were looking pretty damn good.
Outside, a handful of people lingered by the railing, chatting quietly. He nodded to his younger brother, who had stuck by their father’s side most of the night, then headed for the stairs. He hadn’t quite reached them when he saw someone sitting on the bottom step.
Darby.
She grinned when she noticed him, and he nearly glanced over his shoulder to see if the smile was meant for someone else.
“Looks like we survived the first night of our truce, Counselor.” The carefree tone instantly explained the smile. She’d clearly enjoyed herself tonight and the open bar probably hadn’t hurt.
And it was the first time being called counselor didn’t sound like an insult.
He nodded, pausing next to her on the bottom step. “We did all right.”
“And you’re in one piece.”
“If by that you mean Dante didn’t threaten to tie me to the playground flagpole in my underwear, then yes.”
She laughed, and after listening to the captivating sound all evening, he realized how much he’d missed it.
Determined not to overthink that, he moved past Darby. “Good night.”
“See you in the morning.”
He knew she didn’t mean to sound like she was looking forward to it, unless the Calders had come up with some kind of stunt—and he wouldn’t put it past them—but he still found himself looking back at her.
She stood and wobbled, laughing at herself. “I’m going to be so mad at Riley tomorrow.”
Riley must have been her drinking buddy tonight. He’d tried to steer clear of Darby after they talked outside earlier when he’d found it increasingly hard to remember that they didn’t like each other.
Liking Darby hadn’t ended well for either of them, and while part of him wondered if they could be civil to one another after this weekend, he knew they were better off sticking with the way things had been for the last few years.
He was better off.
So why was it he ended up watching her walk ahead of him, her sandals dangling from her fingers?
Correction, one sandal.
He glanced back and saw the other one still on the step. He backtracked to grab it. “I think you forgot something.”
She turned around a little too quickly. “Whoa. Careful. The path is crooked over here.”
“I’ll be sure to watch my step.” He met her halfway and handed her the sandal.
Which slipped right through her fingers.
They both bent to grab it, and like something out of a bad comedy, his chin connected with her forehead, and he bit his tongue.
Darby laughed. She probably had enough alcohol in her system to dull the pain from their collision.
Rubbing her forehead, she looked up at him. God, she was beautiful. It was so easy to see that when she wasn’t glaring at him or calling him an ass.
“Night, Councilor.” She turned and started down the path.
He should go inside and tell Dante that he might want to make sure his sister got back to her bungalow without falling into a bush along the way. Except Dante wouldn’t appreciate that kind of suggestion coming from him.
More than likely Dante would turn it into some kind of confrontation, especially when he’d looked to be itching for one all night.
Bryce sighed and strolled along behind Darby.
More than once she looked over her shoulder at him, and after a near collision with a palm tree at the edge of the path, he really wished she wouldn’t.
“I know what you’re doing,” she called back a
minute later.
At least one of them did. “I’m just taking a walk.” In the opposite direction of his own bungalow.
She paused. “So you’re not following me?”
“Nope.”
“The same way you weren’t watching me inside?”
So much for simply trailing her and making sure she got inside without face-planting in the sand.
Shaking his head, he caught up to her. “That wasn’t what it looked like.”
“Of course not,” she readily agreed, though it sounded like she was trying not to smile when she said it.
He stuffed his hand in his pockets, cringing when she stumbled for the second time in thirty seconds.
“I never drink this much, you know?”
“I seem to remember you drinking a lot once before.”
“That—” she swiveled around like she was going to poke him in the chest, “—was entirely your fault. You never warned me how potent White Russians were.”
“You only had three drinks that night.”
“Three strong drinks. I’ve never been able to stomach the thought of mixing milk and alcohol since.”
She finally did manage to poke him, except halfway through the motion, she tripped over nothing and fell against him.
He wanted to blame it on the alcohol, but he remembered the handful of times she’d fallen or lost her balance during the week they’d spent together. At this rate, they’d make it back to her bungalow by sunrise.
And by sunrise he might have forgotten how close she’d come to driving a permanent wedge between him and his family. If he’d found her struggling like this outside the courthouse back home, he was pretty sure he would have turned around and headed the other way.
Darby tipped her head back, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
Probably.
Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
Maybe.
After a quick look to make sure Dante wasn’t coming up the path behind him—and wouldn’t that just make Bryce’s night?—he swept Darby up into his arms.
She squealed and scrambled to grab on to him. “Don’t you dare drop me.”
He laughed. “I won’t.”
“Promise?”
Her expression was so serious his smile faded and he nodded, caught up in how blue her eyes were.
Must Be Magic (Spellbound Book 4) Page 3