Sully's Fantasy - Pepper Winters Page 0,17
in invitation. “You can give me some pointers. Shall we? A quiet walk to the stables will be a perfect time for gossip.”
Sully groaned. “Jethro, I’m happy your wife provides you with the emotional stability you need, but I’m not so keen on her corrupting mine.”
“If anyone is doing the corrupting, it will be your wife, not mine.” Jethro grinned. “Come on. Let me introduce you to our guests.” Kissing Nila, he broke away from our group, giving Sully privacy to kiss me goodbye.
His kiss was swift and strict. A dominant reminder that we belonged together, and that he’d come find me soon. “I won’t be long. Stay safe, Jinx.”
I kissed him back. “You too.”
Nila took my hand and dragged me the other way as Sully followed Jethro into the crowd.
Chapter Six
“SO HOW EXACTLY DID you get that stunning creature to fall in love with you?”
I punched Jethro in the arm as we left the ballroom and slipped into a quieter dayroom. “You saying I’m not lovable?”
“I’m saying you don’t exactly let down your guard.” My old friend grinned. “What’s it been, Sully? Over a decade of friendship and you’ve never once been involved.”
“Too busy.”
“No excuse.” He crossed his arms.
“You can’t talk. You never had anything serious until Nila.”
“That’s because I couldn’t get close to anyone but my brother Kes.” He flinched as if his brother’s death was still new and bleeding. In a way, it was. No matter how many years passed, I doubted Jethro would get over his middle brother’s death. He didn’t care about his younger brother’s demise, mainly because he deserved it. Just like his father’s end was justified.
Just like my own family deserved to be put down.
Wonder what he’d say if I told him what I’d done to my brother. How I’d broken his mind before Eleanor ended his body? How I celebrated his passing instead of mourned?
“How’s that going, by the way?” I spied a bar trolley and helped myself to the high-end cognac in the decanter. Pouring myself a tumbler, I passed one to Jethro.
He nodded as he accepted and took a sip. “As I said in our conversations, I can’t explain it.” He shrugged. “To start with, I had too many influences over me. But the closer Nila and I grew together, the more I couldn’t deny that I found peace with her. Peace that was so much more effective than any chemical.”
“I’m glad.” I sipped the rich liquor. “Put me out of a job.”
“I heard a rumour you’re being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for the drug that stopped that brewing pandemic.”
I scratched my jaw, wishing I could remove my mask but accepting the masquerade ritual. “It wasn’t anything special. We just targeted the virus strain and tested it with already known antibodies, then we mutated it for the current virus. It wasn’t rocket science.”
“To you, perhaps.” Jethro finished his drink, placing the tumbler on a side table. “And I’m fully aware you’ve changed the subject. You forget what I am, Sinclair. I know it’s been an age since we saw each other in person, but I remember how you felt back then, and it’s entirely different to how you feel now.”
If I didn’t know and understand Jethro’s condition, I would eye him with suspicion for such a comment. Only thing was, I’d categorically, scientifically proven that what Jethro sensed wasn’t bullshit but some heightened sense of instinct that not all humans had tapped into.
In his case, he couldn’t switch it off.
“How did I feel back then?” I finished my drink, looking over my shoulder to where music drifted from the ballroom. Was Eleanor safe? I knew Radcliffe would follow her and keep her protected while away from me but I had to admit, I fucking hated being apart from her.
“You were...cold.” Jethro paced by the fireplace. “Analytical. No hint of feeling just...calculations. A brain that overruled any emotion and left you unexcited about anything and pissed off at everything.”
“Sounds about right.”
“But now, you—” He cocked his head, staring at me. “You’re anxious right now because you’re away from her, but when she was beside you—” He chuckled. “You were a horny bastard as well as possessive and protective. You were happy.”
“Having a wife will do that to a man.”
“No, having the perfect wife will do that.” Jethro cleared his throat. “Nila saved me as surely as you saved me in my younger years. You helped deaden me to things I couldn’t control, and she helped me rise above it.”