Tormenting Lila

  how I’d figured out he was a

  musician. ‘It was,’ he said

  with a light shrug. ‘I don’t

  play anymore but they’re

  good. You should go. Check

  them out.’

  I nodded. I could wear my

  green dress.

  Just then the door pinged

  behind us. A girl with messy

  blonde hair and heavy

  eyeliner strolled in, her eyes

  lighting up the moment she

  saw the boy.

  ‘Hey, Jesse,’ she said in a

  husky voice.

  ‘Hey, Nikki,’ the bike boy

  said. He gave me an

  apologetic smile and I smiled

  back at him and wandered

  over to Alex who was busy

  filling in the rental form.

  ‘What’s up?’ I heard Jesse

  ask the girl – Nikki.

  ‘Nothing. Was just passing

  by and wanted to see if you

  were coming tonight.’

  ‘Sure, yeah, wouldn’t miss

  it,’ Jesse answered.

  Nikki glanced over his

  shoulder, then walked past

  him and snatched up one of

  the flyers from the counter.

  ‘We’re handing these out all

  around town. It should be

  busy.’ She paused. ‘You

  bringing anyone?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Jesse mumbled

  after a beat.

  ‘Who?’ Nikki asked and I

  caught the inquisitive tone to

  her voice. Jesse was looking

  at the ground while the her

  cheeks had started to flush.

  ‘This girl. She’s here on

  holiday. Her name’s Ren.’

  Nikki frowned. ‘Ren?’

  ‘Mmm,’ Jesse answered

  looking her straight in the

  eye now. ‘She’s nice. I think

  you’d like her. She’s really

  into music.’

  Nikki nodded and smiled a

  little sadly. ‘Oh, OK, cool.’

  She pushed her hair behind

  her ear and glanced over in

  our direction, ‘Well, I better

  leave you to it. I guess you’re

  busy.’

  Jesse gave her a brief

  smile. ‘Yeah, I’ll catch you

  later.’

  Nikki walked over to the

  door and froze just before she

  reached it. ‘Who did this?’

  she asked pointing at the

  smashed-in door, her tone

  unmistakably angry.

  Jesse shrugged.

  Nikki glared at him.

  ‘Jesse! Was it him?’

  Jesse shot her a warning

  glance and her gaze flitted to

  Alex and I.

  ‘OK, fine, we’ll talk about

  it later,’ she muttered and

  with one last glance at the

  door she strode out of the

  store, shaking her head and

  muttering something under

  her breath.

  Alex cleared his throat and

  Jesse turned, forcing a smile.

  He took the rental agreement

  from Alex and moved around

  the counter to ring it up.

  It was then that I noticed

  beneath the pile of flyers a

  scrap of torn paper peeking

  out. I tilted my head so I

  could read the words

  scrawled across it in angry

  black marker pen:

  Next time it’ll be the

  whole store, Miller, not

  just the door.

  As soon as we spread out our

  towels on the sand Alex was

  off, jogging towards the sea.

  A row of girls in bikinis all

  raised themselves up onto

  their elbows to watch him,

  their jaws dropping open like

  famished baby birds in a

  nest. Once upon a time I

  might have blown a

  sandstorm in their direction,

  but now I was older and

  theoretically more mature I

  decided to let it go. If they

  decided to follow him into

  the ocean and start flirting

  with him I could always opt

  for the tidal wave

  manoeuvre.

  Suddenly something

  thunked into the sand by my

  foot, diverting my attention.

  It was a frisbee. I picked it up

  and looked around. A group

  of four boys were standing a

  little way off, waving at me.

  One started jogging in my

  direction.

  ‘Sorry,’ he called as he got

  nearer.

  I jumped up and tossed it

  back to him, directing it into

  the wind with a little help

  (because frankly my aim

  sucked). ‘No worries.’

  He caught it in his left

  hand. ‘You want to play?’ he

  asked. He had reddish brown

  hair, freckles and an easy

  grin but my experiences over

  the last few months had made

  me wary of strangers.

  Sometimes the sweetest-

  looking people turned out to

  be the most untrustworthy,

  two-faced bitches, and the

  scariest-looking people

  turned out to be the ones you

  could trust with your life . . .

  though not always (Carlos

  the mafia boss had been just

  as homicidally crazy as he’d

  looked).

  ‘No thanks,’ I answered

  the boy politely.

  ‘You sure?’ the boy said.

  He was panting slightly and

  squinting into the sun.

  ‘Yeah, I’m not much of a

  player.’

  Just then someone

  appeared by the boy’s side.

  ‘Neither’s Parker,’ he said,

  ‘though he tries his hardest.’

  It was another one of the

  frisbee four. He held his hand

  out to me. ‘Hi, I’m Tyler.’

  He had dark hair, the

  whitest teeth I’d ever seen

  and looked like he’d just

  stepped out of an advert for

  Tommy Hilfiger swimwear. I

  shook his hand tentatively.

  ‘Lila,’ I said, introducing

  myself.

  ‘You here on holiday?’

  Tyler asked. ‘I’ve not seen

  you around before.’

  ‘Um, yeah,’ I said. ‘I’m

  just here for a few days.’

  ‘Cool. We’re having a

  party Sunday night at

  Tyler’s,’ the first one –

  Parker – said. ‘To celebrate

  fourth of July. You should

  come.’

  ‘Mmmm,’ I mumbled non-

  committally.

  Out of the corner of my

  eye I noticed the row of girls

  were all lying on their

  stomachs now, as though

  they’d been flipped over by a

  short-order cook with a giant

  spatula. They were all staring

  in our direction. One of them,

  a girl with long brown hair

  and a perfect tan, stood up

  and strolled towards us,

  flicking her hair behind one

  shoulder and adjusting her

  bikini straps for maximum

  boob exposure.

  ‘Hey, Tyl
er,’ she drawled

  when she got nearer.

  ‘Hey, Eliza,’ Tyler

  answered, taking her in with

  an appreciative glance that

  rested for an extra-long beat

  at boob height.

  ‘You want to come for a

  swim?’ she asked, placing a

  hand on his sweaty bicep

  before shooting me what I

  guessed was an acid look,

  though she was wearing

  sunglasses the size of dinner

  plates so it was hard to be

  one hundred percent sure.

  Tyler looked down at her

  hand, then his gaze darted

  over my shoulder and he took

  a small step backwards. I

  glanced behind me and saw

  Alex walking towards us,

  water running in rivulets

  down his body. Tommy

  Hilfiger could step aside.

  Alex looked like he’d

  stepped out of an Armani

  aftershave ad. He stooped for

  a towel and his hand come to

  rest lightly on my hip. I

  leaned into him

  automatically.

  ‘Boys,’ Alex said, by way

  of a greeting.

  The girl’s lips parted as

  she gazed up at Alex and her

  hand slid off Tyler’s arm like

  a dollop of wet putty.

  Parker and Tyler shuffled

  in the sand, uncomfortable in

  Alex’s presence and looking

  suddenly really young by

  comparison. Alex had a few

  years on them I supposed, as

  well as a few inches in

  height. He also had the hard-

  muscled body of a Marine

  and I saw them glance at the

  tattoo of two crossed swords

  on his arm and the Marine

  Corps motto – Semper

  Fidelis – and swallow

  nervously.

  ‘Hi,’ Parker mumbled. He

  held up the frisbee as though

  it was a piece of evidence in

  a trial, or a shield. ‘Frisbee,’

  he said. ‘We were just

  getting the frisbee.’ He

  grabbed for Tyler’s arm and

  started dragging him away,

  all the while eyeing Alex’s

  tattoo.

  One of the many things

  about Alex that I loved was

  that, while he was protective

  of me, he didn’t act like a

  caveman about it. There was

  nothing threatening or

  possessive about his

  demeanour. If Jack had been

  there he would have probably

  punched them just for

  looking in my direction. But

  Alex was cooler than that.

  We watched Tyler and Parker

  run off back to their frisbee

  friends, Tyler shooting me a

  curious look over his

  shoulder as he went. Eliza

  stood there for a second

  longer admiring the view,

  before throwing Alex a

  mega-watt smile and

  strutting back to her towel.

  When I looked over at

  Alex he was grinning at me.

  His eyes – a striking

  aquamarine colour – seemed

  even clearer than usual in the

  sunlight. ‘Can’t leave you

  alone for five minutes,’ he

  laughed, whipping the towel

  at me.

  ‘I had it handled,’ I told

  him, dancing out of its way.

  Just then something

  blurred in front of my face.

  Alex’s reflexes were quicker

  than mine. His hand shot up

  and he snatched the frisbee

  just before it smacked me in

  the head. I saw Parker

  standing in the distance

  looking horror-struck and

  then fearful for his life as

  Alex turned towards him.

  I prised the frisbee from

  Alex’s grip. ‘Allow me,’ I

  said, tossing it to the very far

  end of the beach, giving it a

  little extra throttle to help it

  on its way. When I turned

  back to Alex he was giving

  me that look – the one that

  made me feel like we were

  the only ones on the beach

  and that skinny-dipping was

  totally allowable.

  ‘Did I ever tell you how

  sexy you are when you’re

  doing your thing?’ he asked,

  reaching over and pulling me

  towards him.

  Freshly-showered I pulled on

  my green dress and turned

  my back to Alex. ‘Do me

  up?’ I asked.

  Alex crossed the room in

  one stride and stood behind

  me in front of the mirror. I

  smiled at him as he lifted my

  hair – growing out now,

  almost to my shoulders and

  bleached white in places

  from the sun – and did the

  buttons up on the dress. He

  stooped and kissed the back

  of my neck and I shuddered

  as his hands slid slowly down

  to my hips.

  I laced my fingers through

  his, feeling light-headed and

  suddenly nervous. Maybe

  Suki had been right – maybe

  this dress would be the key

  that unlocked the bunker, so

  to speak. Alex gripped my

  waist and spun me around,

  his lips finding mine

  instantly. He kissed me softly

  at first, but after a few

  seconds my pulse was flying

  and his kisses became harder.

  His hands moved to cup my

  face, to draw me nearer even

  as I edged us backwards

  towards the bed. Alex lifted

  me and lay me down,

  pressing me into the

  mattress, resting his weight

  on his arms. Maybe we

  wouldn’t be waiting until I

  was eighteen after all. Hell, I

  thought, if I’d known the

  green dress was the key all

  along I would have worn it

  every day, whatever the

  weather, never mind the

  occasion. I didn’t even care if

  Nate was in the room

  watching us right now.

  Thoughts were becoming

  incoherent, my brain

  disintegrating as thousands

  of pleasure signals tangled up

  my synapses.

  Alex’s fingers were

  wrestling with the buttons on

  my dress and I was fumbling

  with his T-shirt, trying to tug

  it over his head when there

  was a loud thud on the door.

  At first I thought it was my

  heart, which was drumming

  loud enough in my ears to

  deafen me, but then came

  another thud, and the door

  rattled on its hinges.

  We both sat bolt upright

  on the bed.

  ‘Did you order room

  service?’ Alex asked, pulling

  away from me.

  ‘No.’

  Another knock shook the

  door frame. Alex jumped off

  the bed, grabbed his gun

  from the dressing table and

  stepped between me and the

&n
bsp; door. A surge of adrenaline

  flooded my system and I

  started scanning the room for

  objects I could hurl before

  the synapses in my brain

  untangled themselves and

  reason kicked in, telling me

  to relax. There was no more

  Unit. We were safe. It was

  probably just the bell boy.

  Two months ago Alex and

  I had been on the run, barely

  sleeping, living out of a bag,

  desperately trying to stay one

  step ahead of the Unit and,

  although I had thought I’d

  dealt with it, clearly the

  memories weren’t too far

  beneath the surface, because

  a knock at the door was all it

  took to pitch me right back

  into fight and flight mode.

  Another bang. My eyes

  settled on the minibar sitting

  squatly beneath the writing

  desk on the other side of the

  room.

  At the same time, Alex

  was edging towards the door.

  He glanced through the spy

  hole, and I watched his

  shoulders sink. Holstering his

  gun, he drew a deep breath

  and before I could ask him

  who it was, he had yanked

  open the door. It took me a

  second to process that it

  wasn’t the bell boy standing

  in the hallway. In the next

  second, the minibar was

  hurtling across the room, the

  lead snapping out of the wall

  and tearing after it like a

  comet’s tail.

  Alex let out a yell and I

  brought the minibar to a

  flying halt an inch from

  Jack’s nose, the cacophony of

  bottles and cans smashing

  into each other as they

  bounced around inside

  having drowned out Alex’s

  warning yell.

  ‘Good to see you too, sis,’

  my brother said, ducking and

  grinning up at me from

  beneath the levitating mini-

  bar.

  ‘If you’re not careful, this

  mini bar is the last thing

  you’ll ever see,’ I growled in

  answer.

  ‘Bring it on. The white

  goods are no match for me.’

  I clamped my lips together

  and with as much dignity as I

  could muster sent the

  minibar gliding back into

  place beneath the desk,

  making a mental note not to

  open any of the cans inside it

  any time soon. I turned back

  and glared at Jack who was

  still standing there grinning

  at me like an idiot who’d just

  lost his spare brain cell.

  It was one of life’s many

  injustices that Jack was not

  only older than me and

  believed therefore that this

  put him in charge, but that

  his power indisputably beat

  mine (though I’d sooner die a

  virgin than admit that to

  him). Jack could heal from

  any injury . . . as far as we

  knew. We hadn’t gone as far