Protective Secrets (The Protective Series, Book 3)

Chapter Ninteen

The whole table was silent. Michelle and Dominik sat next to each other across from me, exchanging low murmurs amongst one another, while Mark turned a silver fork in his hand as if he were seeing it for the very first time in his life.

The similarities between us were beginning to intimidate me. At first I'd tried to push it away, for the guys' sake, but the longer I spent under the same roof as him, the more anxious I felt. He was an exact living and breathing copy of me, save for a few minor details such as face shape, features, and so on. It was like they replaced me with another me - one who was from a different time period to the real me.

He caught me staring at him, dropping the fork in his hands immediately. It fell to the ceramic dinner plate in front of him with a clatter, not nearly loud enough to draw Dominik's attention away from Michelle.

Ever since she'd entered the mansion, he hadn't been able to take his eyes off her. It was like she was the centre of attention, and he was hanging off every word she said. He leaned forward whenever she delved into a subject, leaning his elbows on the edge of the table and resting his jaw in his hands.

"Sickening, isn't it?" A hoarse voice rasped beside me.

I glanced up as Jarmo limped over to the long wooden table covered with a thin white sheet, all of the utensils precisely and neatly already set up for each individual person. He plopped down in the seat beside me, lying his arm casually across the top of my chair.

"Not really," I responded in uncertainty, raising an eyebrow in bemusement. "He's obviously got a crush on her. I don't see a problem with that."

He leaned forward in the chair, his eyes skimming over each of the white circular dinner plates all evenly spaced out in a horizontal line. "Love sickens me. I don't see the point in trusting someone with your life, only for them to grow tired of you, cheat on you or empty the entire house while you're not there and leave you with nothing. That idea doesn't appeal to me."

I stewed over his words in my mind, vacantly gazing down at the serviette wrapped around my knife and fork. Most people craved love - they needed it like they needed air to breathe, and love came with many benefits. Hearing someone speak about love in such a hostile way baffled me. Something had obviously happened to Jarmo in the past that had tainted his view on love, and made him reluctant to date anyone.

"Try and be a little more optimistic would you," I murmured rhetorically, feeling a pair of eyes on me. I knew who it was without having to look up. "This is supposed to be a nice reunion for us. This is the first time I'm seeing you guys in two years. I don't think it would kill you to be nice and upbeat for once, would it?"

"Hey!" He bellowed. I flinched and clasped my hands over my ears, trying to condense the loudness of his voice ringing through my head. "Stop staring at Jed like that! He's not a fucking painting!"

Mark looked away quickly, staring at the wall. His fingers fumbled with the edge of the dining cloth idly, as if he were far away in a world of his own. He didn't look offended or hurt at all, wearing a neutral expression void of any emotion.

We were joined by Asko and Izzy, engaged in deep conversation as they reentered the dining room together. Asko had excused himself to the upstairs bathroom at the same time that Izzy needed to use the downstairs one, both of them unaware of what had happened during their leave of absence. They shared a private laugh before pulling out their chairs, sitting adjacent to each other.

"What are your plans after tonight?" Asko questioned, folding his fingers in his lap. "I want to hang out with you before you decide to go back to Australia. Maybe we could catch a movie or something," he suggested, the end of his sentence raising with an upward inflection. "I heard there's a few good movies playing at the moment. What do you feel like seeing? There's Fast 8, Star Wars: Episode VIII, Fifty Shades Darker, or Thor: Ragnarok."