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“What was that about?” I asked as brightly as possible.
Part of me—a small and very stupid part—hoped that Montgomery would come clean and tell me everything he’d just talked about to his father. He’d explained that it had been a ruse, that he was still just as committed to taking his father down as ever.
“Nothing,” Montgomery said breezily, striding back toward his desk and sitting down. “He just wanted to let me know that he was unhappy about me always choosing the black collar. We’ll have to do something different the next time a collar invitation comes.”
I sat up in alarm. “What does that mean? You’ll actually share me?”
Montgomery looked up sharply. “What? No. Never. We’ll figure something else out.”
I stared at him hard. He seemed so sincere. But then again, he’d sounded just as sincere with his father. He was too good a liar. He’d obviously had a lifetime honing his skills at it. With a father like his, it was no wonder.
But where the hell did that leave me?
I had feelings—and at this point I was able to stop lying to myself, I did have feelings, strong ones—for a man who may or may not be a complete mirage.
And two weeks left to survive here, one way or the other.
21
Montgomery
“Good to see you still standing here,” Emmett Washington said as he handed me a glass of scotch.
“Did you think I wouldn’t be?” I asked as I stood at the center of attention with my fellow recruits. It had been a couple of weeks since I’d last seen them—although I was beginning to lose all sense of time—and I was pretty sure they all had a million questions for me in order to prepare for their turn.
“It’s not easy, right?” Beau Radcliffe asked.
I took a sip of my drink and kept my eyes on the Elders wondering what they had planned for the evening’s event. Grace was escorted out of my room by Mrs. H earlier in a beautiful silk dress the color of the sky, and although I had a pretty good idea of what could happen, I still wasn’t sure. I had tried to prep Grace the best that I could, but we were operating completely in the blind.
“Where is she? Grace, right?” Rafe Jackson asked as he scanned the room which up to this point was void of any women.
I shrugged. “They took her from our room earlier. I have no idea.”
Walker St. Claire approached us with his own drink in hand. “My dad tells me that they have really put you guys through the wringer, and you’re actually meeting each challenge head on. He said he doesn’t remember it ever being that hard on him, but that he’s impressed with how you’re handling everything.”
“Do I have a choice?” I countered.
“Do any of us have a fucking choice?” Sully cut in, looking his normal pissed off self.
“I’m focusing on the finish line. That’s for sure,” I said, growing impatient and wanting to know where Grace was. I didn’t like being away from her this long without knowing what could be happening to her. “I question my sanity every day and wonder why I do this.” I looked at each of my friends before adding, “Why any one of us would do this.”
“Tradition,” Emmett stated simply.
“Yeah, well, when it’s your turn, we’ll see how traditional you feel.”
I couldn’t stop worrying about Grace. I should be with her. We were a team, and although I knew she was one tough cookie, my heart still beat at rapid speed with the unknown.
Where was she? Did she need me? Did she expect me to stop this entire wicked game and be her knight in shining armor? Or did she want me to stand strong just as she was planning on doing? I often wondered if I was expecting too much, or that I would push her past a point of no return… for the both of us.
I just wanted to know where the fuck she was.
Good news was all the Elders and members were in the ballroom, so at least there wasn’t some secret Initiation only involving her somewhere, although I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like that.
“109 days is a really long time,” Walker said. “I really don’t know how I’ll survive being locked away from society for so long. You guys have to be going crazy.”
I nodded as I took another sip, focusing on the burning caused by the scotch in the back of my throat rather than the churning in my gut and the warning bells going off in my head.
Beau looked at Sully. “You’re next, my friend. Ready?”
Sully shot daggers from his eyes toward Beau and drank from his nearly empty tumbler rather than answering.
I watched as all the Elders lined themselves in a row in the front of the white room. The lights went out, and an eerie hush cast over us all.
