Page 123 of High Reward

“I used to think Vegas was everything I wanted,” he says. “But lately I just go through the motions. I want the adrenaline again. I miss the rush of building something, running a kitchen where every night is a new challenge. Here, I work for Novak, and it’s great. I get a lot of freedom, and I bounce around from restaurant to restaurant hosting special events for VIPs. But it’s not mine. It’s always going to have his name on it.”

I lean against the desk, arms folded. “It’s a big move. Sabrina would go with you?”

“That’s the plan.” His jaw flexes, and he pauses.

“What is it? She doesn’t want to go?”

“I haven’t asked her.”

“That’s the problem,” he says when I raise an eyebrow. “We’ve moved three times in four years. First San Diego, then London, now here. She follows me every damn time, packs up her life and starts over. She says she just wants me to be happy, but I wonder if she’s tired. Tired of being the new girl, tired of having nothing that’s really hers.”

He shakes his head, eyes fixed on a spot on the floor. “She was so connected in London. The club we were a part of? She was in charge of the submissive training program there. Here? She’s barely getting involved, and I worry it’s because she knows I’m just going to uproot our lives again. I don’t want to be the asshole that keeps her from putting down roots just because I’m chasing some high.”

He stops pacing and drops into one of the chairs in front of me. “But I don’t want to stay here and get resentful either. That’s not fair to her. Or to me. She’s got other partners. I haven’t had much time to date other people, so the polyamory feels a little one-sided for her.”

There’s something else under the surface. The way his hands won’t settle, the way his words come out in streams of chaos rather than carefully considered thoughts, all of it tells me there’s something more to this. But I don’t press. He’ll tell me if it’s important.

“I haven’t told her,” he says again. “Not everything. I want to ask her to go with me, but I can’t do it if I’m not sure she’ll say yes. Her happiness matters more than anything. But if I wait too long, I’ll miss the window. If I push too hard, I lose her.”

He looks up, meeting my gaze for the first time since he started this conversation. “You ever have the feeling you’re about to fuck everything up, but you have to do it anyway because standing still is killing you?”

I nod once, knowing exactly what he means. But I’m also not the best at giving brotherly advice. That’s Matteo or Luke. So, I just clap him on the shoulder. “You’ll figure it out. And if you go, you’ll be missed, but everyone will understand.”

He stands and picks up the tray of tacos again.

“Thanks, man. It feels good to have told someone about it.”

I nod and jerk my head toward the door.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Liliana and prevent her from doing something catastrophically stupid for my birthday. No thanks to you.”

Tyson walks away laughing, and I realize I’ll actually miss the bastard if he leaves.

Chapter 31

Lili

IspotGraceatthe bar in the main dungeon, bent over her laptop. I cross to her and slide onto the stool beside her.

She doesn’t look up right away. Her fingers still on the home row, then drift to the trackpad. There’s a flutter at the corners of her mouth. She’s caught up in whatever she’s writing, drowning everything else out. I hate to interrupt her, but I have questions.

“Working on your book, or schoolwork?”

Grace lets her gaze drift from the screen, and she looks at me with a mixture of embarrassment and pride. “Book. It’s makingme happy right now, and I’m questioning my choice to go back to school.”

“I don’t blame you for that. Graduation day couldn’t come fast enough when I was in college,” I say, teasing her gently as I lean in, elbows resting on the bar.

“Did you know Victor’s birthday is coming up?”

Grace grins and nods. “Of course, I know. He hates celebrating, but I always get him a little something. I’m surprised you heard about it. He usually tries to hide it.”

“Tyson spilled the beans,” I say with a smirk. “Vic wasn’t too happy about it.”

That makes Grace laugh, and my heart warms. Her melodic little giggle is quickly becoming one of my favorite sounds.

Grace’s hands rest lightly on the keyboard as she glances back at the screen. “He doesn’t like birthdays. They were a big deal in his family, but not the way a birthday should be. Each one was a milestone that took him deeper into cartel life. He refused to celebrate his twenty-first with us, and he tries to act like they don’t matter, so I try not to make a huge fuss about it even though I love birthdays.”

“But you always get him something,” I say.