Page 5 of High Reward

She crosses to the bed, her movements graceful and fluid. “You OK? You seem worried.”

“I just…” I swallow, trying to find words for the anxiety crawling under my skin. “After yesterday, waking up alone was…”

“Scary,” she finishes for me, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I get it. I had the same sensation when I first woke up.”

Her hand finds mine on the covers, fingers intertwining. Her palm is warm against mine, grounding me.

“Everything is so precarious,” I admit, the words spilling out before I can stop them. “It’s as if we’re all balanced on the edge ofsomething terrible, and one wrong move could...” I trail off, not wanting to voice the worst possibilities.

Lili squeezes my hand. “I know. But Victor knows what he’s doing. And so do his friends.”

“I just hate not knowing what’s happening. He’s clearly hiding things from us.”

“To protect us,” Lili says, though I can see the doubt flickering in her eyes too.

“Is it protection or control? Sometimes with Victor, it’s hard to tell the difference.”

Lili shifts closer, pulling one leg up onto the bed. “Maybe a bit of both. Men like Victor, men with power, sometimes forget the difference. But protectiveness runs deep in him. With Phineas, it was always about control. I can tell that’s not the case with Vic.”

I stare down at our joined hands, her slender fingers wrapped around mine. “How did this happen so fast? All of it. You, me, Victor. I’ve been swept up in something I can barely comprehend.”

“You’re asking the wrong girl,” Lili says with a soft laugh. “I’m still trying to figure out how I went from planning to divorce my husband to falling in love with two people at once.”

My heart skips at her casual mention of love. “Does that... confuse you? Loving both of us?”

Her eyes meet mine, steady and clear. “Sometimes. I never thought I could feel this way about two people simultaneously. It should feel wrong, or at least complicated. But when I’m with you both, it just... it’s right.”

I reach up with my free hand, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It is right. The heart doesn’t have a limited capacity for love. It expands.”

“You sound like you’ve given this some thought.”

I turn my gaze away, my fingers playing with the edge of the sheet as unwanted memories flood my system. “I was in arelationship in college. With two people. A couple named Kara and Sampson.”

Lili’s eyes widen slightly. “Victor mentioned something about that. You don’t talk about it much?”

“It ended badly,” I say, the memories rising like shadows I can’t quite dispel. “They weren’t... good people. Not like you and Victor.”

“What happened?” Her voice is gentle, coaxing rather than demanding.

I shake my head. “They were controlling. Manipulative. I was young and desperate to be loved. They used that.” I can’t bring myself to elaborate on the emotional abuse, the gaslighting, the way they pitted me against my friends and family, so I left it at manipulative without explaining further.

Lili’s hand moves to my face, her thumb stroking my cheek. “I’m sorry, Grace.”

“It was a long time ago.”

“Time doesn’t always heal everything,” she whispers.

I lean into her touch, grateful for her understanding. “With you and Victor, it’s different. Equal. Even when he’s being bossy and dominant, there’s respect. Care.”

“And consent,” Lili adds with a knowing smile. “That’s the key difference.”

I smile back, the weight in my chest lightening. “Exactly.”

Lili shifts closer, her fingers stroking my hair. The gentle rhythm soothes me, and I close my eyes briefly, savoring the intimacy of the moment.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“For what?”