Page 61 of A Wild Darkness

As the storm outside becomes more intense, I rise from my chair and head back inside, closing the door behind me. The silence in my bedroom is heavy, pressing a weight on my chest. “I had to fuck her in front of them,” I finally say.

Christian says nothing for a moment. Then he lets out a strained cough. “Wow, I was not expecting that.”

“Neither was I.”

“I’d say that was the best-case scenario if you ask me. Imagine they asked you to bring in a kill. How’s she holding up?”

“I don’t know. When I left her in her room a while ago, she seemed to be in her normally annoying mood.”

He laughs. “I think she’s tougher than we think. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she will do fine.”

“I felt awful for her, though.”

“We got lucky they asked you and not one of them,” Christian points out.

My blood simmers through my veins at the thought. “I wouldn’t have let that happen,” I state.

“I know you wouldn’t have. And so does Stevie. That’s why she trusts you, Sebastian. She wouldn’t have agreed to this if she didn’t,” he encourages. “She never would’ve agreed to do any of this in the first place.”

Trust. A tricky word.

“I don’t like that they put her in that situation, but it did get us in.”

“We’ll get them,” Christian says. “Did they tell you what’s next?”

“No, I was told they’d be in touch like last time.” I walk into the bathroom to get into the shower, but the nagging feeling to check on Stevie prevents me from getting in. “Look, I need to get some sleep. We’ll talk again soon.”

I end the call before he can respond with only one thing on my mind. I bound toward my office only a few steps away from the door to my bedroom.

The wall of screens meets me as soon as I enter. My eyes shoot over to the camera in Stevie’s room. She’s lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her chin, staring at the ceiling which I can bet she’s replaying everything from the night. Was it callous of me to leave her without talking about what happened?

Running a hand through my hair, I want to speak with her again.

Slipping my phone from my pocket, I give in and text her.

Me: Hi.

She rolls over to grab her phone from the nightstand by the side of the bed. When she sees it’s me, she blows out a frustrated breath before responding, and it brings a chuckle to my chest.

Stevie: Now you want to talk.

Me: I’m sorry I ran out. I needed to get my head straight after tonight.

Stevie: Makes sense. But you could have told me that.

I thought I had?

Me: You’re right. Do you want to talk about it now?

Stevie: Honestly, there’s nothing to discuss. We can catch up on the rest tomorrow.

Stevie: I’m alright if that’s what you’re trying to ask.

Me: I didn’t expect that to happen.

Stevie: It’s not like this was my first time having sex, Sebastian. I’m a big girl. And it was just for show, so we’re all good.

Stevie: We’re in. We fooled them. That’s all that matters, right?