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“No. They have to come too.” There’s a heaviness in his voice, and his eyes pinch a little at the corners as he speaks.
“Oh.” I repeat the word, nodding slightly.
Is this why he’s been acting strange all night? Why he followed me in here? Why there was something so wild and desperate in his movements?
Because he’ll be gone. They all will.
For the first time in who knows how long, days will pass where none of them will see me.
Where I won’t see them.
A sudden, strange ache wells up in my chest, and I press away from the wall, palming the back of Marcus’s neck and pulling him down to kiss me. His hands find their way into my hair as he kisses me back—softly, sweetly this time, as if there’s no more violence left in him.
Or maybe he’s just decided to break me with gentleness instead.
“Stay with me tonight,” he whispers against my lips. “Stay with me until I go.”
I nod, the barest movement of my head. “Okay.”
As if that single word has unknotted something inside him, his body relaxes. I can feel the tension drain from him as his lips curve up in a smile.
“Thank you, angel.”
Chapter 18
After my shift is over, Marcus drives me back to my apartment quickly so I can pack a bag.
Somehow, me agreeing to sleep over at his place has turned into me staying at his house for the entire weekend while he and the other two men are gone. I don’t quite know how the fuck he managed to talk me into that, but as I shove clothes and a few toiletries into a beat-up gym bag, I can admit to myself that I don’t entirely hate the idea.
Duke let me know as we were closing up that he’d given away my Friday and Saturday night shifts to Carly—which I’m ninety-nine percent sure is because he knows I basically had sex in the bathroom on my “break.” He’s not the type of guy to fire me for something like that, especially since I’ve generally been a good employee. But I think this is his not-so-subtle way of letting me know I’m skating on thin ice.
It sucks to lose the shifts, but it also means I don’t have anywhere I have to be this weekend, since I was off Sunday anyway. And hanging out in Marcus’s fancy as fuck house beats the hell out of spending the weekend holed up in my apartment, hoping I don’t run into Natalie.
“Where are you going?” I ask Marcus as I settle back into the car beside him. My bag rests on the back seat, and his hand finds my leg as soon as I’m settled, his palm skating up and down my thigh.
He grimaces. “It’s fucking stupid. Our parents all host a charity gala in Aspen every year, and they expect us to be there.”
My brows pull together as I look over at him. “For three days?”
“Well, including all the setup and organization, and the dozens of business meetings and lunches and shit that all surround the event, yeah.”
“You don’t sound very excited about it.”
He cuts a glance at me. “Do I look like the kind of guy who enjoys a gala?”
I laugh, resting my hand over his. “No. But to be fair, when I first met you, I didn’t think you were the kind of guy who had a shitload of money either.”
“You know I take that as a compliment.”
“Good. I meant it as one.”
His easy smile makes me smile too. Even though it’s almost impossible to imagine my life without this man in it now, there are still some times when Marcus’s armor seems impenetrable. I like the little moments like this, when he seems completely at ease. I wish there were more of them.
He looks over at me, and I can’t tell if he’s guessed my thoughts or not, but the softness lingers in his eyes. “When I get back, I want to get serious about tracking down your brother, angel. I’ve been lining a few things up, speaking to a couple private investigators. We’ll find a thread and pull on it, okay?”
“Okay.”
I still don’t really believe we’ll get anywhere. I can’t let myself hope too much, or I think it might crush me when it all falls apart. But I like the idea of trying. And for once, with Marcus’s help, I’ll actually be able to do it right. To give it a real shot.
