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“I did once.” He glances away, staring ahead as if he’s seeing a memory rather than what he’s actually looking at. “It was a few years after Maxim and I opened this place… I went too far with a woman.”
My stomach clenches with unease. “What did you do?”
“I hurt her—she had to use her safe word. Maxim stepped in, and that’s when we hired Lucius and Lisa to draw up the contracts. Men like us can’t be let loose without rules to follow. Not with pasts like ours that can take over at any time. We helped each other. But now, Maxim thinks I’m a glutton for punishment having you here.”
“You’ve hurt me.”
He nods. “Which is making him nervous. You’re still here, still wanting more, and I’m on the precipice about to take you with me.”
We remain like that for a few intense moments, staring each other out, but I give in first. I pull away.
“You always used to make me tea like this, remember?” I’m not sure why I’m saying this. Maybe I need him to know what I’m feeling or trying to figure out what I am myself. “It was always in the morning. You’d already be in the kitchen waiting for me…like you knew it was the only time I got some peace.”
He leans back against the couch and rubs a hand over his stubble. “I needed the peace too…I looked forward to it.”
My heart warms at the thought, which conflicts me further. “We didn’t speak.”
“There wasn’t anything to say.” There wasn’t. We just existed.Were.
“I struggled when you weren’t there anymore…I don’t want you tonotbe there, and somehow, I don’t think I’m allowed to want that.”
“Is there something else you’re trying to say?”
Is there?
A part of me feels like throwing the cup across the room and yelling out like a good, old Stonehill lunatic. Because I think I’m as insane as they made me out to be there.
“I don’t know….” When he doesn’t say anything, I lift my cup and take a sip of tea instead. My throat rejoices, and I drink more, the heat settling some of the hysteria inside me. “I want to ask more questions, but I’m not sure I can take any more surprises.”
“No surprises. But we do have problems.” My heart sinks. “…I can’t locate Blake and Nicolas.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve searched for weeks, but there’s no sign of them. It’s like they’ve dropped off the face of the earth. The clubhouse has been deserted—everyone’s gone.”
“Even Nicole?”
He nods.
A worry I shouldn’t feel spreads through me like a disease. Fear for a sister lost in the chaos. “You still care about her.” It’s not a question, it’s a statement, and I quickly shake my head.
“Of course not—”
“You don’t have to hide it. Not from me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“That’s the thing.” He tugs at the tie around his neck, loosening it. “I always know what to do… but at the moment, I don’t. The only time they appeared was when you were in Horn Hill. The number your father used to call them is untraceable and has since been disconnected.” Stress mars his features, and it’s enough to want to reach out and smooth the stress lines away. “It’s not like Blake to be so…methodical.”
He’s right. This isn’t like Blake, and only an idiot would believe they’re gone for good. He’s out there somewhere, biding his time. But for what? Why the calculated wait?
I dread the answer I think I already know.
It’s theperfectgame.
Nibbling my bottom lip, I can’t believe I’m about to say what I’m about to. “What about Gabriella?”
“What about her?”
