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“What?”
I squeezed his elbow. “You redeemed yourself with his help. I don’t think you would have gone back to your old ways.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because he already influenced you at that point,” I said firmly. “Because you would have been swallowed up with guilt if you returned to that life. Because… there’s good in you, too, as much as there’s good in Matthew. You worked hard to get to where you are. You made your business successful, didn’t you? And you protected people. You went after that man who killed those rats and kept me from getting taken. So don’t you dare try to sell yourself short.”
He blinked, speechless. I knew the moment my words hit him, digging deep until his body grew rigid. He looked away. When he met my gaze again, most of the defensiveness was gone and in its place were disbelief and wonder.
“I owe him a lot, Sophie.”
“I know you think you do. And I know Matthew enough to know that he considers whatever debt you have in your mind already paid.”
“Hmm. It doesn’t change my warning.”
“I know that, too.” But it didn’t feel as heavy anymore as I squeezed his elbow one more time and let go. “I won’t hurt him.”
“Good,” he whispered. He leaned in, too, our faces close. Then he changed his mind and cleared his throat. “Good night.”
Longing swirled, and the ache that I felt for Matthew was just as strong for Rupert. I knew them both now, two men who had come from not-so-pleasant backgrounds but chose hard work and dedication to rise above their situation. God, that was such a turn-on. But beyond the arousal was a gentler feeling that I didn’t want to dissect yet, so I didn’t.
Instead, I went to my room, shut down everything, and went back to sleep.
***
When I woke up in the morning, Matthew was gone and Sebastian was nowhere in sight. But Rupert was still there, squeezing some oranges and offering me a cup of juice.
“Thank you,” I said. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
His gaze roamed over me, lingering in some areas. My body stood at attention until he flicked his gaze away.
“I’m taking you to the restaurant. Go get a shower, get dressed. Do your thing.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it when I remembered what happened the last time that I was alone. Minutes later, we were riding his bike and I was holding on tightly. The dress that I wore became a pain in the ass when it kept riding up in the wind, but the way his muscles tensed when I pressed my bare legs against his hips was worth it. Feeling bold, I pressed my tits against his back on the pretense that I needed to hold on for balance. He didn’t say a word. He only drove faster as if monsters were chasing us.
When we arrived outside the restaurant, I had graduated from feeling bold to reckless. I had just gone toe-to-toe with the resident bad boy. Hell, I even kissed him. I also found out that the man I considered prim and proper was the bad boy’s gang leader, and that knowledge hummed inside me like a wicked little secret.
“You should head on inside,” he said.
“Thanks for dropping me off.”
I dismounted carefully, wrestling with the wind and my dress. My breath caught when hands clasped my waist and lifted me, then set me on the ground with ease. Our clothes brushed against each other, not our skin, and I lamented what was missing. He stepped back first as usual to give me a brisk nod.
“I’ll see you later, Sophie.”
Inside the restaurant, preparations for the opening later were already underway, and they didn’t need my help that much. I checked in the office to find Matthew missing, then walked around until I spotted Sebastian. He approached me first, his smile ready.
“Come on. Today’s shadowing day.”
I raised a brow. “Hello to you, too. Isn’t shadowing day just another form of training day? I thought I already graduated from training.”
“Consider it a retraining, just in case we missed some stuff during your training. Oh, and Matthew won’t be here today.”
“Oh.” That was disappointing. “Why not?”
“Spy stuff. He’s out to save the world and no one can stop him.”
