“Two very strong motives,” I say, looking at Micah.
He shakes his head at my unanswered question. “It’s no one in my past.”
“Or mine,” I confirm. The only broken heart I left in my wake belongs to the woman beside me. The women who allowed me to indulge my fantasies left with more than they had when our arrangements began, and our arrangements never lasted long enough to create emotional ties. Besides, we’ve already proved that no one who works for me needs money. And as far as I know, I have no enemies. I pinch the bridge of my nose and ask, “What’s Ryder’s plan now?”
Micah answers, “He’s got the serial numbers of the bugs, and he’s seeing if he can track down who purchased them. As soon as he knows more, he’ll tell us.”
“So what do we do until then?” Taylor asks.
I glance at Taylor and speak from the heart. “Trust no one.”
Taylor
Back in the bedroom, I’m listening to the sounds of Darius’s sleepy breaths. The clock glowing in the room suggests it’s been an hour since Allie and Micah left, but there isn’t a hope in hell I’ll be able to sleep now. So, here I lie on my back, staring up at the shadows on the ceilings, my thoughts racing.
Who’s trying to expose them? What could be their motive? What’s Darius hiding? What is any of them hiding? Is this about the club? About the sex he’s into?
I sigh.
Darius chuckles. “What’s on your mind, Taylor?”
I laugh softly, turning onto my side and facing him. “How did you know something’s on my mind?”
His eyes are still closed, face tilted toward the ceiling, one arm behind his head. “Because you keep looking at me.”
“Your eyes are shut. How can you tell?”
“I can feel you.” He turns, facing me, and the light coming from the hallway illuminates his face, showing me his greatly amused eyes. “Why don’t you ask what you want to know so you can sleep?”
I pause, picking out a single question from the hundreds of questions on my mind. “Are you worried about the club and all that stuff getting out into the public?”
“I am.”
“Why?”
He arches a brow. “You don’t think I should be?”
“Well, to be honest, not really.” I shrug against my pillow, glad to finally say it aloud. “I mean, it’s not like you’re some creeper who is hiding dead people in his closet. You have some kinky sex. What’s the problem here?”
Darius barks a laugh. It’s free, uninhibited, and also very rare. “It could always be worse, I suppose.”
“Exactly.” Over and over again, I’ve been trying to figure out why he’s so protective of his sex life and it simply doesn’t add up. Darius is never insecure or apologetic about anything. And all this fear screams insecurity. “You have such power in this city now. Sure, before I could understand why it would worry you. People can get all up in other people’s business, and you were trying to build your empire and all that stuff, but right now, in this moment, do you honestly think anyone even cares about your sex life?”
He pauses to consider, then shakes his head against his pillow. “Not now, no.”
I frown at him, utterly confused. “Then explain the concern here? Why don’t you admit that you own the club and that you’ve had some dirty, wild sex there before someone exposes you? That way you can make the story no big deal, like it is. Isn’t that the logical next step?”
“Get ahead of the story, you mean?” he asks.
“Yup, exactly.”
He hesitates. Then, “It’s not as easy as what you’re suggesting.”
&nb
sp; “Why? It seems very easy to me.” Like super easy, actually.
He draws in a long deep breath and stretches out his legs before answering me. “You’re right that now I can recover from a sex scandal. Would it annoy me greatly? Yes. But I’d recover.”