Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
“You’ve left me in much worse situations than having my ass red,” she snarled his way.
“Let me look at you.” Aidan reached for her.
“You can’t touch her,” Tristan insisted. “She said her safe word.”
“Red,” she said again. “I want you both out. If you insist on aftercare, send my cousins in.”
“Then tell me about the last two and a half years. Tell me everything. I want to know what I missed and how it hurt you,” Tristan insisted.
She shook her head and picked up Aidan’s T-shirt. He could go down and grab one from the bodyguard unit. They always had extras. “Leave me alone. I’m sure Aidan will happily tell you everything. It’s what the two of you do. Leave.”
She couldn’t do it. She’d thought she could, but she couldn’t break down with them here.
“Car,” Aidan began.
“Are you going to honor my safe word?” Carys asked. She could feel the tears on her cheeks, but she couldn’t let go. Not yet.
“This isn’t a fucking scene,” Aidan insisted, and he took a step toward her.
Tristan had pulled his shirt over his head and put a hand on Aidan’s broad shoulder. They looked so gorgeous standing there together.
They would make a lovely couple.
It was a bitter, nasty thought, but she couldn’t deny it.
“She’s done for the night,” Tristan said. “I’ll have the twins check on her. But Carys, you might be done, but we’re not. We’ll talk in the morning and then we’ll figure out how to protect you while I finish this mission.”
She stood there and watched as Tris convinced Aidan to let her have some privacy.
Nothing had changed. He would shut them out again. Well, shut her out and bring Aidan into his secret life. Hell, if it was Aidan, Tris would probably convince him to join the Agency, too.
When the door closed, she realized she didn’t need to cry.
Carys screamed, the sound matching the anger in her soul.
Chapter Five
Aidan turned because he could have sworn he heard something from behind the door they’d closed. The one between him and Carys.
Fuck, he hoped they hadn’t closed it forever.
“I can’t leave her like this.” He could still taste her on his lips. They’d been close. Close to breaking her down. She’d cried. Not in the way she’d needed to, but it had been a start.
“You walk back in there and she will use it like bricks to build her wall. I know you don’t think what happened now was a scene, but I assure you it was.” Tristan stared at the door, but he wasn’t making a move toward it. “She’s retreated to D/s because it’s all she can handle right now. We need to talk about how we get through to her.”
She’d screamed. He knew it. Shouldn’t they break down the door to get to her?
“She needs some time and space,” Tristan concluded.
“Does she? Because you’ve given her a hell of a lot of it and she’s still screaming alone.” He’d forgotten how pissed he was at Tristan. Tristan was the cause of all of this trouble. He and Carys had been fine on their own.
No, you weren’t. You need him. You and Carys will break because you’re not a couple. You’re a threesome. It would be different if he’d died, but he’s right here, and you have to find a way to make this work.
He hated being the reasonable one.
Tristan huffed. “I know you’re angry. I didn’t mean for her to find out we’ve been talking. You know I’ve been trying to talk to her, too. I’ve sent her flowers and cards and gifts. Anonymously, of course, but she’s not unaware. I simply haven’t made a bunch of loving social media posts lately. I kind of thought she would know.”
“Well, she got the real message when you wouldn’t get married the first time.” He needed a damn shirt. Naturally the big bad Dom had to show off how strong he was by ripping off their girlfriend’s clothes. Like she hadn’t been through enough today.
And yet she’d needed the intensity. She hadn’t had it for years.
“Hey, don’t walk away from me,” Tristan said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Aidan spun around, his heart thudding in his chest. His emotional state was far too ragged, and he knew he needed a time-out, but those warnings were a distant alarm bell he had zero intention of listening to. Tris was his best friend in the world, his other fucking half. It hadn’t been Aidan who’d broken them utterly. “I’m not the one who walked away.”
“Uh, guys, maybe we should think about doing this in like a therapeutic session,” a familiar voice said.
Suddenly he realized they weren’t alone. He looked over, and the gang was all here. Tris’s gang, naturally. They were all friends, but this was Tristan’s team. Lou had a can of soda in her hand, while TJ seemed to have raided the vending machines. Cooper stood with the twins, all of them watching carefully.