“You girls go and make the popcorn and we’ll get the movie ready,” Brandon called after Meg and Katie and then turned to me with a frown. “Did you give the note and bullet to the private detective you hired?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and spoke softly. “I hired him yesterday as soon as I got off the phone with you.”

Brandon looked angry. “Do you think she plans to hurt us?”

“I don’t know. We don’t really know who’s behind all of this.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious.” He paced back and forth. “I’m sure David is the one dictating everything.”

“He hates us.” I nodded and sighed. “I never knew if it was a good idea to keep him at the club.”

“Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” Brandon’s eyes pierced into mine. “At least you were able to track him.”

“I just wasn’t counting on her.” I bit my lip and looked towards the door to make sure Meg and Katie weren’t on the way back in. “She’s made everything so much more complicated.”

“You had to know David would see how you reacted,” Brandon sighed.

“I tried to be neutral.” I closed my eyes. “I only went to the room once, I think.”

“One time too many.”

“I know.” I wanted to bang my fist into the wall. “Now we’re all targets.”

“I wish I’d been there.” Brandon sounded wistful.

“I know.” We stared at each other for a few seconds, and I knew that both of us were thinking about how far we’d come since those days in high school.

“What movie did you boys choose then?” Katie raised an eyebrow at Brandon as she walked into the room. “And don’t tell me cartoons. Harry’s gone to my parents for two weeks and I’m taking the opportunity to ban all talking animals from the TV.”

“C’mon, Katie. Don’t you want to watch Frozen?” Brandon grabbed her by the waist and pulled her towards him. “It just won an Oscar.”

“I don’t care what it won. No animated movies.”

“I’m voting against romance as well,” I said, and Katie and Meg glared at me. “I mean, I have enough romance in my life. I don’t need it in a movie.” I gave Meg a huge grin and she rolled her eyes.

“Whatever, Greyson.” She shook her head. “You’re lucky we’re staying with friends or I would—”

“What?” I whispered against her lips. “What would you do?”

“You wish.” She tried to pull back from me, but I held her close to me.

“Oh, I more than wish.” My hands found her ass and squeezed. “I want.”

“Greyson.” She slapped my hand away and pulled back. “What are you doing?” she hissed and looked at Brandon and Katie, who were laughing at us.

“Nothing.”

“You better keep it that way.” She blushed, but I could see a hint of a smile on her face.

Brandon listed off the names of some movies. “Okay, we have three movie choices: The Illusionist with Edward Norton, Identity Thief with that girl from Bridesmaids—don’t ask me how I know she was in Bridesmaids—and The Expendables.”

“I told you, no cartoons,” Katie groaned.

“The Expendables is not a cartoon. It stars Sylvester Stallone,” Brandon corrected her and she laughed.

“Do you think that’s any better?” Katie grinned at Meg. “Meg, please tell my fiancé that there is no way in hell we are watching a Rocky movie.”

“The Expendables isn’t…” Brandon started and then shook his head and smiled at me. “I think we should let the lovely ladies decide, don’t you?”

“Sounds good to me.” I grinned.

“Should we go and get ourselves a nightcap?”

“You got whiskey?”

“I’ve only got a bottle of Chivas Regal, twenty-five years old.”

“Why didn’t you say?” I followed him to the corner of the room, where his bar was. “I’ll have a double, neat.”

“You girls want anything?” Brandon called over and Katie made a face.

“To be called women.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Give us two rum and Cokes.”

“Someone’s looking to get tipsy.” He grinned and she laughed.

“It’s a good thing I don’t need a ride home.”

“I know someone who’d be willing to make sure you get home safely.”

“Sure you do.” They laughed and stared at each other for a few seconds, and I could see the love in both of their eyes.

This was what love was. I couldn’t take this away from Brandon. He had a family now and I couldn’t break that up because I wanted to come clean. I had to wait until he was ready.

“I’m not drinking.” Meg shook her head and yawned. “I have an early day tomorrow. I’m going to go and see if I can find any leads on Nancy. I don’t want a hangover to delay me in the morning.”

“That’s smart.” Katie nodded. “No drink for me either. I’ve a feeling I shouldn’t be drinking right now anyways. Do you want me to help you tomorrow, Meg?”

“No, I’m just going to go to the library. Do some research. See what I can find out about David and Maria.” She bit her lower lip and the room went quiet.

“Meg, I told you I have a private detective on the case. He’s been searching for the last two weeks. Let’s see what he can find.” The words came out of my mouth smoothly, and I watched as Brandon filled the crystal tumblers with the silky brown liquid.

“I know, but after everything…” She gave me a look. “I want to know more about David.”

“I see,” I sighed and cringed as I felt Brandon giving me a murderous look.

I hadn’t told him that I’d told Meg about the letter. I knew he wasn’t telling Katie anything. He didn’t want her to panic. I thought he’d been more hopeful than I had these last two weeks. We’d heard nothing from anyone, and it was easy to just exist in our own microcosm of the world. It was easy to pretend that the end of the world wasn’t looming. However, the letter and the bullet had changed all that. Now things were suddenly a lot darker and much more sinister. We were more than just targets to bring down. We were targets to kill.

Katie spoke up and turned on the TV. “Let’s watch Identity Thief.” She was the only one in the room who had absolutely no clue that everything was completely off. “Let’s not discuss Maria tonight.” She rubbed her eyes and stretched. “Forgive me, but I’ve had more than enough of both Marias. I just don’t know if I can deal with any more.”

“I agree. Let’s just relax tonight.” Meg gave me a naughty smile. “I think we all need to just relax tonight. We’re all safe. Let’s just enjoy the evening. We can worry about everything else in the morning.”

“Yes.” Brandon handed me my drink. “We’ll discuss everything in the morning.”

***

“You guys can lie down if you want.” Katie smiled at Meg and me on the couch. She was snuggled on Brandon’s lap, and he was stroking her hair.

“That’s okay.” Meg shook her head and adjusted her legs for about the tenth time.

“Seriously, Meg. You guys can spoon. It’ll be more comfortable.” Katie paused to laugh as Jason Bateman chased Melissa McCarthy on the screen. “You might enjoy the movie more.”

“We’re enjoying the movie,” Meg protested.

“I haven’t heard a laugh from either of you.”

“That’s because the movie’s not that funny.” Meg laughed then and I squeezed her hand tight. I loved hearing the sound of her laugh. It was throaty and bubbly and it stirred my emotions every single time.

“Whatever.” Katie rolled her eyes. “I’m choosing the next movie.”

“What did you decide on?” I said, worried she’d say something like The Notebook or something equally heart-wrenching.

“I thought we could watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” She laughed as Brandon groaned and then continued. “Joke. I want to watch a movie called Damage. It stars Jeremy Irons, and it’s super hot. It’s about this man who has an affair with his son’s fiancée.”

“Way to spoil the movie.” Brandon tickled her.

“No, no, that’s not a spoiler. Trust me. You find that out at the beginning. It’s a good movie. Very exciting and shocking. Brandon, stop.” She giggled. “Trust me. It’s good. The ending is jaw-dropping.”

“Oh God.” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t tell me. All three of them end up in a relationship together?”

“No.” She shook her head. “It’s even juicier than that.”

“What happens?” Meg asked, sounding intrigued.

“Let’s just say, the ending is unexpected. That’s all I’m saying. We have to watch it first.”

“Fine.” Meg jumped up. “Where are your blankets? If I’m going to make myself comfy, I’m going to need to be warm as well.”

“Let me show you.” Katie got up and walked towards the door.

“I’ll keep you warm.” I grabbed ahold of Meg’s hand and pulled her back to me. “I know plenty of ways.”

“I’m sure you do.” She kissed my cheek. “But I don’t need that kind of warmth now.” She walked back out of the room and I stared at her long legs as she swayed.

Damn, she was sexy. I sat back and tried to ignore my growing cock. Shit, I was hard. I couldn’t even concentrate on the movie. All I could think about was making love to her. I just wanted to go to bed. To be fair, I didn’t even need for us to do it on a bed. A thought crossed my mind and I paused, grinning to myself.

“Don’t be stupid, Greyson.” I muttered to myself. “You can’t do that.”

“What?” Brandon mumbled up at me.

“Nothing.”

“We need to talk tomorrow,” he hissed at me. “I don’t know what you told Meg.”

“I just told her about the letter. Nothing else.”

“What if she tells Katie?”

“She won’t.”

“Greyson, I swear I’m going to tell her. I just need to figure out how.”

“Well, we need to make sure that she knows soon or someone else is going to do it!”

“Do what?” Katie threw a blanket at his lap and looked at me curiously.

“Oh nothing. Just talking about the club.”

“You guys are always talking about work, I swear. Give it a break.” She rolled her eyes and sat back down with Brandon.

I watched as Meg approached me with a worried look on her face.

“You okay?” I studied her face carefully to ensure that she wasn’t about to crack.

“I’m fine.” She nodded. “This is hard. I really want to tell Katie about the note.”

“But you didn’t?” I hissed into her ear.

“I didn’t.” She sighed. “I don’t want to keep it a secret, but I have to.”

“Thank you.” I kissed her lips and held her to me.

I hated having to ask her to keep this to herself. I hated it because I knew personally what a burden it was to have to keep secrets.

“You two done?” Brandon looked at us pointedly and I nodded. “Do you mind if we just put on Damage right now?”

“What about Identity Thief?” Meg looked at the TV.

“I think we can all agree that Identity Thief is done for the night.” Brandon laughed, and Katie pretended to punch him.

I turned to Meg as Katie got the new movie ready in the DVD player.

“So you want to be big spoon or little spoon?” I leaned in towards Meg and whispered against her lips.

“Hmm, I think I should be big spoon.” Her tongue tickled my lips and I swallowed hard.

“Don’t tease me like that,” I growled softly.

“Or what?” Her eyes twinkled at me.

“I’ll make you pay.”

“Promise.”

“You”—I bit down on her lip and sucked on it gently—“are going to wish you never said that.” I pushed her down onto the couch and positioned myself behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her back towards me. “Pass the blanket.” I grabbed it from her hands before she could react and covered our bodies. “This is soft,” I commented out loud, and Brandon grinned.

“I got it when I was in Peru doing a business deal. It’s made from llamas.”

“Llamas?” I made a face and he laughed.

“I’m turning off the light now. Snuggle into your llama fur.”

“Sshh, you two.” Katie put her fingers to her lips. “You have to pay attention to the movie.”

“Yes, Mom.” Meg giggled, and I casually moved my hands to her breasts. “Greyson.”

“Sshh. I’m trying to watch the movie,” I whispered into her ear as my fingers pinched her nipples.

I laughed softly as she moved her ass back against me hard, and I moved my hands to her h*ps so I could position her ass in front of my cock. She gasped and we both lay there without moving as the movie started on the TV. Brandon turned the lights off and we all gazed at the TV in eager anticipation.

I realized that the movie was starting to bore me when I found my eyes drooping as the couple on the screen started to make love. I moved my hand to Meg’s stomach and started rubbing it gently before moving my hands up under her top. I pushed my fingers up under her bra and played with her ni**les again. She stilled as I touched her, and I grinned to myself as I bit down on her shoulder.