Viv

“How are you doing?” I ask Rhys, as I clean up his wounds in one of the bedrooms on the C&C jet we’re traveling on.

“We were almost attacked at your boyfriend’s house, rode under Las Vegas in a secret labyrinth of tunnels, and now we’re on a private jet to places unknown. I’m just peachy.”

I ignore the boyfriend remark, because it’s not relevant. “We’re going to Cardiff. Reina and Matt have a place there, and no one will expect us to be there.”

“I might’ve lead them right to you,” he says, swallowing hard.

“We don’t know who they were, or who they were after.”

“I’m sure your boyfriend doesn’t believe that.”

Now, I’m just getting mad because he didn’t care when I was married, so why is getting jealous now? “I love how you’re jealous of X, but you didn’t care about me being married to Christon.”

“I was jealous of that fucker every second of every day, but he wasn’t worthy of you.”

“You think X is?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Why?”

“He’s a genius, he’s good to his kid, he’s good-looking, and he knows how to fight.”

“Why is fighting so important to you?”

“Because I can’t. I couldn’t when I needed to, and instead of learning how after, I stayed away from anything that could hurt me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” he tells me, shaking his head. “Thanks for helping me, but I need to get in the shower.”

He pulls his shirt over his head as he backs away, and I barely stop myself from moaning as I take him in. He may not be a fighter, but he’s got sexy, lean muscles, and I want to touch them. I want to lick his abs, and take his thick cock inside of me. I haven’t felt this way toward a man in years, because it’s always been him I wanted—and could never have,

“You’ve seen it all before, Vivs,” he reminds me, dropping his jeans, as I shamelessly watch.

I’m still watching when he turns, and walks into the bathroom. I’ll admit to staring at his perfect ass, but I know he had a smirk on his face. Even the knowledge of him being a bit of an asshole doesn’t stop me from thinking about joining him in that shower. I’m gripping the bed tightly when the knock at the door comes.

I get up to open it, finding X on the other side. He’s got his shirt off too, but his broad shoulders, and muscles do nothing for me. I don’t mind looking at them, and I can appreciate how hot he is, but they’re not what me and my body want right now.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asks, looking over my shoulder.

I know he’s seeing Rhys’ clothes on the floor, but I’m not taking the bait. “He’s in the shower, trying to clean up after what you did.”

“And he chose to undress in front of you? Interesting.”

“None of your business.”

“No, it’s not. I’m going to apologize to him.”

“Okay.”

“Those alarms going off sobered me up, and I’m sorry I lost it. Both in the house, and when he came to find you.”

“I know Seri leaving hurt you, but breaking things and acting like an ass is kind of what made that happen.”

“I know, and it wasn’t her leaving that did me in. I hate that she left, but to have her think I’m lying about being in love with her—if I didn’t have Micah, I wouldn’t have survived that. I had to think about him to make myself stop.”

“I figured as much, and FYI, you didn’t tell her. You asked her a ‘what if’ question, but you never came out and told her.”

“Would it have made a difference?”

I shrug. “I’m not her, so I don’t know.”

“I’ve sent guards to watch her too, because the people who broke in got away.”

“I’m just glad we’re safe.”

“Rhieve and some of the others will be meeting us at the house in Cardiff.”

“Won’t that put them in danger?”

“Yeah, um, about that. I was coming to get you so you could call Reina. She needs to tell you some things.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“Just call her,” he says, handing me a phone. “This phone is untraceable, and only calls her.”

I take the phone, and call her like he asked me to. I’m not prepared for what she tells me. I knew she had a lot of connections, and was able to hide me, but I had no idea just how far it all went. A secret society of female spies? Who would ever think that was a thing? I’m questioning everything I’ve ever known when the call is over.

“Are you okay?” Rhys asks, a towel around his waist and water dripping down his chest as he steps back into the bedroom.

Too bad I’m too freaked out to appreciate how hot he looks. “Did you know?”

“Know what?”

“About the Society?”

His eyes widen, but he nods. “Yeah, I knew.”

“It doesn’t freak you out that your sister’s a spy?”

“At first, a little. But it’s cool as fuck.”

“I guess it is. I’m still trying to process it all.”

“Understood. Do you want to cuddle?”

Is he serious right now? “Cuddle?”

“Yeah.” I guess he is.

“No. I’m just going to sleep on one of the couches.”

“Not a chance. I’ll sleep on one of them while you take the bed.”

I see the bruises forming on his ribs and chest, and it makes me want to punch X. I know he’s sorry, but I’m still pissed off.

“Let’s eat, and then we can figure out the sleeping arrangements.”

Rhys

I know I’m on borrowed time as I throw my jeans and shirt back on, and follow Vivienne out of the bedroom. She knows about Rhieve and it’s only a matter of time before she finds out about the rest of it. All of my dirty laundry, from when I wasn’t wearing any clothes, is going to be revealed to her. And then she’ll never look at me with that hunger in her eyes again.

“I wanted to apologize,” X says, standing up as soon as he sees me. “For what I did, and for what I said. It was fucked up and completely out of line.”

“I get it. I don’t love what you did or said, but we’re good.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know what you wanted to eat, so I just got you a burger. There’s pasta for you, Viv.”

It irks me that he knows what she likes now, and I’d have no clue, but I try not to let it show. I eat my burger, helping the flight attendant clear our plates.

“Goodnight everyone,” I say, taking the pillow and blanket I asked for, and heading for a couch up front.

“Wait, I thought we decided this already. I’ll take the couch,” Vivienne tells me.

“I told you I wasn’t letting you sleep on the couch.”

“I’m going to take this as my cue to leave,” X says, picking Micah up into his arms. I see a smile on his face for the first time today, as he walks toward the other bedroom.

Vivienne waits until he leaves before pulling the pillow and blanket from my arms. She sets them on the seat next to her, and takes my hand. “Let’s go to sleep. Just sleep tonight.”

“Okay.” I’ll take what I can get, although I know it will never be enough with her.

I walk back into the bedroom behind her, and pull back the comforter. “What are you doing?” she asks.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be okay with me taking some of my clothes off.”

“As you so eloquently stated earlier, I’ve seen it all before.”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”

“We were each other’s firsts. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You were so sweet to me,” she reminds me, coming over to take my face in her hands. “Taking care of me after, and just making me feel cared about.”

“Loved. You should’ve felt loved.”

She closes her eyes. “I did. And then, later, I didn’t.”

There’s so much she doesn’t know, but it won’t change anything. I did what I had to do, and in truth I’d probably do it again, even knowing she’d be mistreated. She survived whatever happened to her, and she’s alive. That’s everything to me.

“You were always loved.”

“Then why?”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

She pulls away from me. “Maybe not to you, but never mind. Let’s go to bed.”

There I go, pissing her off again. It’s probably for the best. Cut the ties again, and move on, just like I planned when I went to that compound earlier today. Nothing’s worked out the way I planned it so far, but then again, it never really has for me. It’s why I’ve stopped hoping for everything, including the woman I’m going to sleep in the same bed with tonight. Especially her.