Her suitcase half-empty, clothes spilling out of drawers, Addison sat on her bedroom floor, conflicted. It was time to go home, as Reid had said. But what did home mean to her now?

It was totally insane to think she could just pick up and restart her life alongside a man she hadn’t even known existed a week ago. Just the thought terrified her, but it also excited her like little else had lately.

There was one problem, though – Gage hadn’t asked her to stay.

She had wanted to be the one to tell Gage that Reid thought things had calmed down enough for them to return to Chicago, but Reid insisted he should be the one to talk to his brother about it, and really, who was she to argue? They were family, estranged or not, and she didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

But she couldn’t help but wonder – what was she to Gage?

Girlfriend? Fling? Neither of them had made any attempt to define their relationship, choosing to just enjoy their time together. Now their hand had been forced, and Addison wasn’t sure she had what it took to make the first move.

What if she started talking about a possible future together when to him, this whole thing boiled down to making the best of an unexpected situation? She didn’t think she could survive the embarrassment, or the heartache. Yet it couldn’t be better to say nothing at all, could it?

Gage had certainly acted like she was important to him, but then again, her staying under his roof made things complicated. Perhaps he was just being nice, not wanting to rock the boat while he quietly waited for her to eventually leave?

No, Addison shook her head, brow furrowing. I know there’s more to it than that. I can feel it.

What she really needed was more time to figure this all out. She had plenty of vacation days stacked up, and she and Reid had no cases pending, for obvious reasons. If she could just spend some more time with Gage, without Reid around, things would become clearer, right?

As if on cue, a knock on the door jerked her out of her frantic thoughts. She leapt to her feet, unsure of which brother she would find at the door. When she opened it, it was Reid who was staring back at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Hey,” he said. “Just wanted to let you know I just got off the phone with the office and we’re on the first flight out tomorrow. I’ve arranged for a car to come pick us up at half past six.”

Anxiety and indecision bloomed in her gut, but Addison knew she couldn’t just leave things as they were. In that moment, she made up her mind – she wanted to stay, if just for a while. Of course she’d talk to Gage, make sure he even wanted her to, but either way, she would have to clear things with Reid first.

“About that…” she started, not really sure how to continue.

Reid had already picked up on her unease, his jaw tight as he studied her.

“Do you mind if I come in?” he asked.

“Sure…” Addison trailed off, glancing back at the mess of garments on the floor.

“There’s something I feel I should tell you, before you say whatever it is you were going to say,” Reid announced as he brushed past her.

Closing the door behind him, Addison watched him pace around his room, looking like he was about to deliver one of his closing speeches. An uneasiness swirled in her chest when he turned to her, something akin to pity in his eyes.

“What is it?” she asked, folding her arms in front of her.

“I know you’ve formed a… close, personal relationship with my brother while we’ve been here,” he started.

Addison stilled, remaining silent.

That’s one way to put it, I suppose.

She fought the blush rising up her cheeks as she thought of the all too easily forgotten fact that no matter how quiet or sneaky she had thought she was being sneaking into Gage’s bedroom, Reid was still a shifter, with sharper senses than a mere human like her could possibly fathom.

“I don’t know what he’s been telling you, but I thought you should have all the facts,” Reid continued. “The truth of the matter is, there has always been a power struggle between me and Gage. Sibling rivalry I guess you would call it, intensified by the fact we’re shifters. And I’m afraid this time you’re caught in the middle.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Addison said.

In truth, she had a good feeling as to where Reid was headed, but she wanted him to spit it out, in his own words. He took a breath, meeting her gaze head on.

“He caught on to the fact that you’re important to me, and so he decided to show me up. I didn’t think he would take it past flirting, but clearly he feels like he has something to prove. The animosity you’ve seen between us runs deep, and I don’t blame Gage for his anger, but using you to get at me… That’s low,” Reid replied.

Addison froze, every muscle in her body tensing as Reid’s words slowly sunk in.

“Wait, what?” she blurted out.

It wasn’t one of her more eloquent or thought-out responses, but it was a genuine reaction. Was Reid really telling her what she thought he was telling her? That her entire relationship with Gage was just a ploy on Gage’s part, some sort of attempt at revenge?

“Don’t let him play you, Addison,” was all that Reid said.

Reeling, Addison sank down onto her bed, a million thoughts rushing through her head. Was Reid lying? Why would he? What had he and Gage discussed earlier? Had Reid confronted him about their relationship? What had Gage said?

She didn’t have any of the answers.

Reid just stood there, silent for a few moments before speaking again, his tone sympathetic.

“Don’t worry, by this time tomorrow we’ll be back in Chicago, and Black Oak will be little more than a distant memory. And then we can start talking about you taking on your own cases. It’s been long overdue.”

Addison’s gaze snapped up at that. This was it. Reid was giving her the shot she had been itching to get, her chance to prove herself, to make her name known. Yet it didn’t seem to hold the same appeal it used to.

She didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded, and he seemed to be pleased with that. Without saying another word, he left the room, leaving her sitting there, not knowing what to do or how to feel.

She didn’t want to go downstairs anymore, didn’t want to run into Gage. It didn’t feel like she could even put her thoughts into words. Hours passed, and as she sat there alone, she started to feel more and more stupid.

Was Gage even planning on saying goodbye? It didn’t look like it. So if he wasn’t even going to come to speak to her knowing she was leaving at dawn, chances were he wasn’t exactly broken up about her returning to Chicago.

Suddenly, everything Reid had said started to make sense. Reid at least had shown more interest in her the past week than he had the past year, and Gage had already admitted she was the reason he had let his brother stay at the ranch in the first place.

At the time, she had taken it as a compliment, but what if it had actually meant Gage had seen her as an opportunity to get back at Reid? And if that wasn’t the case, why wasn’t Gage in her room right now, saying he was sad to see her go, or better yet – asking her to stay?

The more she thought about it all though, the angrier Addison got. But most of that anger was directed at herself. She was a reasonable person, wasn’t she? Then how had she gotten herself entangled in this fantasy she had created?

Now that she had a promotion to look forward to back in Chicago, the thought of leaving her stable, hard-earned career and life behind suddenly seemed ridiculous. All those late nights, early mornings and weekends she had spent working her ass off were to make sure her future would be secure. And now she had been willing to throw all that away?

And for what? A man who couldn’t even be bothered to come upstairs to speak to her after claiming to care about her? If he was going to let her go so easily, then what they shared must have not meant that much to him.

The thought sent a deep ache vibrating through her chest, a sensation she did her best to ignore but couldn’t. The truth was, she had been falling for him, hard, and more deeply than she could have ever imagined.

Yet reason and pride kept her from leaving her room and confronting Gage. She stayed there, packing, scrolling through her e-mail, flipping through some magazines and books she had brought along, trying to distract herself from the tears that kept trying to spill from her eyes.

Finally, as the sun was about to come up, she let them fall, quickly splashing cold water on her face to keep her eyes from getting puffy. After that, she pulled her hair into a tight bun, got dressed, slipped on some heels and carried her suitcase downstairs.

She could hear the car arriving as she did, and not long after, Reid joined her, his own suitcase in tow. A foolish, desperate part of her hesitated at the front door for a moment, waiting for Gage to appear.

But he didn’t, and so she stepped outside, making a beeline for the idling SUV.

Goodbye, Black Oak.