It all began when Jasper was late to pick me up one morning.

 

“He’s never been late before,” I muttered to my father, whose office I was waiting in. He’d called me in to discuss how things were going with Jasper, and if I didn’t know better, I’d have said that he had something to do with Jasper’s lateness.

 

“Well, maybe this is him showing his true colors.” Dad shrugged, looking absently at some papers on his desk. It wasn’t until recently that I had started finding the constant scattering of official paperwork in Dad’s office strange—after all, what on Earth would he need anything official for? He was underhand, under the table, underground. I had never thought much of it before, but the more time I spent away from the house, the odder it became to me. I think he was starting to realize that, hence this little meeting that he’d demanded the night before.

 

“Did you have something to do with this?” I snapped, not realizing how hard the words sounded till I turned around and saw his face, darkening quickly.

 

“No, I don’t,” he replied firmly, his voice cool and soft—a warning sign if ever I’d come to know one. It was the same voice he had used when I was a kid and he wanted me to hold back on the tantrum I was considering. I was a little insulted that he was still using it to deal with me as a grown adult, but then, it worked. I was way too scared to question anything he had to say after he cracked out that tone of voice. When I was a kid, ignoring it might end up with his fingers tight around my wrist as he dragged me out of wherever we were; nowadays, I didn’t want to think what the adult equivalent of that would be.

 

Our conversation had been brief—just Dad interrogating me on what Jasper and I got up to on a day-to-day basis. I had fobbed him off with some stories about what we had done before I discovered the other talents Jasper had on offer, and he seemed to buy it—but I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps this was some kind of test, if he was having me followed and knew well that I spent all of my days and a good part of my nights in Jasper’s apartment. It wouldn’t have surprised me, but then, I would have expected to wake up to Jasper’s head on a platter if that were the case. If he knew a man he was paying to look after me was doing so in a far more carnal sense than he had expected, there would be hell to pay.

 

It was ten past nine, and Jasper still hadn’t arrived—I glanced at my phone, wondering if he had ended up stuck in traffic or something equally explicable. But there wasn’t a phone call from him, wasn’t so much as a message. I pouted without thinking, and immediately scolded myself for reacting in such a childish fashion. I needed to keep my head together, needed to keep reminding myself that for Jasper, this was still a job, and everyone was late to their job once in a while. It was no big deal, and I shouldn’t put so much stock in it.

 

“Is it okay if I go now?” I asked, keeping my tone in careful check so that I didn’t accidentally piss Dad off any further than I already had. He nodded, not looking up from his papers, and waved his hand in the direction of the door.

 

“Have a good day, sweetheart,” he called after me as I shut the door, and I rolled my eyes. I wondered if he meant it, or if he just wanted me out of the house so he could return to whatever shit he had going on round here recently. There must have been a reason that he had finally cracked and allowed me out of the house after all that time. I didn’t want to know—I just wanted out. I paced back and forth along the entrance hall, stopping periodically to get up on my tiptoes and peer through the high window in the door to see if his car had arrived.

 

Five minutes passed, ten, and then fifteen, and still no sign of him. Okay, I was starting to worry now—maybe my father really had found out what was going on between us and served him up on a platter? My mind flicked to the image of it, Jasper’s head severed and served, and I shivered to myself. It wouldn’t surprise me to know my father had done worse over the years.

 

Finally, my cell buzzed in my pocket, and I grabbed it out. Jasper was calling. I pressed “accept” and held the phone to my ear.

 

“Where are you?” I demanded.

 

“I’m outside,” he replied, his voice calm. “Sorry I’m late, I got caught up with—”

 

“You can tell me when I get out there,” I replied firmly. “I don’t want to be in this place a moment longer.”

 

“Whatever you say.”

 

I hung up, annoyance flashing through my brain and making my fingers tingle. I clenched my fists as I made my way outside, and not just because it was unseasonably cold.

 

“Is everything alright?” Jasper asked, his brow furrowed, when I finally reached the car.

 

“Of course it isn’t,” I snapped, sliding into the back seat so I could put a little space between us. “You’re half an hour late! I thought something had happened to you, I thought my father had found out—”

 

I stopped myself mid-rant, and ran my fingers through my hair, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I hadn’t realized just how much the thought of being trapped in that place again had bothered me. I blew the air out between my lips, taking my time, trying to calm myself as best I could. He looked at me in the rear view mirror, and it seemed to finally sink in just how pissed off and upset I was.

 

“I’m sorry,” he replied, but his voice sounded more defensive than it did apologetic. “I was busy this morning.”

 

“What with?” I demanded, leaning my head against the window. “You’re meant to be my bodyguard, remember?”

 

“Yeah, and bodyguards don’t tend to just take their charges to bed every day,” he pointed out. I widened my eyes—was he really pulling this shit with me?

 

“So what exactly were you busy with?” I decided to give him a chance to explain what the hell was going on—maybe his apartment caught fire or he lost his credit card or he got pissed on by a dog or something. I was sure there’d be a legitimate reason for him being like this. There better fucking well be, a voice in my head sneered.

 

“It’s nothing that should concern you,” he replied coolly, and that’s when I got really pissed off.

 

“Seriously?” I rolled my eyes as hard as I could, making sure he could sense my exasperation even as he kept his eyes firmly placed on the road. “Don’t pull that paternalistic bullshit with me, Jasper. Just tell me what you were doing.”

 

“It’s really not important,” he shot back, trying to shut me down, but I would get an answer whether he liked it or not. We had shared enough in the past few weeks—I knew him well enough to get what I wanted from him.

 

“Tell me, or take me home right now,” I replied. “And I’ll tell my father what we’ve really been doing.”

 

He finally made eye contact with me in the rear view mirror, obviously trying to figure out from my expression whether I was being serious or not. I raised my eyebrows at him, daring him to test me, and he sighed.

 

“I was down at the Stiches club meeting,” he replied, his voice stilted. “I have to go there every week, and I’ve missed a…well, a whole lot of meetings, actually.”

 

“Yeah, because you’re working for me,” I reminded him. “Surely they get that?”

 

“They get it, but they can’t see why I don’t just brush you off to come see them,” he continued. “They…think I’m kind of whipped.”

 

“Do they not understand how employment works?” I wondered aloud. “Aren’t they supposed to be there so you can get work?”

 

“Yeah, but it’s more than that,” he sighed.

 

“In what way?”

 

“It’s not important,” he evaded my question once again, and I fought the urge to punch the ceiling of the car in frustration. I had spent my entire life being out of the loop, and it was a feeling that was prone to set me off quicker than any other. I flopped back in my seat and crossed my arms—he was meant to be working for me—well, at least, working for my father. Why was he so intent on messing me around like this?

 

He was silent, pointedly ignoring the fury in my expression, and continued driving up to the city. When we got to the point where we would normally turn off and head down to his apartment, I leaned forward and murmured near his ear.

 

“I’d rather just stay in town today.”

 

He let out a long sigh. He knew he’d pissed me off, but it was clear that his whole brotherhood bullshit was more important to him than making me happy. Well, that was fine—he had obviously made his decision, and I could make mine now that I had all the details. Besides, I was hungry, and I wanted to get something to eat—something besides the greasy fried food we’d existed on in the past month or so.

 

“Whatever you want,” he replied through gritted teeth, and we turned down the street and towards the coffee shop where we’d spent our mornings before we’d passed them in bed. I stared out the window, and, for the first time, started to wonder if Jasper had been the right choice for all of this—and whether his loyalties truly lay with me.