Chapter 17

 

Rufus tried to stop me from going after Mason. He gripped my arms tightly and chose that moment to tell me that he loved me. He tried to kiss me again. I pushed him away and ran from the apartment. I shouted Mason’s name, but he either didn’t hear or he just didn’t want to speak to me. I watched helplessly from the top of the staircase as he roared out of the driveway on his huge Valkyrie.

I dashed back inside and grabbed Alex’s car keys from the hook just inside the door. The garage was so close that he walked to work, and his car was just sitting there on the driveway. He would probably kill me for taking it without asking, but I’d deal with that later. Right at that moment, I just knew I couldn’t let Mason ride out of my life without a fight. I might have slept with him on our first date, but I wasn’t a man-whore like Rufus. Sex with Mason meant something to me. I liked him…a lot. I wanted a relationship with him, I was sure of that now. Funny how it took the prospect of losing him for me to make up my stupid mind.

Ignoring Rufus’ frantic protests, I raced down the stairs and jumped into Alex’s car. First of all, I had to adjust the seat. Alex was so much taller than me that I couldn’t reach the pedals as it was. Fortunately, the car was easy to drive and I soon had the hang of it by the end of the road.

I thought I could remember my way back to Mason’s hotel. Unlike Mason, who had taken off like a bat out of Hell, I kept to the speed limit. The last thing I needed was to get caught driving with no insurance in what was effectively a stolen car. Once out of the town, however, I put my foot down a little more, and before long I was pulling up outside the hotel. There was no sign of Mason’s bike, but I hadn’t seen it the night before either so maybe that didn’t mean anything.

I abandoned the car and ran up the steps into the grand foyer. There was a different receptionist on duty behind the desk. One who had seen neither my arrival with Mason nor my early morning walk of shame. What if she thought I was some crazed fan who had tracked down their idol and was chancing their luck trying to get to meet him? The way she regarded me with bland indifference said she already knew I wasn’t a guest.

“Is…um…Mason…I mean Mr White in his room?”

“I’m sorry, Sir. There’s nobody of that name staying here.”

“It’s okay,” I said, giving her my best I-am-not-a-lunatic smile. “I’m a…friend. I stayed here with him last night.”

“That maybe so,” she said sweetly, not in the least bit convinced. “However, as I believe I have already said, there is no guest of that name currently in residence.”

“He checked out?”

Damn, that was fast. Mason would have reached the hotel before me, without question, but he hadn’t been so far ahead he could have packed his stuff and checked out. Clearly, I was not going to get any information out of the snooty receptionist.

I went back to Alex’s car, trying to think of what my next move should be. Waiting for Mason to show up would probably not be the best option. The hotel would call the police and have me moved on before I got anywhere near him. So what, then? I couldn’t even call him, having stupidly left my phone on the arm of the sofa when I dashed out of the apartment in hot pursuit.

I looked up as two men came out of the hotel, one of them carrying an overnight bag. They looked familiar, although I didn’t remember where I had seen them before until they made their way over to a gleaming, black Jaguar. Mason’s goon squad from the night before. They had driven us back to the hotel after leaving the bar, which meant they should recognise me, at least.

“Hey, guys. Remember me?”

They lifted the bag into the car before turning to face me. Neither of them seemed particularly pleased to see me, but then it wasn’t like we were friends or anything. Mason was probably nothing more than a job to them. Why should they care who he shagged?

“Yeah, sure.” The one standing nearest to me looked me up and down and shrugged. “From last night, right?”

“Right. I was just wondering where Mason…er…Mr White had gone.”

“Sorry, kid. No idea. All we were told was to pick up Mr White’s belongings.”

I thanked the guy, although fuck knows what for. He hadn’t told me anything I wanted to hear. Mason had gone, most likely back to London. If I went back to Alex and Stefan’s, got my phone and called him, he would listen to me, wouldn’t he? Give me a chance to explain about Rufus the same way I had with him over the injunction.

I drove back into town, hoping Mason wasn’t the only one to have cut his losses and run back to London. The way I was feeling, I didn’t know how I would react when I came face to face with Rufus again. I was not a violent man – far from it – but I was so angry with him right at that moment. He’d gotten away with fucking with my life for too long, and I wasn’t putting up with it any longer. Rufus was going to see a side to me he hadn’t seen before and he wasn’t going to like it.

That was if I lived long enough. My heart sank as I turned into the driveway and saw Alex sat on the bottom step of the metal staircase, his expression thunderous. He was on his feet and hauling me bodily from the car before it had even rolled to a complete stop. Alex slammed me against the side of the car, dark eyes ablaze with fury.

“What the fuck are you playing at?” He grabbed the front of my shirt and shook me. “You steal my fucking car. You leave that creep Rufus in my fucking house!”

“You called him by his proper name ag…”

“You really think I care about that right now?”

“No, sorry.” I tipped my head back to look him in the face. Alex was still livid and I wished I knew how Stefan managed to calm him down. At least his hands were still fisted in the front of my shirt which meant he wasn’t using them to punch me. “And I’m sorry I took your car.” I took a deep breath, and kept talking, taking advantage of the fact my apology seemed to have thrown him a bit. “Rufus showed up and then he kissed me just as Mason walked in. Mason took off on his bike. I had to follow him, Alex.”

“You should have asked,” Alex grumbled. His grip on my shirt loosened, although he didn’t release me entirely.

“I know. I’m sorry,” I said again. I got the impression Alex wasn’t used to people apologising to him because he took a step back, frowning.

“Did you find him?”

“No. He’s gone. Back to London, I suppose.” I watched as he walked slowly around the car, dark eyes scanning every inch. He was still angry, I could tell, but it seemed the worst of his temper tantrum was over – so long as he didn’t find any scratches or dents on his car that hadn’t been there before. I’d driven carefully and without incident, but Alex was not likely to believe that if he found anything. “I really am sorry, Alex. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted to catch up to Mason and explain.”

Alex put his hands on his hips and shook his head in frustration. “I swear you fucking gay guys will be the death of me.”

He didn’t seem to require and answer, so I kept my mouth shut and refrained from pointing out – not for the first time – that he was most definitely one of those gays who seemed to be the bane of his life. For some reason, and despite being in a committed relationship with a guy, Alex still didn’t identify as being gay. Having narrowly escaped his wrath over taking his car, now didn’t seem like it was the best time to remind him of his sexuality.

“Did you try calling him?” Alex asked.

“No, I left my phone upstairs. Oh God!” I exclaimed, remembering what else…or rather who…I had left in the apartment when I blindly rushed off in pursuit of Mason. “Please don’t let Rufus have found it.”

I didn’t doubt for a second that if Rufus got his hands on my phone he would get a kick out of texting Mason all kinds of shit. I took the stairs two at a time, Alex lumbering after me. It took a few minutes of frantic searching, but eventually I found my phone tucked down the side of the sofa cushion. Was that where I had left it? I hoped so, because Rufus was unlikely to have seen it by chance, and would probably have assumed I had taken it with me. Quickly, I checked the phone records, and breathed a sigh of relief to see there were no recent logs.

“Pack your stuff,” Alex said gruffly. He didn’t sound as though he was still angry, but this was Alex – he never sounded as though he was particularly happy about anything.

“You’re throwing me out?” My mind raced as I tried to think where I would go? What would I do? I had no money for a hotel or a train ticket. “I said I was sorry for taking the car.”

“I’m not throwing you out,” Alex said. “I’m taking you back to London so you can tell Mason in person that you’re done with that prick, Rupert.”

“Rufus.”

“Whatever. Hurry up and pack. I’ll need to stop by the salon and tell Stef what’s going on.”

I threw my clothes into a backpack, not stopping to bother folding anything. I had no idea what would happen when I got back to London or even where I would stay. Right then, I didn’t care. I was going after Mason. That was all that mattered.