For the next few hours while I’m home, I hit the little gym and work out some of my frustration. Julia goes to work and I send our two guys with her, just to be sure. I’ll call and hire some more in a few hours.

But first, I have to work out my aggression. I hate that those mafia fucks ambushed us like that and I had no other choice but to back off. I nearly killed that one asshole, but I wanted to do more.

Who does shit like this? It’s totally fucking insane. And I know we can’t go to the cops, because I’m sure Evan is using every single dime he has to pay them off. Besides, if we do, it’ll just look bad for Julia in front of her father.

No, we’re stuck in this fucking chess match with her psycho brother, and I’m even more fucked.

Because that whole time that I should have been worrying about Julia’s safety, or even my own, I wasn’t. I just kept thinking about Sydney back home, if she was okay.

It was strange. There was a violent and potentially deadly scene right in front of me. Multiple guns were drawn by some bad fucking guys, and they meant business, and yet I just kept seeing Sydney in my mind.

It wasn’t even conscious, not exactly. I just kept seeing her face, how afraid she was the night before, and felt deep down how horrible it would be if I potentially lost her.

I finish my set of bench presses and lean back against the wall, sweating and drinking some water. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about any of this. All I want is to find Sydney and tell her everything that I’m thinking, but I know it’s insane.

I can’t help it. When she’s around, I feel better. This past week has been pale and boring and terrible because I’ve avoided being around her.

Maybe that’s a mistake. I had some fucking guns pointed in my face earlier today, and all I was thinking about was her. Before this is all over, I can’t imagine I won’t have more guns in my face, and those next ones might actually kill me.

I smile ruefully to myself. Is that how I’m going to justify it? I have to seize the day? I sigh, shaking my head, when I hear footsteps in the hall. I look up and Sydney herself steps into the doorway, frowning in at me.

She looks gorgeous, of course. She’s in some band t-shirt that I don’t recognize. Someone called Brand New or something like that, and a pair of jean shorts. She’s holding her laptop in one hand, which is pretty curious.

“Connor,” she says. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure,” I grunt.

She steps into the room and sits down on the weight bench. I sit down on the floor, my back against the wall, and I look up at her.

“What’s up, Syd?” I ask.

“It’s about the other night.” She frowns.

“Your Mom isn’t mad.”

“I know that.” She looks down at the ground and I can tell there’s something wrong.

“What’s up?” I ask her softly.

“Does my mom know? You know, about us.”

I pause for a second then shake my head. “No. She suspects, though.”

“Okay,” she says. “That’s what I thought.” Her face is still tense, though.

“Sydney...”

She interrupts me quickly. “I got an email you should see.”

I cock my head and watch as she opens her laptop and logs into her email. She pulls it up and turns the screen to face me.

My heart sinks in my fucking chest as I look over the email.

He has us dead to fucking rights. The first image clearly shows Sydney, and the second clearly shows me. I’m guessing there are more, a lot more, and probably video. It looks like it was shot from a drone, something high up in the sky, which is exactly what I was afraid of. I thought being behind that little house would help, but clearly it wasn’t good enough.

Sydney bites her lip and looks at me. “I don’t know what to do.”

“You did the right thing coming to me.”

“Why is he blackmailing me?” she asks.

I shake my head, genuinely not sure. “Are you and your uncle close?”

“Not really,” she admits.

“Maybe he still has a conscience. Maybe he wants this to go away without having to ruin his family over it.”

“Maybe,” she agrees. “That’s what I was thinking too.”

“Fuck, Syd,” I say, sighing.

“Can you do anything with this?”

“Maybe,” I say, “but I doubt it. What can we do? We can’t show it to your mother or to her father even if we did prove that your uncle sent it.”

“Yeah,” she says, sighing. She closes her laptop lid and gets down onto the floor next to me. She sits with her knees up against her chest. “We fucked up.”

“Seems that way.” I watch her for a second, not sure what to do.

She looks up at me after a second with a little smile on her face. “I don’t regret it.”

I look at her for a beat then burst out laughing. She smiles along with me and I shake my head at her. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“Why?” She laughs a little bit.

“We’re getting blackmailed by your uncle. There are pictures of your stepfather going down on you. And you don’t regret it?”

She shrugs a little bit. “What can I say? I guess I don’t.”

I grin at her. “I guess I don’t, either. But we’re still in a shit spot.”

“How can we get out of this?” she asks.

“Two ways. I can leave. Or your grandfather can die.” I sigh, shaking my head. “I know it’s awful to say.”

“He’s pretty sick,” she says. “I don’t know. He’s suffering. Is it a mercy for him to pass?”

“I don’t know,” I say. “It’s impossible to say.”

“Well, I don’t want you to go.” She stretches her legs out and leans back. “Is that stupid?”

“Probably,” I say. “But I’m not going anywhere.”

“Good.” She leans up against my arm. “You’re sweaty.”

“Yeah. You don’t seem to mind.”

She smiles at me. “I don’t.”

I look down at her, and in that moment I know I’m totally lost.

I take her by the chin, tipping her head up at me. I lean down and kiss her full lips softly. I lose myself in that kiss as she returns it, opening her mouth to let her tongue touch mine. I can feel my pulse pounding in my ears but I know we can’t do this, not right now, not right here.

Slowly, I break the kiss off. “What are we doing?” she asks me.

“You know what we’re doing.”

“It’s stupid.”

“I know.”

“It’s reckless. Dangerous.”

I smirk at her. “You like that, don’t you?”

“No.” She pauses. “Maybe yes. But that’s not why I’m doing this.”

“Why are you doing this?” I ask her softly.

“Because of the way you make me feel.” She blushes deeply, looking away.

I pull her chin back toward me. “I can make you feel more,” I say softly, my cock rock hard. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” she whispers.

“Say it,” I order, eyes locked on hers.

“Yes, Daddy,” she responds, blushing deeply.

I kiss her again, crushing her mouth with mine, kissing her deeply. I can’t get enough of her taste, her soft lips, her perfect tongue, and everything about her.

I know this is the opposite of what I should do, but I tried being good. Fuck, I was damn good. I kept away from her for a whole fucking week.

But I’m tired of being good. I want to have what I want and that’s going to have to be good. I’m tired of putting my desires on the backburner just because it’s a bad idea.

Fuck good and bad and everything in between. I just want this woman and that’s all I care about. She’s going to beg for more, call me Daddy, sweat and moan. I’m going to make her mine, completely and fully.

We break the kiss off slowly. “I’ll come to you tonight,” I say.

She nods. “Okay.”

I get to my feet then help her up. I grab her ass and pull her against me.

“Oh, gross,” she says, smiling. “You’re so sweaty.”

“Goddamn right.” I kiss her again. “I should go shower.”

“See you tonight.”

I kiss her one last time then quickly leave the room, my pulse pounding in my ears.