I twisted on my heel and walked toward the door.

“And don’t give my clothes to the dogs,” she called out.

I wouldn’t dream of it.

I pulled the door closed behind me and headed upstairs to one of the guest rooms. I honestly didn’t mind the task if it got me out of that room.

I found her Louis Vuitton luggage next to the bed in a room around the corner from my father’s and went through her things as slowly as I could, hoping Kai, Rika, and Will would be gone by the time I was done. Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought as much as I thought she would.

Of course, she’d be going into the city to shop, so she only packed a few bags. I hung up most of her clothes, placing sweaters, workout gear, and underthings in the drawers and arranging all of her products—moisturizers, cleansers, make-up—neatly on the en suite counter out of consideration for the staff who’d have to tidy the room, instead of for Vanessa.

I tucked the bags under the bed, straightened the comforter, and gave the room a once-over, making sure drawers and closets were closed before heading back into the hall.

It had been more than an hour. Maybe they’d left by now.

But when I headed for the window on the upstairs landing, I noticed the door to the third floor was cracked.

I’d closed that.

Opening it up, I looked up to the top of the stairs, seeing light coming through the open door at the top.

I climbed the stairs softly, on guard. No one went up there except Damon and me.

“Of course, he would have snakes,” I heard Rika say and heard her footsteps across my brother’s floor.

What the hell was she doing in his room?

“What’s the matter with you?” Kai asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She sounded worried. “Have you completely lost your mind?”

I tensed on instinct. Why had they snuck off together? Was Will in there with them? I stopped at the top and hung back, listening through the cracked door.

“This is stupid,” she pleaded with him, “and what I’ve respected about you is that you don’t do stupid.”

“I have a criminal record that says differently.”

She let out a scoff, and I heard more footsteps.

“A long time ago you told me something important,” she went on. “‘Whenever you want to make an impression and you think you’ve gone far enough, go one step further. Always leave them wondering if you’re just a little bit crazy and people will never fuck with you again.’”

“And?”

“And you’ve gone more than one step further.”

I heard some shaky breathing, and I wasn’t sure who it was from, but Rika’s tone sounded upset. Concerned as a friend would be.

“I like who I am now, and for better or for worse, you’re partly responsible,” she told him. “But this? This mistake could ruin you. This isn’t the life we want for you.”

I heard more steps, and since I couldn’t see them through the crack, I gathered they were near the tanks on the other side of the room.

“There’s a plan here,” he told her, speaking softer. “You have to trust me.”

There was silence, but I almost wanted to hear more. She was concerned for him, and she sounded as confused as I was. What was this plan? I wanted her to press him further. He might tell her things he wouldn’t tell me.

But the conversation was over.

I pushed open the door, seeing Kai turn and Rika look up as I stood there.

His eyes flashed to my gloves, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “No one’s supposed to be in here.”

Kai approached. “But you are,” he said, tossing me one of my hats he must have found in here.

I caught it, remaining silent.

“Why are you allowed? When did you move in with this family? You weren’t sleeping with Damon, because you were a virgin with me, so what was he doing with you, huh? Who exactly are you?”

I half-smiled. “Your favorite enemy,” I replied.

But just then, he darted out and grabbed my hands. I clenched my teeth together as he pulled off one glove and then the other, dropping them to the floor.

Goddammit.

He held them tightly, staring at the backs of my hands. Only one had the cigar burn on it.

I wore two gloves, though, to keep up the pretense.

I could hear his angry breathing getting faster. But he didn’t ask questions. I guess he was smart enough to figure out how Gabriel disciplined me.

Thankfully, it only took once for me to learn, though.

Rika shifted her head just a little, trying to be discreet as she got a look. The circular scar was about the size of a quarter, the flesh bumpy and pink. It wasn’t an old scar, but it had faded a lot over the past few years. I glanced at the small mark on her neck, knowing she got it from the same car accident that killed her father years ago.

“You don’t know what you’re doing to me,” Kai choked out, sounding solemn.

I turned my head away and kept my mouth shut.

Rika started to walk out, giving us privacy, but I stopped her.

“No, stay,” I told her. “He’ll need his friends.”

He stared down at me, getting in my face. “Do you want me to marry her?” he asked. “And this will be us? You, my little sidepiece whom I sneak off to fuck in the middle of the night. Huh? You’d like that?”

“You think I’d put up with that?” I retorted.

My face was starting to crack and my chin trembled, but I tightened every muscle I could muster, keeping the tears at bay.

“Look at me,” he whispered as Rika stood close but looked away. “Look at me.”

I didn’t.

“I like you,” he told me. “I want you in my house. I want to see you in my bed. I don’t want to not see you every day. Be with me tonight.”

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t be with him for anything more than stolen moments.

For one simple reason.

“Do you hate Damon?” I asked him.

He squared his shoulders, and I could tell a wall was going up. “He’s not a factor with us. He has no place in my life.”

“Well, he does in mine,” I stated. “I love him.”

Before he could say anything else, I spun around and left, jogging quickly down the stairs.

Enough, goddammit. Just leave. Everything was fucked up, because of him, and I wanted it back to when it was simple. When I was single-minded in the fact that I was loyal to one person, and that, alone, was my purpose.

When I didn’t want to say ‘yes’.

When I wasn’t falling in love.

I reached the bottom of the stairs and shot through the door, bumping straight into David.

“Hey,” he said. “I was just looking for you.”

I blinked away the tears in my eyes and looked away. “What?”

But then creaks and footfalls fell behind me, and Kai and Rika both stepped out of the stairwell, too.

I groaned.

David backed up, looking questioningly between the three of us, but he carried on. “Okay, great,” he said, nodding. “Everyone in one place. Perfect.” And then he looked down at me. “Gabriel needs you for a few moments. Bring them into the guest house.”

And he turned to leave.

The guest house—I grabbed his arm, narrowing my eyes. No. That’s where Gabriel took problems to deal with them away from prying eyes.

But David just laughed under his breath and leaned in to whisper. “It’s okay. Everyone will leave in one piece. I promise.”

Traipsing past the terrace and the flickering lights of Vanessa’s welcome celebration getting underway, I led Kai, Will, and Rika around the pond to the guest quarters. It was more like a starter house, the size much bigger than any apartment my mother and I ever lived in. Kai and Will had been there before. It was where Damon always took his friends on the rare occasion he invited anyone over.

This way, no one ran into his mother. Or saw me. It was fully furnished and decorated with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a great room. What did Gabriel need them out here for that he couldn’t take care of in his office?

Beautiful glass panes surrounded the front of the house, and I spotted a few men inside the cottage. My pulse quickened. What was going on?