“Doesn’t want anyone to know what you’ve become,” Mira completes for me.
“No,” I whisper. “I don’t want anyone to know that I enjoyed it. That Istillenjoy thinking about it. That I’m counting down the hours until they come for me.”
I wrap my arms around myself. “I don’t want anyone to know that I’m grateful they chose me. That I’m grateful for the year they’re claiming from my life.”
“Yeah,” Mira says softly, and I hear the echo of my own shame in her voice.
We sit in silence as the night deepens around us. Twenty-three hours left. Twenty-three hours until I stop being Cora Pike and become something else entirely.
Twenty-three hours until my life, as I know it, ends.
And I find myself counting down every single second.
25
LIAM
The three of us sit in a private corner of Purgatory’s main bar, nursing drinks that cost more than most people earn in a day. The silence between us feels weighted, each man lost in his own thoughts about what transpired with Cora.
“For fuck’s sake,” I say, setting my glass down harder than necessary. “We look like we’re at a funeral instead of celebrating.”
Dominic raises an eyebrow. “Celebrating what exactly? Breaking a woman who didn’t deserve it?”
“No,” I counter. “Celebrating the fact that in exactly—” I check my watch with deliberate precision, “—twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes, we’ll be starting a very interesting year together. A year that none of us anticipated when we walked into this place.”
Ryder takes a long sip from his whiskey. “You have a point. If we’re going to share Dom’s penthouse, we should probably know more about each other than revenge motivations and sexual preferences.”
“Speaking of sexual preferences,” Dominic interrupts, swirling his bourbon thoughtfully, “we need to establish ground rules. With Cora.”
I can’t help the smirk that forms. “Worried about sharing, Dominic?”
“Clarifying expectations,” he corrects. “We’ve had her together. Will we continue that way exclusively? Or are we free to have her separately as well?”
“Both,” Ryder suggests, eyeing both of us. “As long as she’s willing.”
“I’d imagine she’ll want time with each of us individually,” I say. “We offer... different experiences.”
“And what about us?” Ryder asks, his voice dropping lower as he gestures between the three of us. His eyes hold mine before shifting to Dominic, who immediately tenses.
“What about us?” Dominic’s face hardens, defensiveness cloaking him like expensive armor.
I lean back in my chair, amused at his reaction. “I believe Ryder is referring to the rather impressive chain we formed during the Hunt. The one where you were quite enthusiastically fucking him.”
Dominic’s jaw clenches. “That was different. What happens during the Hunt stays in the Hunt.”
“Really?” Ryder’s lips curl into a lazy smile. “Because your cock didn’t seem to mind being in my ass.” He takes another sip of whiskey, eyes never leaving Dominic’s face. “In fact, I’d say it was quite at home there.”
I can’t help but chuckle as Dominic shifts uncomfortably. It’s fascinating watching this powerful man who commands boardrooms and bends zoning laws to his will squirm over something as simple as desire for a man.
“We don’t need to make this complicated,” Dominic says finally. “Our arrangement is about Cora.”
“Is it?” I challenge. “Because I distinctly remember you watching Ryder and me with more than casual interest before you joined in.”
Ryder nods. “And let’s be honest, your performance suggests you weren’t exactly opposed to it.”
“We’re back in the real world now,” Dominic says tersely. “Things are different here.”
“Are they?” I ask. “Or are you just pretending they are because it’s easier than admitting what you want? What’s the matter, Dominic?” I lean forward, resting my elbows on the table. “You didn’t seem so reluctant when Ryder was on his knees for you.”
