“I’m fucked.” I buried my head in my hands.
“You’re not fucked.” Dorien leaned out his window, sucking the last pleasure from a joint. He’d offered me a toke, but I was way too agitated. I didn’t need to calm down. I needed…
Fuck.I needed to get those photographs back from Faye. I needed to see her again. I needed her lips on mine, to feel her body succumb beneath me as she gave in to the insane chemistry between us.
But while she had those photos, she might as well have my cock in a vise.
“Sprite won’t talk.” Dorien closed the window and crossed the room to face me. He looked far too calm considering the situation.
“She’s got no reason to stay quiet,” I shot back. “She’s still upset about me being in her room. You saw what she did to Ivan. I’m next. She’s got all the ammo she needs to get me out of the picture.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Dorien growled. “I’ll make her see reason.”
I didn’t like that tone in his voice, the way he saidmake herwith a dangerous inflection. I knew all about Dorien’s powers of persuasion. I’d seen him work them on hundreds of girls on tour. The idea of Faye being another notch on his bedpost when she meant so much… “No, I should do it. I dug the hole, I should be the one to fill it in again.”
“To her, you’re just a pervert stalker. Faye and I have history. She trusts me, even though she won’t admit it. I’ll talk to her.”
There was a gleam in his grey eyes that I didn’t think even he understood. Dorien wanted Faye, and he wanted to keep me away from her.
And Dorien always got what he wanted.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Dorien
I set my alarm for 5AM and snuck downstairs before Faye snagged her morning practice room. She’d been practicing early in the day so she could fit her chores in around us without having to see us. I hid in the corner so she wouldn’t have the opportunity to shut the door on my face, and waited.
At 5:30AM, she unlocked the door with her house key and let herself in, flicking on the lights. She set up her music stand and was mid-scale when I stepped out from behind the sideboard.
“Shit.” She dropped her bow. “Dorien, you twatface.”
Real fear darkened her eyes. Fear that I’d hurt her. And why shouldn’t she be afraid? I’d done nothing but hurt her, and now I was hiding in the corner. I hated seeing my cruelty reflected back at me.
It made me feel unfamiliar things. Hurt. Regret. Self-loathing.
I held up my hand. “This isn’t about you and me. It’s about Titus. You can’t tell anyone what you saw last night.”
Faye narrowed her eyes. For someone afraid, she stood her ground, moving her feet apart in a power stance, making herself bigger. Faye de Winter never backed down. “Why not?”
“Titus hasn’t done anything to hurt you. Except for that one time he was in your room with Heather, and hehatedit. He told me he wouldn’t do anything else to you, Sprite. So just pretend you never saw him out there.”
“Don’t use that nickname. You lost your right to it a long time ago. I can’t just pretend I never saw Titus, because it doesn’t make any sense. Why is he out in the cold with a guitar? Why is that such a secret?”
I sighed. It wasn’t my secret to tell, but Faye wasn’t going to drop this. I had to make her understand. “Titus’ parents… you know they’re quite famous—”
“Amos and Delphine Thibodeaux. I’m not stupid.”
“Right. Well, they want him to follow in their footsteps, carry on their legacy. That’s been his destiny since the moment he was conceived. But it’s not what he wants.”
Faye snorted. “Titus wants to give up his Classical career to join Iron Maiden?”
“Yes. Titus has been secretly playing guitar for most of his life. He hid an ax at my house. He used to stay with me whenever his parents were on tour and play in our ballroom. Until that… wasn’t an option anymore. He’sgood. He could be fantastic, but his parents refuse to hear of it. If he came out as a heavy metal guitarist, they’d disown him, cut him off.”
“Titus is legally an adult. He can do what he wants.”
“I’ve told him that a hundred times, but you don’t know Titus like I do. He can’t stand the idea of his parents hating him. Their approval and love are everything to him. That’s why you have to keep his secret. No one else knows – not Madame Usher, not Heather or Aroha,no one.If anyone finds out and the media gets hold of the story, or if the others find out about it, they’ll tell his parents, and it’s all over for him.”
“Why haven’t you used it against him? Get him out of the way for a clear shot at the Manderley Prize.” Her eyes flashed. “Or is it only me you’re hellbent on destroying?”
