Thunder rolled somewhere deep in the clouds.
She shifted on the truck’s bench seat and picked at her cuticles, suddenly nervous.
“This… Game… is it dangerous?”
I nodded as I wound around another curve.
“Yes.”
She inhaled sharply and wrung her hands.
“But not in the way you’re thinking,” I added. “You won’t be harmed.”
Not in the sense you’re worried about, anyway. But you will learn a few things about pain and pleasure while we play, my love.
“Then how is it dangerous?”
I let a slow, deliberate silence fill the cab.
“You know the primary requirement,” I said. “The danger lies in violating that requirement, or displeasing Mr. Stonewood in any way, really.”
Chrissy wet her lips.
“Don’t fall in love,” she whispered.
“Don’t fall in love with the wrong person,” I corrected. “There’s a vast difference between those two things.”
She stared at me, like she felt the trap closing, and still stepped toward it.
“And who’s the wrong person?” she asked softly.
I looked at her… really looked at her, for as long as I could before I had to flick my gaze back to the road in front of us.
“You’ll figure it out,” I said. “You’re an intelligent woman, from what I can tell.”
Her hands fluttered in her lap, like she didn’t know what to do with the compliment.
We crested the rise in the road and the lodge appeared ahead of us, massive, shadowed, and lit from within like a beast waking up after a long slumber.
Chrissy gasped.
“It’s… huge.”
“It should be. It belongs to a billionaire, after all,” I said. “Hell, you might as well call Mr. Stonewood the fucking king of this town, even though he hasn’t been seen in public for years. His family founded the whole damn town, and pumped their money into it like lifeblood for generations.”
She turned her head sharply toward me.
“Why do you say things like that?”
“Because they’re true.”
I pulled around the circle drive to the front door. The actors intended to play the decoys of me were already inside. The house was humming. Every piece of the Game was in place… except for her.
I put the truck in park.
“You’re late,” I said quietly. “But maybe he’ll forgive you for it.”
She lifted her chin.
