“I’m not sure. And, if there is, I don’t believe it’s what I initially thought. His heart is yours, Quinn. But their families...” His brow furrowed as he thought through whatever that brought to mind. “I know very little about her motivations and intentions, which is unfortunate since she’d always seemed so predictable. Now, I think she may be hiding something as carefully as I’ve been, but I don’t know what it is. Until I do, I can’t risk what I’ve shared with you falling into the wrong hands. I don’t want to ask you to lie to him. But this?—”
“You don’t have to ask. With what your father is capable of...But what about the statute? Max refuses to let me talk about what happens between me and the two of you, so he still doesn’t know...and I just realized I’m not sure if he knows about Elaine’s threat, either.”
Kingston’s eyebrows rose, and a hint of relief appeared in his eyes. “Honestly, that might be best for now. A stroke of luck in the midst of all the other obstacles popping up.”
Sometimes, luck made the difference between winning and losing a game. Stumbling on a clue accidentally. Recalling a random bit of trivia to solve a riddle. Or, in this case, a lifelong rivalry preventing a secret from coming out.
I didn’t want to lie or keep secrets from any of them, but answers weren’t always worth the price of having them.
“Things aren’t always black and white, so, for now, we keep them in the dark...Max will understand if it’s about protecting me. And if it protects him, too, I get it. As long as we’ll tell them both everything, eventually.”
When he nodded, I released a breath.
“I can trust Max. His feelings for me are real, I’m sure of that. But you’re right. There’s something from his past he still won’t talk about, and it has to do with her, so I get it.”
I hated that I got it, but I did.
“I’d just like to give him the same choice I asked for, if it comes up, letting him know there’s a secret we can’t share and giving him the choice of what to do with that.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Okay. Then, we keep going for now, right? The last escape room starts later today, and lasts a few days. Then, you’ll share what comes next before everyone’s parents arrive?”
“Yes. For now, that’s all we can do, really. Keep going. Keep fighting.”
“And keep breathing,” I said in a rush. “Because I’m not going to lie, all these secrets have mestressed.”
I blew out a breath and stared at him.
But that one look at him assured me that no matter how complicated everything was, I wasn’t going anywhere.
My shoulders relaxed. I dragged in another slow breath and released it with a huff.
“Breathing is supposed to be good for stress, but I’ve never experienced that.”
Kingston laughed, touching my cheek. “Well, Lady Everly, I do believe there’s somethingIcan do to help with that.”
“Oh really?”
My eyebrows rose as he flipped me onto my back.
Gently, of course.
Because thiswasKingston, my careful, protective, and somehow still completely surprising Kingston.
Although, when he traveled down the length of my body to disappear between my legs, he was anything but gentle when it came to bringing me to climax.
Chapter Thirty
Later that day, I entered Camelot Courtyard to meet with the others before the final escape room.
“What the fuck is this?”
Vivian held up the drab gray jumpsuit Max and Landon had been handing out to the rest of the Ladies. Holding it away from her body like it was foul, she glared at Max.
“I’m not wearing this.”
She had clearly missed the memo that Max wasnotin the mood today. He’d been surly and more closed off than usual, even with me,andhe let an opportunity to give Landon a hard time pass by without blinking.
