He nods. “I don’t know how he found me.” He shudders. “I was so careful.”
“He didn’t find you. You’re not going back with him.”
He smiles sadly. “He will find a way, Greyson. He saw my shoes. I know he did. I can’t stay here now. I have to leave.”
This is all happening a bit too fast for me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I know there is no way I’m letting Felix leave this house if he doesn’t want to. “Listen to me. You’re not going anywhere. He’s not taking you anywhere. He doesn’t own you. You are not property.”
“It’s too dangerous.” He swallows.
I don’t know what to say. I know what I want to do, and that’s go find that asshole and make Felix a widow. My violent streak is reserved for hockey and abusive fucks, and I’m ready to let it fly. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“It’s not safe for you.”
“The only way you’re leaving this house is if you truly want to. It’s your choice. Do you hear me?” I hold his hand in mine. “I mean it. Everything that happens to you while you’re in this house is your choice.”
His fingers slip from mine. “I’m scared. I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Do you want to sleep in here?”
Felix blinks those brown eyes at me, and I think about the ones in the picture Steven showed me. There’s life in themnow, that wasn’t there when it was taken. I’m determined to keep that light in them. “With you?”
I laugh softly. “Only if you want to. This house is armed to the teeth. The second an alarm goes off the local police will be here. If it helps, you can sleep here next to me. I have a gun in my gun safe too. I mean it, Felix. You don’t leave this house unless you want to.”
“You don’t mind?”
I insist like you wouldn’t believe. I think this is as much for me as for him. After hearing his story, I’m shaken. I know that man won’t get in here undetected, but having Felix here next to me will ease my mind. “Come on, get in here.”
Felix smiles, sliding in beside me. I’m comfortable like this, my knee aching less as Felix pulls the blankets around us. I take the extra pillow from behind my head and hand it to him. “Tomorrow, I’m going to clean your room.”
I laugh. “Are you calling me messy?”
He smiles. “I want to help you. Let me help you.” It’s only been weeks, and he’s already helped me more than he realizes.
“Get some sleep, okay?” I fight back the urge to kiss him on the forehead as he settles into bed against me. I watch him for a moment, my mind still reeling through the story he told me. I don’t know what’s coming or what that man might do to get him back.
I just know one thing.
Everything going forward is Felix’s choice.
TWELVE
Felix
My phone pings with a notification. I will admit, having the phone is nice. It’s also nice that I don’t have to delete my history or block calls. Not that I really have anyone to call. I grab it, seeing Grey’s friends standing at the door.
Grey limps into the room with his cane, sweats slung low on his hips, and memories from last night flood me. We slept on opposite sides of the bed, not crossing an imaginary barrier. He didn’t touch me, didn’t push me. It was different and warm and some other emotions I shouldn’t be feeling right now. The thing is, I felt safe.
I don’t think I would have been able to sleep alone in my bed. I kept waiting for Steven to jump from the shadows. Grey doesn’t know how he found me, but I do. Or at least, I suspect. I think he followed me. My bag was missing from the bushes, so maybe he knew I was planning to leave.
The thing is, if he knew, why wait nearly a month?
“I’m going to let them in.” I watch him limp back out tothe hall. I hope his knee isn’t as sore as last night. He has to relax, though I know he gets restless, and he doesn’t like to sit still. He has another PT appointment next week. He seems to be taking all of this way more seriously now, at least.
I get up and go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, and when I’m back out in the hallway, I hear voices erupting from the kitchen, chaos barreling into the quiet of the house. I hear arguing and catch an envelope in Oli’s hand when I walk into the kitchen. Oli smiles, but it’s not a kind one. “Want to tell me why you and my man have been hanging out without me?!”
Greyson glares at Andre. “Don’t blame me! He tortured the information out of me?”
“If by tortured you mean withheld orgasm until you told me what you and Grey were doing behind my back, then yes.”
