The sharp click of the hotel door unlocking makes me flinch.Shit. I spin around. She’s only been gone—glancing at my watch—twenty minutes. I’m not ready. The candles are barely lit, and I’ve done none of the finishing touches I had planned.
Effa barrels into the room, Cooper hot on her heels, just as I blow out the match and drop it onto the counter.
Her expression is tense.
Definitely not the soft, surprised look I was hoping for.
Cooper scans the incense, candles, and general mood lighting, then glances at me with a smug smirk. “Right, well… I got you back to the room, Effa. Seems like this is gonna be a hell of a chat, so I’m gonna bounce.”
Effa flops onto the bed with a heavy sigh, dragging her hands down her face. She hasn’t even noticed what I’ve done in here.
Frowning, I meet Cooper’s eyes. “Everything okay?”
He exhales, long and slow.
That’s a no.
“I’ll, ahh… leave you to it. Call me if you need anything,” he says, then ducks out, letting the door snick shut behind him.
I don’t watch him leave, my focus is on Effa. She’s curled into herself on the bed like she’s trying to shrink into the mattress.
Crossing the room, I ease down beside her and wrap an arm around her back, pulling her to me. She comes willingly, limp in my arms.
“Effa, what’s wrong?” I murmur, my hand smoothing up and down her back, the way she always does when I’m in my own head.
She sniffs, then looks up at me with glassy eyes. “I don’t even know where to begin…”
My jaw tics. “Okay. Is Andi all right?”
“She’s a bitch, but she’s not the one I’m worried about right now.”
I blink. “Then who are you worried about?”
She groans, launches upright, and paces to the other side of the room, hands in her hair. “Okay, but you have to stay calm. Promise me.”
I straighten, my chest going tight.That request never comes before good news. “Effa?”
She stops pacing but doesn’t face me. “Jett.”
My hands curl into fists.
“I saw him in the elevator. Asked why he’s been avoiding me. He said it was all part of some game. That he knew if he stayed away, I wouldn’t be able to resist approaching him. That I’d play right into his hands and go to him, defying you… like some twisted power play.”
I grit my teeth so hard I swear I hear something crack.
She turns now, her eyes shadowed. “And then… he kissed my cheek. Forcefully. It made me feel gross, Mercs.”
Rage detonates in my chest. “He can’t have you!” I bark, standing. My heart’s thundering. “You’remine, Effa.”
“I am, Mercs. You know I am.”
“Did you tell him that?” I demand, in a low, dangerous voice.
She doesn’t answer.
I spin toward her. “Dammit, Effa! Why didn’t you tell him? He needs to hear that from you.”
Her arms fold around herself like she’s trying to disappear. “I just wanted to leave… get back to you. He was right. I played right into his hands, and I hate it. I should’ve said something. I should have told him it’s only ever been you. It willalwaysbe you.”
