“Where did that come from?” Xavier looks at me, curiosity and wariness in his eyes.
“From someone who didn’t need it.” I shrug, and he frowns, but Colton requires my attention.
“Tori, what the fuck am I looking at?” His voice is hard, and I can tell he found the footage.
The others stop messing around on the bed as Xavier climbs off and peers over Colton’s shoulder. I wince.
“You are looking at the holding cells of a future skin auction,” I tell them bluntly.
Vienna gasps, and she and Tristan scramble off the bed to hurry over to have a look. She puts a hand over her mouth in shock, and Tristan swears up a storm.
“Well, that killed the mood,” Sage grumbles and starts to gather the money off the bed. Thankfully it’s only on the top covers, and the sheets beneath it are still clean.
“And you just left them there? How could you?” Vienna scolds, and I feel it stab through my heart.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” I tell her coldly, becoming the angel of death in an instant.
“But all those people,” she argues, and Xavier puts his hand on her shoulder.
“Leave it, Vienna, I’m sure Tori has a reason.”
She crosses her arms and turns her back on me as Colton continues to input things into his laptop. Suddenly, the screens flash and return to an image without Sage and me in it.
“I looped some earlier footage and spliced it into the gap where I removed the footage of the two of you. They won’t know what happened or who it was,” he tells me, not looking in my direction, and I release a small sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I reply, annoyed that I had to rely on him for his help, but grateful that he did it.
“Do you want to share what’s going on?” Tristan prompts, and I cross my arms and shake my head.
“No, this is one of those things that I can’t share with you. You need to decide whether you are okay with that and still want whatever this is.” I gesture between us. “It’s nonnegotiable.”
There’s a loaded silence, and I guess that tells me everything I need to know.
“Well, okay then. Thank you again. I need to head to bed.” I turn my back on them and walk toward the door. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, and I hold my breath to see what Sage does.
“Goodnight,” I hear him mutter, and again, another rush of air escapes me in my relief. He chose me. God, that feels good.
Before I can pull the door closed behind us, I hear Vienna cautiously call out, “Tori, are we still on for tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you decide what your answer is going to be and let me know?” I reply without looking back, pulling the door closed.
It’s not until we’re in Sage’s room and his arms are wrapped around me that I react to what happened. A small sob escapes my lips before I can stop it, and my chest aches with heartbreak.
“Fuck, I allowed myself to hope for the first time in ages,” I admit as he rubs a hand up and down my back in comfort.
“I know, but don’t count them out just yet. I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised in the morning,” he says reassuringly, but I’m not so sure. It’s a big ask, and I wouldn’t like to be put in the same situation.
“We’ll see,” I mutter before he steers me to the bed, helps me remove my clothes, and holds me as silent tears trail down my face. Damn it, I had been teasing Sage about catching feelings, but he wasn’t the only one.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Idread getting up the next morning, and Sage has to physically force me out of bed, but just after my shower, I get a message from Agent Garcia that has me putting on the jets. I rush to get dressed and hurry downstairs. I’m not sure what Vienna has decided, so I wear my usual work uniform but take a change of clothes suitable for a spa visit on the off chance she hasn’t had a change of heart.
“Whoa, where’s the fire?” Ben asks as I barrel into the kitchen.
“Lorenzo is on his way to the warehouse. The feds are going to raid it soon, and I kind of want to watch from a distance to make sure he doesn’t get away. Where’s Sage?”
“In the dining room.” Suzy points in that direction.
