“I should.”
“But you don't.” I kissed him again. Softer this time. “Stop running. Whatever this is, we figure it out together.”
“I don't know how to do together.” His voice cracked on the last word. “I don't know how to need someone and not have it destroy me.”
“Then we learn.” I pulled back enough to meet his eyes. “But you don't get to disappear again. And you definitely don't get to show up here and act like what happened between us meant nothing.”
Cal studied my face for a long moment. Then nodded once. “Fine. But if this goes sideways?—”
“It won't.”
“You can't promise that.”
“Watch me.”
Adrian's voice cut through the moment like a blade. “When you two are finished, we have work to do.”
I turned. Adrian stood in his office doorway with Noah beside him.
“The plan requires both of you,” Adrian continued. “So I suggest you sort out whatever this is quickly. We don't have time for drama.”
Cal straightened. Smoothed his jacket. Became clinical again in the space of a breath. “We're sorted.”
“Are we?” Adrian's gaze moved between us. “Because from where I'm standing, you look like two men who are about to make this exponentially more complicated than it needs to be.”
“The investigation comes first,” Cal said. “Personal complications won't interfere.”
“See that they don't.” Adrian gestured back toward his office. “Both of you. Inside. We have details to finalise.”
“Mr Mercer has proposed usingEden as bait,” Adrian said without preamble. “We already know that Harrow's network uses the club for transactions they can't risk in public spaces. He wants to create a scenario that draws them into a controlled environment where their activities can be documented.”
I looked at Cal. “You want to trap them at Eden.”
“Yes.”
“Using what as bait?”
“A private scene. Something that appears exclusive, valuable, time-sensitive.” Cal's voice stayed clinical. “Harrow's people respond to scarcity and spectacle. We give them both.”
“And who exactly participates in this scene?” I asked.
Cal's eyes met mine. “We do.”
Adrian leaned back in his chair, watching our reactions.
“Explain,” Adrian said.
Cal turned his attention to Adrian. The nerves were still there, subtle but visible in the way he held himself too still. “Harrow's network knows Dom frequents Eden. They know he has connections to you. If we stage a scene it creates an opportunity they can't ignore.”
“You want to use Dom as bait.”
“I want to use both of us as bait. But yes, Dom's presence makes it credible.” Cal's jaw tightened. “I've been building profiles on Harrow's associates for months. I know which ones attend Eden. I know their patterns. I know what they respond to. This works.”
“And what makes you think they'll take the bait?” Noah asked.
“Because I'll make sure they know about it. Carefully. Through channels that won't trace back to us.” Cal pulled out his phone, showed Adrian something I couldn't see. “I have contacts who can seed information without triggering suspicion. By the time Harrow's people arrive, they'll think they've discovered something valuable on their own.”
Adrian was quiet for a long moment. Then: “What do I get out of this?”
