At the corner of the third-floor hallway, he suddenly pressed against my shoulder and whispered into my ear,

"Eric, I should buy you a belt. Then whenever I misbehave, you can use it on me."

What?

His face reddened. There was a breathless edge to his lowered voice.

"Just now, thinking about you being the one holding it... it felt good."

What the fuck?

"Felix."

"Mm?"

"Stop being a slut."

10

After I got Felix back to his room, another message arrived.

[Study.]

I gripped my phone and stood outside for a while before going in.

"Thought you didn't know him well."

Frank sat out on the balcony. He crooked a finger at me.

"Come here."

I walked over. He tilted his head, pulled my collar aside, and touched the marks on my neck.

"The boy's practically kissed you raw."

"Why Felix, and not Finn?"

Finn had drugged me. I'd ended up in Felix's bed.

Of course. Frank knew every detail of last night.

"It was an accident," I said.

Felix had inherited half his beauty from his father.

Turn the clock back twenty years, and Frank probably wouldn't have looked much different from Felix now.

At his age, though, Frank had learned to hide the sharp edges beneath a gentle-looking exterior.

Underneath, he was just as unhinged.

"Three years ago, Eric, you told me you were only here to be a bodyguard."

His hand moved up to grip my chin.

"Now you're sleeping with my son."

Frank slept with men and women alike. Kept a whole collection of lovers outside the house.

Three years ago, when he'd been drinking, he'd asked me,

"Eric, want to give us a try?"

I'd said no.

A lover was a lover. A bodyguard was a bodyguard.

Frank knew the difference.

He didn't need me to fill out his collection.

It had only been a passing interest. A man in his position could have practically anyone. He had no reason to force the issue.

I'd said I wanted to be a bodyguard. He'd employed me as a bodyguard. Never brought up the rest again.

But now I'd slept with Felix right under his nose.

I couldn't really claim to be only a bodyguard anymore.

"Mr. Sterling," I said, "I can resign."

Frank smiled and released me.

"Don't be ridiculous. You've been with me all these years. Even if you want to leave, I have to be willing to let you go."

The Sterlings weren't exactly in honest business. Once you stepped inside, stepping back out wasn't so simple.

I understood that.

"Keep an eye on Felix for me."

Frank straightened my collar.

"Don't let him get himself killed. I'm still expecting him to carry on the family."

For all that talk about me looking after Felix, Frank sent him away for a month and took me along to his own business dinners instead.

In a private room at a club, I'd drunk enough that my head was throbbing. Frank patted the young man sitting in his lap, then nodded toward me.

The young man glanced at me, walked over, and asked,

"Would you like some water, sir?"

I lifted my eyelids enough to look at him, then glanced at Frank.

He sat in the dim light, smoke blurring his face. His cool gaze rested quietly on us.

He didn't trust me.

Worried I'd keep hanging on to Felix. Finding me another diversion.

I lowered my eyes and drank the water the young man held to my lips.

Too quickly. Some spilled down the corner of my mouth.

The young man leaned in as though to kiss me.

I caught him by the mouth.

"Didn't you just kiss somebody else?"

Somebody else. There was only one person I meant.

His eyes widened.

"You think I'm dirty?"

I smiled and tried to be polite.

"Sorry. A little."

He stamped his foot and went back to complain to Frank.

I thought, lazily, Not interested.

The body. The face. Neither came close.

Fuck. Felix had ruined my taste in men.

After a few more rounds of drinking with Frank, I found my way to the bathroom and threw up.

I washed my face. When I looked up, Frank stood behind me, offering me a handkerchief.

In the mirror, I looked at his long, well-shaped fingers. Didn't take it.

He stepped closer, gripped my face, and lowered his eyes to wipe it himself.

I tried to pull away.

"Stay still," he said quietly.

The handkerchief moved from my forehead to my brows and the bridge of my nose.

"Ryan says you think he's dirty."

Ryan must have been the young man from the private room.

I said nothing.

"Do you think he's dirty? Or do you mind that he kissed me? That he touched me?"

I avoided the question.

"Mr. Sterling, keep rubbing and you'll take my skin off."

Frank chuckled and tossed the handkerchief onto the counter.

Then he shoved me back against the sink.

One hand held the back of my neck. The other went to my belt.

I didn't fight him.

If Frank truly decided he was going to have me, it wouldn't matter how good I was in a fight.

"Mr. Sterling. Since Felix came back, he's been working as though he's trying to get himself killed. Do you know why?"

Frank kept his eyes lowered. Unmoved, he undid my zipper.

"Because he wants your approval. He wants you to look at him. Just once."

"Five years ago, you sent Felix abroad, supposedly for his own safety. But you kept Finn here. The balance of power in Harbor City was changing. It was dangerous. You couldn't protect both sons. So you kept one close and sent the other away to fend for himself."

"You gave up Felix. Chose Finn. You wanted Finn as your successor, but things didn't work out as you planned. You couldn't protect him. His legs were ruined. He couldn't take over anymore. So you had no choice but to bring Felix back."

"If Finn hadn't lost the use of his legs, Felix would never have been allowed to come home. Would he?"

I'd spent four years in that house. Heard enough rumors to put a few things together.

Frank lifted his head and met my eyes in the mirror. His gaze was icy.

I held it.

"If I can figure all that out, do you think Felix can't?"

A muscle twitched in Frank's brow.

However distant they were, they were still father and son.

I kept going.

"I could sleep with you tonight. I could sleep with anyone. You could use me as the knife that kills Felix. Fine. It's not as though you care whether he lives or dies."

Frank caught me by the throat from behind.

"Eric Reed. Don't overestimate your own importance."

"I'm not the one who thinks I'm so important. You are."

I pried his hand away.

"When you sent Felix abroad, did he beg you, too?"

Something darkened in Frank's eyes. For a moment, there was a flicker of shock.

I pulled free and lowered my eyes to fasten my belt.

"Did he get on his knees for you? Was that the first time he ever swallowed his pride and begged you not to send him away?"

Frank didn't answer.

I'd worked for him for four years. I knew that expression. I'd guessed right.

Something pierced my heart. A fine, persistent ache.

Not violent. Just impossible to ignore.

I wanted to hit my boss.

I took a deep breath, pushed past him, and couldn't help driving the knife in one more time.

"No wonder Felix told me both his parents were dead when we first met. With you treating him like this, what's the difference?"

12

I'd angered Frank. He sent me away on business, running from one end of the country to the other for three months.

By the time I got back to Harbor City, I was practically a shade darker.

I'd barely gotten off the plane when his message arrived.

[Skyline Club. Room 601. Pick up Felix.]

The private room was a mess. Nobody noticed the door opening. I had to look twice before I found Felix.

He leaned back on a sofa, holding a bottle. Two young men sat on either side of him, taking turns lifting drinks to his mouth.

They offered. He drank.

After emptying a glass, one of them started undoing his shirt. Leaned closer, apparently intending to kiss him.

Felix lay back and didn't move.

I loosened my tie and walked over.

The young man was pressed against him, cradling his face and coaxing him.

"Yes, I'm your Eric. I'm right here. You want me, handsome?"

I laughed, angry enough to bite.

"If you're his Eric, who the hell am I?"

While the young man stared, I pulled him away, knelt with one knee on the sofa, and took Felix's face in my hand.

"Your father sent me to pick you up. Are you coming with me?"

Felix's gaze moved over my face. He lifted his hand to touch my cheek and murmured,