His head snapped up. “That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.” He got to his feet.
Before he could fly past me, I grabbed his arm. “Let’s talk this out.”
He paused but turned back, flopped in his chair. He was hardheaded at times, stubborn always. And unlike me, Isaac didn’t like to open up. He certainly wasn’t fond of my constant interrogation. But this was serious.
I could see where he was coming from. Mostly. However, we’d never had a submissive we’d taken on full-time, much less a … what did we call Everly, anyway? Girlfriend? That seemed too vanilla. And yet, it suited the situation.
“I know we don’t need her income,” I said, keeping my voice low, reasonable. “But that’s not the point. This is moving fast, Isaac. Even you can see that.”
“Six months, Ian. I’ve been holding back for six months with her.”
“I know.”
I had been, too. Ever since the first night we scened with her at Dichotomy, we’d both been holding out. Me more than him, but that was due to my caution. I wasn’t sure Isaac was prepared to know the depths of what I felt for the woman. We’d always intended to find a submissive of our own and I’d ruined that, falling for the same one my brother had.
“I’m ready for this,” Isaac said, not looking me in the eye. “I want this. Her.” He sighed, then spoke in our native tongue “I’m falling for her. Fast.”
Yep, that was what I was afraid of. He loved her even if he opted to say it in a different way.
And if I was being completely honest, I loved her, too.
“Does she feel the same?”
He shrugged.
“Have you told her?”
“Not in so many words, no.”
“Don’t you think this is a discussion you should have with her? Maybe before you waltz up there and ask her to quit her job and be a stay home submissive?”
My phone buzzed, Isaac’s two seconds behind it. I grabbed mine off the desk. It was an alert. One of the motion-sensor cameras at Dante’s house had been activated.
My fingers flew over the keyboard as I pulled up the image on my laptop.
“Who is this jackoff?” I muttered, watching as a guy walked into Dante’s like he owned the place.
“Not Roger Cherlish,” Isaac noted, leaning over my shoulder to watch the screen.
“No. Not him.”
We watched as the familiar frat-boy moved through the house. I’d seen him somewhere, but I couldn’t place him.
He went to the kitchen first, then down the hall.
“That’s Heaven’s room,” I told him. I’d gone in there yesterday to grab a few of her things that she’d asked me to get.
The camera was only in the hall, so I couldn’t see what he was doing in the bedroom. Since I hadn’t expected anyone to be rummaging through her things, I hadn’t bothered to wire her room. Only Dante’s. In the hopes I’d catch the bastard coming back.
“Maybe the ex-boyfriend,” Isaac mused.
“Aye.” That was exactly who it was. The fucker who didn’t deserve Heaven.
“He must have a key to the house.”
I continued to watch the screen, waiting for the douchebag to come out of her room. A minute turned to two, then to thirty before worry started to set in.
“Keep an eye on that,” I instructed my brother. “I need to talk to Heaven.”
I took the stairs two at a time, stomping through the kitchen, the living room, then down the hall to the bedrooms. I found Heaven sitting on her bed, her laptop in front of her. She looked up, smiled.
“I was just watching a movie.”
I skipped the pleasantries and went right for the heart of the matter. “Did you talk to your ex today?”
Her chin jutted out just slightly. “He … uh … he texted me. Why?”
“What did he say?”
She reached over to get her cell phone from the nightstand, typed in the code to unlock the phone, then passed it over to me.
Danny: Hey, babe. I miss you. Wanted to come see you.
She hadn’t responded to the message.
Two hours later, another text came in.
Danny: Heaven, don’t do this, babe. You know it’s stupid to pretend you don’t love me.
Again, she had ignored his text.
Danny: Playing hard to get won’t work this time, babe. I already know you like to put out. Since you haven’t gotten your fill lately, I’m gonna stop by. Show you how much I love you.
I looked up. “You didn’t text him back.”
She shrugged. “What exactly do I say to that shit?”
I grinned. She had a backbone, that was for sure.
“It’s not like I’m home,” she continued, “so he can go there all day and night for all I care.”
“He’s there now,” I informed her.
“What?”
“Does he have a key?”
She shook her head, glowered. “No. I never gave him one. Respect for Dante and Everly.”
“Hey, Ian!”
I tipped backward to peer out of the room, glanced down the hall to see Isaac jogging toward me. “We’ve got a problem.”
