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“What are you trying to get at here, Jax,” I asked wryly.

He ran his palm over his face. More than anything, his reaction put me on edge.

Asher tossed his arm over my shoulder.

“He’s nervous,” Asher whispered exaggeratedly into my ear. Jax sneered at Asher. “I had a talk with her. She knows to be on good behavior.”

They both looked chagrined.

“Fine,” Jax muttered.

Asher was right, this was definitely a new Jax.

“I want to see the rest of the house.”

“Your wish is my command,” Asher said, hooking an arm with mine and pulling me from my new office.

THIRTY

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I tookmy time trailing after Asher as he showed me the third and second level of the new place. He’d accurately described it. The floors mirrored the first one. The only difference was the spot where the library was on the top floor didn’t exist on the rest of them. I couldn’t help but compare the houses. The one I’d become used to, that had started to feel like home while this was a monstrosity.

The narrow staircase spiraled down. I reached the base of the stairs, and it spit us into a slim hallway. Asher continued forward, arms swinging at his side.

“I prefer this location,” Jax mused from behind me.

“Right? Secluded, less windows. Getting the mechanical shutters installed was one of the first things I had Baron do. Cost a pretty penny, but I’d rather spend it all than let Imogen get her bitchy hands on it.”

“How did you get the money withdrawals past Tobias?”

“All of you were too busy?—”

“Got it,” Jax snapped, interrupting him.

“Do you need Tobias’s permission or something?” I wondered.

“Or something, Pet.” Asher slowed, and it allowed me to catch up to him. He threw his arm over my shoulder. “All our assets have been combined for decades. Just another attempt for Imogen to get us under her thumb.”

“And you just realized that?” Jax drawled.

“Of course not,” Asher huffed, almost offended.

And what Imogen wanted from Jax, she got it. I peeked over my shoulder. Jax’s eyes weren’t focused. The trauma bond he’d had with Imogen was for him to unpack. I couldn’t do it for him. He was coming to the realization of just how toxic and manipulative she’d been. Or more accurately, he’d known, and that was what he struggled with, the fact that he never should have gone along with so much of it.

“I need to check in with Tobias about something,” Jax muttered and was then gone in a flash. He'd been in a dependent relationship. That was what Jax struggled with—I based this assumption on nothing more than a guess. I could totally be wrong. But theorizing about it helped me feel better about his past.

Men’s minds, even vampire males, were something I didn’t want to begin taking apart. The hallway leading from the base of the staircase ended and opened to the left. This was one similarity to the other house, the foyer, except it stretched more in a rectangle than a square.

The front door was wide open, and the sconce light caught the little knocker. I approached and using a finger, lifted the bat knocker and released it. Metal clanged against metal. Unlike the one at Crimson Manor, this bat was upright, and its little wings were spread out upwards.

I pursed my lips.

“I’ll be right back,” Asher muttered and crossed the foyer, walking down to the left exiting hall. From the opposite direction Asher went, soft chatter reached my ears. I focused and madeout Ren’s deep voice echoing from the opposite side. He’d saved my computer, and he’d gotten this place with Asher. I passed a small living room area and hurried around the bend of the second threshold and stepped into a huge kitchen. His back was to me as he spoke to Tobias and Jax, they were deep in conversation.

I was hyper-focused on Ren.

“We need to have Talia vet another human to work here?—”