Page 29 of Break the Ice

I push past them as if they never appeared in the first place.

Dad and Colt will have to catch me some other time. I’m in no mood for their family dynasty chess games. Colt’s the favorite for that reason—he’s the All-American choir boy to my rebel without a cause. Even when he does the wrong thing, he gives the right answer. It makes him perfect for following in Dad’s footsteps, growing the Golding empire.

Whereas I’m the opposite. I’m a powder keg of chaos that’s liable to explode any moment. Fire that melts the ice with my hot temper and bad boy antics. I create problems for him rather than solve them. I’m a threat to the dynasty. A liability to the Golding name.

Dad thinks so damn low of me, he’s assumed I’m behind what’s happened to Hawk.

Extremely amusing considering that I am.

…in a roundabout way, anyway.

But it’s more fun pretending like it’s some big mystery. It’s a bigger laugh to leave Dad and Colt in the dark about what’s going on.

That’s between me and one other person only.

If you know what’s good for you, Sugar, you’ll be waiting for that car at seven p.m.

I’m seated out on the balcony of the hotel suite I’ve arranged when the clock strikes seven. I spent the evening stuck on speakerphone as Coach Oates chewed me out and I did core work in the gym. He’d ranted about how my behavior had potentially caused even more problems for the team at a time where Hawk’s gone missing and we’re trying to reform ourselves.

I was unconcerned. My mind was on tonight and whether Marisse would show up. If she had any sense of self-preservation at all she’d do as I’ve asked and give me this night.

Every so often, my thoughts drift into wondering why I’m doing this. Why am I protecting Marisse’s secret, and why have I made the proposition I have?

Why the hell did I help her in the first place when I found her?

She’s undeniably an attractive woman, but this is more than that—this kind of lust has reached new levels. It’s obsessive and full of loathing.

Cutthroat.

The desire to crush my opponent but not before I taste every inch of her skin.

I need tonight because I need to get Marisse March out of my system. It’s the only way I’ll be able to move on. I’ll be able to forget the increasing fixation I’ve had with her since she showed up.

I’ve googled the girl. Stalked years back on her socials. Even her fucking LinkedIn profile.

I’ve considered putting an AirTag-like tracker on her car. Just so I can keep tabs and sate my ever-increasing curiosity about her.

Maybe I’ll actually make good on my promise and keep her secret.

Maybe I’ll grow bored of that one day and go back on my word.

It’s going to depend on how I feel. If Marisse behaves herself and gives into my deal for the night, then I’ll go from there.

Seeing the time, I dial up Mitch. “You make it yet?”

“We’re outside her apartment building now. She came down.”

My grin spreads with a flicker of satisfaction on the inside. “Good. I had a feeling she would.”

“No, Alpha. You don’t get it. She did come down… but it wasn’t for the car you sent over. She looked right at us and then strut over to some other car that was waiting.”

“What other car? Who?”

“Some town car like ours that she got into. You want us to follow?”

“Yes!” I growl, springing up from the lounge chair. I pace the length of the balcony, wanting to chuck my phone into the distance stories below. “Follow the car and find out where it’s taking her.”

“What do you want us to do when we track them? Is this a kidnap situation? I don’t have my chloroform or my kidnapping gloves with me.”