Page 134 of Dangerous Men

Hurt. That’s the emotion that flashes in his eyes this time.

“Can we go somewhere to talk?” Alec asks.

“We’re talking now,” I answer, taking my hand back.

“Sydney.” Alec pins me with a look. “I don’t want to have this conversation here. Please.”

It’s the desperation in his eyes that gets me. Like he’s afraid I’ll say no. That I’ll close the door and leave him here, pleading on my doorstep.

I trace the wound on my lip with my tongue one more time. “Fine. Just… let me get my things.”

It takes me a few minutes to pull my phone out of the bits of broken mirror without cutting myself more. On my way out the door, I grab my purse and shove my phone and keys inside.

His town car is parked around the side of my building, the headlights bright in the fading evening light. Alec guides me toward it after I lock up, his hand a comforting presence on the small of my back as he opens the car door to let me inside. When he climbs in next to me, I half expect him to cuddle up to me, like he always does. But he hesitates, his body stiff. When he finally settles against the seat, he leaves a few inches of space between us.

We’re both quiet as the car pulls away from the curb and glides down the street.

“Where are we going?” I ask, finally.

There’s a beat of silence before Alec answers. “My apartment.”

I trace the stitching on the leather seat between us with my finger, staring at the cuts on my hand. The bleeding has stopped. “Another penthouse?” I ask. The words are meant to be teasing, but they come out flat.

Alec’s expression flickers. “Yes and no.” He exhales loudly, running a hand over his face. “I’m taking you tomyapartment, Sydney. The one place my brothers don’t know about. The one place that’s all mine.”

My fingers still on the seat.

“He told me he saw us, you know.” I tell Alec. “After the banquet. Sebastian told me he was watching us.” I stare at him, trying to read his expression. “Did you know?”

Alec squeezes his eyes shut. He looks tired. Crushed. And he won’t look at me.

“I suspected,” he admits. “When Ashton wanted you on the bed, I assumed that was the reason. But no. I didn’t know, not for sure.”

“How was he watching?” I ask. “Were there cameras in the room?” Oh God. My stomach sinks. “Do you… do you have a recording of me? Of us?”

Alec shakes his head quickly from side to side. “No, darling. No.”

“Thenhow?”

He does look at me then, and his eyes look so tired.

“Two-way glass,” he tells me. “There’s a room behind the mirror.”

The mirror. I blush remembering it. Remembering how Ashton positioned me, legs spread wide before my reflection. Like he was showing me off.

“We should have told you,” Alec says, regret heavy in his voice.

I don’t look at him. I don’t answer him.

They should have told me. It’s vile that they didn’t, vile that they let me be seen like that by someone who was a stranger to me.

But the thought of Sebastian behind that mirror, watching me? The thought of him touching himself, staring at me?

I must be broken. There must be something so deeply wrong with me that I like that idea. That it thrills me to know it happened.

The rest of the ride is short and quiet. I can’t seem to bringmyself to say anything more. When we pull up in front of a high-rise building on the outskirts of downtown a few minutes later, I know without being told that we’ve reached our destination. The building design is modern and expensive, and it’s exactly the sort of place I imagine Alec living.

Earl opens the doors for us once the car rolls to a stop. He gives me a small smile and a friendly nod in greeting when I climb out of the car.