Page 122 of House of Payne

How much of the empire did he help build?

And why do I care so much about the blood he has on his hands?

It’s not as if he hid it from me.

Nothing you learn will change the fact that you had sex with him. Twice. Or that you’re attracted to him. So, you have a thing for powerful men. So what?

I’m not the first woman to be seduced by darkness, nor will I be the last.

Still, knowing just how dangerous Mason and his world are unsettles me in a way nothing else has.

Even learning about the seedy underbelly of the club doesn’t have the same impact.

But knowing that I’m starting to care about him doesn’t make it better.

Mason continues to look at me, and eventually, I look away. I feel his eyes follow me as I weave through the crowd, ignoring a few catcalls along the way. When I reach the hallway, I lean against the cleaning cart and place a hand on my chest. I count the steady thundering until it slows, and get back to work.

Mason isn’t far from my thoughts.

I spend the rest of the afternoon flitting from one room to the next and wondering how much the employees of the House of Payne know.

How much of the truth is revealed to them, and how much did they uncover on their own?

How many of them just don’t give a fuck as long as they repay their debt?

You’re going to need to learn to be one of those people because you made a commitment. Like it or not, you have to see it through. You promised to survive whateverhappens next. Nothing will change that.

Nothing can change that.

All learning that information has done is steel my resolve to make it out as unscathed as possible.

The only way for me to do that is to turn a blind eye to everything.

Including my frustratingly growing attachment to Mason Payne.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Mason

I slam my hands against the table and send the glass flying into the nearest wall. Shards fly in every direction, and a pool of liquid forms on the hardwood floors beneath me. I curl my hands into fists and look at Carlisle, who hasn’t flinched.

“What the fuck do you mean they’re going to cut us out?”

“I reached out to a few guys I know on the inside,” Carlisle replies after a brief pause. “So far, they’re just rumors, but they have reason to believe that the Fitzpatricks and Everetts are moving forward with a new alliance.”

Those bastards.

As if moving in on our territory isn’t bad enough.

Now, they’re muscling us out of an arrangement that goes back decades.

I should’ve known the meeting at the club wouldn’t be enough of a peace offering, not with this deal threatening to derail everything.

A small voice in the back of my mind wonders if it’s because I pushed them too far.

First at the docks and then with the disastrous meeting conducted days ago.

How am I going to fix this?