Page 65 of Perfect Rhythm

“And before you start overthinking everything I’m saying, let me make it plain. You’re the kind of woman who has his attention in a way that I’ve never seen. He wants you in his space, and despite you trying to fight it, you want him in yours.” He paused for a second, eyes flicking away like the words hurt to say. “That kind of connection? It doesn’t come around often. It pulls you in, whether you’re ready or not. So if you’re smart, you don’t run from it. You hold on while it’s yours. Because nothing that powerful lasts forever.”

I tilted my head, studying Trace closely.

He wasn’t just talking to talk. It sounded like he was speaking from personal experience, which caught me off guard. I never took him as the type who had been touched by love, let alone affected by it. Then again, I didn’t know him well enough to say that for sure. He just moved like someone who didn’t care about that kind of thing.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Trace ignored me and continued. “What he did last night was him protecting someone he truly cares about. Now, you might need some time to adjust to that idea, but either way, you’re going to eventually give in. The shit’s inevitable.”

“But what if I don’t want to give in? What if it just lands me exactly where I already am? Mistreated and cheated on.”

Trace shook his head. “That won’t happen.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Shade’s committed. He doesn’t commit to shit that he can’t follow through on.”

I pondered his words.

It sounded good. But men would be men. That had been proven.

“Just take me to get my keys,” I said, finally moving toward the elevator.

Bottom line, I had no business even entertaining the idea of being with someone else. If anything, I should’ve been thinking about how I was going to get my lick back and embarrass the hell out of Eli. But honestly, I wasn’t even in the mood for that.

Trace gestured for me to step into the elevator, then trailed in behind me. I waited for him to punch in the code to the penthouse, but he told me the numbers instead.

“I thought that was like classified information or some shit.”

“It is. But Shade wanted you to have access whenever you needed it.”

Wow, this man is dead ass serious.

Not saying another word, I keyed the number into the small touch screen and stepped back.

“Your fingerprint is now locked in, so you’ll only have to press the first button for full access in the future.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep,” Trace replied before folding his hands in front of him and looking up.

We rode in silence, the elevator quietly carrying us to the top floor.

I tried to steady my breathing, reminding myself that I just needed to hold it together long enough to get what I came for.

Be strong, Nyx. You got this.

27

NYX

“So, are you coming in or are you just going to stand in front of the elevator all day?” Shade sat on the couch, a smooth smirk on his face. If it were left up to me, I would’ve raced over to him and knocked it right off. But I knew better. The only smart thing to do was to keep my distance.

“I’m good right here. Can you just give me my keys, please? Oh, and my phone too. Did I leave it in your car?”

He stood up and walked over to a desk that was in the corner of the room. Slowly, he opened a drawer and pulled out everything that belonged to me.

Relief washed over me when I saw my phone.

Thank God. I didn’t feel like having to replace it.