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“She doesn’t deserve it,” Wendy spits. “And you’re too blind to see she’s just playing you. You think she wants you? She’s using you to get her career back, and the minute she’s succeeded, she’s going to leave you.”

My blood hums and my hands flex at my sides. The old me would have believed that. Believed that I’m not worthy enough for Angelique to want to stay with me, for me. But not the new me. The new me won’t let her slip away again. I take a step forward, close enough that Wendy takes one back.

“Listen carefully,” I say, voice deadly serious. “Stay the fuck away from Angelique. This is your last fucking warning.”

She opens her mouth, but I’m not done.

“Piss her off again, and you don’t just lose the understudy role. You lose Imperium. All of it . ”

Wendy’s face drains of color when she finally understands I’m not bluffing.

Her voice is small. “I understand.”

“Good,” I say. “Now get the fuck out of my house.”

She doesn’t even try to argue as she grabs her clutch and disappears into the crowd. Angelique returns a few minutes later, wearing one of Lando’s oversized shirts. Her damp curls are tied up messily and there’s a tight line around her mouth. She looks tired.

“I think I’m just going to call it a night,” she says, rubbing the back of her neck. “I feel gross and sticky and—yeah. Not in a party mood.”

“I’ll come with you,” I say instantly.

She nods, grateful, and I scan the room for Lando and Terry, but they’ve vanished into the chaos. We slip out the back door and into the cool night air, walking side by side through the gardens to get to the path that leads to the guest house.

I haven’t taken this way to the guesthouse in years and I’m almost surprised when I see the maintained pool come into view. Memories rush back of seventeen-year-old me shoving sixteen-year-old Angelique into the water just to annoy her.

She walks past it without noticing, but I don’t. I turn, grab her around the waist and, in one fluid motion, lift her into my arms.

“Reign! what the hell are you doing— ” she shrieks, but it’s too late.

I toss her and she screams as she hits the water with a splash so loud it echoes through the courtyard. She surfaces, loose curls plastered to her face, eyes wide with shock.

“Are you insane?!” she yells, wiping water from her eyes.

I chuckle, tugging my shirt off over my head, noticing how her gaze catches on my chest. She quietly watches me as she treads water and her eyes travel down my chest, over my stomach, lingering on the ridges.

I take a step forward, toss the shirt to the ground, and dive in.

The water surrounds me, cold and perfect, and I swim under, reaching her in a few easy strokes, before I rise slowly, surfacing just in front of her.

She’s treading water, her back brushing the edge of the pool, and I’m so close now I can feel the ripples from her body touch mine.

I look down at her mouth, then drag my eyes lower, catching the way her soaked, oversized shirt floats around her. Beneath it, I glimpse the pale fabric of her underwear and my skin buzzes. Even though the pool is cool, I feel hot now .

“Sorry for throwing you in. I just figured you wanted the stickiness off,” I say.

I’m not sorry at all.

I reach for her, fingers sliding beneath the water until I find the waistband of her underwear. It’s delicate as it clings to her hips. I tug hard enough to pull her body toward mine, and she lets out a breathy gasp.

“I could’ve just taken a shower at the guesthouse,” she murmurs. But there’s no conviction in her voice. Only heat and want.

“Mmm,” I hum against her neck.

My mouth finds the soft skin just beneath her jaw and I kiss her there, slow and open-mouthed, letting her feel every ounce of restraint I’m not using.

Her breath catches again when my hand slides into her underwear.

She’s warm despite the water, my fingers finding her clit, and I work it in slow, tight circles.

She clings to my shoulders, legs struggling to float, but I hold her there—one hand planted against the pool wall, the other worshipping her beneath the surface.

“A shower wouldn’t be as fun as this,” I murmur into her skin, lips brushing her collarbone.

She closes her eyes and lets her head fall back, hair dripping into the water, chest rising and falling in stuttered, desperate breaths.

I slide two fingers inside her and she moans, her hands digging into my shoulders now, hips rocking forward instinctively as I move in and out, deep and slow. She clenches around me with each thrust, each soft gasp swallowed by the night.

“You’re so fucking beautiful like this,” I whisper.

Her cheeks flush rose-red. Whether from my praise or from the orgasm building behind her eyes, I’m not sure. Her thighs tremble and her lips part wider. She’s close.

I lean forward to kiss her, and she moans into my mouth just as she tips over the edge. I feel her pulse around my fingers, her entire body tightening, breaking, falling apart in my hands.

“Oh my god , what is going on here?”

Lando’s voice cuts through the air like a knife.

Angelique gasps and hides her face in my neck, mortified. I slide my fingers out of her slowly, carefully, then wrap one arm around her waist to shield her as I turn my head. Lando stands poolside, hands on his hips, eyes wide with mock horror. Terry’s next to him and his zipper is down .

I blink and lift a brow. “Zip’s down, Ter.”

Terry glances down, mutters “shit,” and quickly zips it up.

Next to him, Lando instinctively wipes the corners of his mouth then freezes mid-motion like he just realized what he’s doing.

“Oh my god , ” he groans, face twisting in embarrassment. “We’ll be talking about this later , Sinclair!”

He grabs Terry’s hand and yanks him back toward the house, muttering curses the whole way as they vanish into the dark.

Angelique groans into my neck. “I can never show my face again.”

I tighten my hold on her, fingers splayed protectively over her lower back. “Then you’ll just have to stay home with me.”

She huffs a laugh, warm against my skin, and I feel the tension start to melt from her shoulders .

“Home,” she murmurs, like she’s testing the word on her tongue.

I press a kiss to her temple, lingering there. “Yeah. With me.”

She doesn't reply right away, but the way she settles into me—quiet, safe, a little shaky but still here—says enough.

Whatever this is, we're in it now.

Together.