Page 89 of The Deals We Make

Ti pulls me to him. When I’m in my heels, my head hits a little higher on his chest. I can hear his heartbeat, slow and steady. I can feel my own heart slow as I stand quietly in his arms.

“Show me what you do,” I say.

And that puts a big smile on his face. “You’re gonna love my setup, Cal.”

He takes me into what looks like an old in-kitchen pantry as opposed to the large one we just walked through. But when he opens the door, I see a tech setup I’m immediately envious of.

There are banks of monitors on one wall, showing most areas of the clubhouse. I can see people in the main room partying.

He turns on his equipment and walks to the other side of a huge desk on which there are even more monitors.

“From here, I can control and see everything,” he says. He clicks a few buttons, and one of the camera feeds appears on the monitor in front of me. “It’s the long game. Like a player standing at one end of the pitch, I see everything.”

Ti sits on the large chair and tugs me down onto his lap. I can’t help but smile at the playfulness of it.

“Tell me some of the things you’ve done in here,” I say. “I mean, I know they’re probably club secrets or something, but what you can.”

He tucks my head beneath his chin. “The most important thing I’ve ever done in here is try to find those who were missing for whatever reason. Everyone wears a tracker. Every bike has a tracker.” He toggles to an app that shows a map with all the trackers on it, then zooms in.

They’re all labelled.

Niro: Bike.

Switch: Truck.

Briar: Person

Iris: Person

And they are all in and around the clubhouse.

“Who goes missing?” I ask.

“Some days it feels like everyone does, at some point.” He opens the drawer and pulls out a package. He rips into it, jostling me as he does so. I watch as he activates the black disk and then connects it to the app on his screen. Then, he pulls a box from his pocket. “Picked this up for you this morning.”

He opens the box, and inside is a gold locket.

“Oh my gosh. It’s beautiful, Ti.”

Ti slips the tracker into the locket and snaps it shut. “I want you to wear this. All the time. Never take it off. Even if you go back to California. And I want to set up your phone to connect to mine so I know where you are.”

I glance up at him before lifting my hair so he can fasten it around my neck. “I thought you said I’m safe in here.”

He touches my cheek tenderly. “You are. It’s out there in the world I’m worried about.” He tips his chin in the direction of the rear lot of the clubhouse. “You have a stalker.”

“I’m taking care of them.” I hate the ripple of defensiveness that comes through again. “Sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounds. It’s just…I’m putting a lot of money into the problem.”

Ti kisses me, more possessively this time. “While you’re doing the work to take care of them, let me do the work to take care of you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?” he asks.

“Yes. Okay. I’m going to let you take care of me while I’m here.”

Ti lifts an eyebrow. “No deal? No arguing with me that you owe me one?”

“Shut up, or I’ll change my mind.”