The muscle in his jaw flexed. "We have a plan in play.”

  “Well, then you just have to let it right out." I crossed my arms, putting a little space between us. Because when he was this close, I couldn't pay attention.

  "I'm not telling you what the plan is. It's for your own safety."

  He took a step back. Immediately, I missed his heat, his scent... even the smell of whiskey. Why was he drinking whiskey? Every now and again, Bridge would have a scotch, but he was so tightly controlled it was very rare. I didn't think I'd ever seen him drunk. Hell, I'd never seen him truly let loose and have some fun. Never. Not once. "We had an agreement, remember? And you boys tried to cut me out of it. You sent me away."

  "I made it so that you could spend some time with your mother."

  "Yeah, see, I love Mum, and she is enjoying New York immensely. But that wasn’t the deal. I'm back now, and I want in."

  "You have a job."

  "One I’m working remotely for. And I intend to find out what the fuck is going on."

  "Like I said, there's a plan in motion. Don't get involved."

  He turned from me, and I grabbed his arm, leaning into him and pressing my body into his. And just for the briefest moment, I could feel the shiver run through him. "Are you backing out? You know, I intended to be part of this. If you don't talk to me, if you don't share, if you leave me out of it, I'll go around you."

  I watched him visibly swallow even as his gaze narrowed. "Time's up. It's late. You have two options. I'll put you in a car with my security and they’ll take you home, or you can stay here and I’ll take you home in the morning. Where are you staying?"

  I pressed my lips together. "I'm not telling you that."

  "Right, so your mum’s house it is."

  Yes, I was staying at my mum's house, but that wasn't the point. The point was that I wanted to get the lay of the land before picking a new flat. I'd already asked Telly to see if there was a unit at her building. She lived right above Vauxhall Station. Good location. Central with quick access to the tube and a gorgeous view. "It doesn't matter where I'm going. About my second option?" I purred as I leaned in to him. "Should I help you keep your bed warm now that it's been cold for a while?"

  He hissed. But I could see the way that his gaze flickered to my lips. I licked them for good measure, trying to see if I could tempt the devil to come out and play. He'd never taken me up on the offer. It didn't matter what I looked like or how I acted, I just wasn't one of those women that he would ever touch. But tonight, the way he was looking at me like I was finally on the menu, it was my turn to shiver. "You've been trying to tempt me for years. What happens when one day I take you up on it?"

  The question hung between us.

  Heat bloomed in my chest, spread out, and concentrated itself at the apex of my thighs. Bridge took a step, closing the gap between us. I held my stance and lifted my chin so I could meet his gaze. "I’m tired of the dance, Bridge."

  His low chuckle as he leaned close sent another shiver of piercing need through me. "If I finally give you what you've been asking for, are you going to run?"

  I held his gaze. "I don't run. I'm pretty sure it's going to be you who can't handle this."

  If there were awards for bravado, I would win. Little did he know that he was capable of shattering my soul.

  Best not to tell him that then.

  Never.

  I would never tell anyone. Because all my concentration was on getting revenge, making Francis Middleton pay for my brother's death. After that, I'd go off and live my full life.

  One Bridge kept insisting I needed to have. The one my mother worried about constantly. But not before then.

  "Emma," his voice was a rasp.

  "Go on, Bridge. I dare you."

  Bridge

  Why was it always like this with us?

  Emma Varma, the one woman I couldn't touch. I’d made a promise to her brother once, a promise to look out for her. At the time, it had been some silly little incidental watch out for my sister at some concert sort of thing. He hadn't known that Emma was exactly my kind of kryptonite. I loathed her. I really did.

  Lies.

  She had this energy about her. It was almost frenetic. She was always bouncing. Jumping here and there. And she had this way of laughing. It was so bright and sunny and hopeful. And every time I looked at her, I wanted to strip off that hope until she was bare and she could see the realities about the world.

  Well, aren't you a dark fucker?

  That laugh. It was like she was mocking me with her sunshine. She had this enthusiasm about her. She never did anything measured. And she always added a dose of radiance, which, dear God, it was a wonder she was still alive. I should know. I'd pulled her out of enough scrapes.

  And why did she always have to smell so good? She was like that tempting flame that you knew you shouldn't touch. But still, there it was, dancing in front of you, laughing at you, mocking you. And sure enough, you just had to reach forward like a moth to the flame.

  That was Emma Varma in living form. Her dark locks were pulled back into what appeared to be a low, tight ponytail, and she was dressed head to toe in black. The top and the black leather pants hugged her body closely enough to make her appear almost naked. The way she would look in a silhouette. Fucking hell.

  What was it about me that wanted to steal some of her light for myself and hold on to it?

  She was close. So close. The scent of jasmine wrapped around me, testing me, tempting me, teasing me. Ever since the first time I'd met her, she had been trying to destroy me. It was the only explanation for her behavior. She was always there, demanding a smile, trying to make me laugh. And when I didn't, she would pout. I remembered the first time I saw her. I'd been struck dumb. Completely frozen in place when Toby's little sister had bounded out of the car. It had been a parent's weekend. Mum hadn't been able to come because she'd had to work, and obviously, my father wasn't coming, so I planned to just hang out with my mates. Toby's mum had come, along with Emma. The first time I'd seen her, Toby and I were thirteen, she was ten. She'd straight up asked me where my parents were. And that had stung. It was like she could see straight to the loneliness that was eating me alive.

  When I told her to mind her business, it was like I could see her digging in her heels, determined to spread sunshine my way. By the end of the twenty-four-hour visit, she’d made all of us friendship bracelets with these intricate, woven designs that I didn't even know were possible. The ones that kids at school did were always some simple concoctions. But no, not Emma Varma, because God forbid, she wasn't going to do anything halfway. Her mum said she'd stayed up half the night making them. Mine was the biggest of them all. She said it was because I needed more friendship than the rest.

  God, I hated her. I hated that she saw me so clearly. I hated that she knew what I needed. At the same time, that little girl had chewed me up on the inside. I'd kept that damn bracelet.

  My little sliver of sunshine. But that girl was now this woman, teasing me, tempting me, grinding her hips against me, trying to make me break. Why was she always trying to break me? I'd never done anything to her. I'd only ever been minding my own bloody business. And yet there she was, finding ways to demand that I give her some of my time, my attention, my soul. Well, I had no interest in giving my soul.

  And also, you told Toby you'd protect her.

  And in that moment, the things that I wanted to do with her had nothing to do with protection. She was in my house. Up to no good. Demanding that we read her in on the Middleton situation.

  Eleven years ago, our mate, Toby, her brother, had died in our secret society initiation. For ten years we'd thought it had been an accident. Something unavoidable. And then we'd found out that it wasn't an accident. That it had been preventable. The brothers on duty had deliberately not helped him. They'd let him die. We'd taken down two of them, and there was just one left to deal with. And we were hell-bent on bringing down the final one. The Elite had made a lot of mistakes over the years. We had the opportunity to change it, or we could burn it down. We were leaning toward changing it, but burning it down was still an option too.

  But Emma… Emma couldn’t be part of it. We'd all agreed to keep her away. We'd learned the hard way just how dangerous our so-called brothers were. What they'd been up to, what they were willing to do in order to hold onto their power. We could handle the fallout, but I'd be damned if we’d let Emma get caught in the crosshairs. Try as I might though, I couldn't get her to listen. I couldn't get her to agree to walk away.

  Six weeks ago, I'd sent her away. I'd gotten her a dream job with an advertising firm working in their crisis management department. I called in a few favors. Her mum was originally from New York and had family there. And Pamma Auntie had been looking for a change. I think the anniversary of Toby's death really did her in. So I'd arranged for her to be taken care of. She had a sister in in New York and one in Toronto So we set her up in New York, and she could build a life there while going to Toronto as often as she wanted. The last I’d heard, she'd gone back to school and was even dating again. The idea of Pamma Auntie dating made me want to laugh. Although, she had that same sunshiny aura about her that her daughter did.

  Her sunshine doesn't bother you though. Only Emma's.

  "You look like you want to eat me alive, Bridge. Do you?"

  Fuck me. "Why do you do this?"

  "Do what?" She angled her chin at me defiantly.

  "You're trying to push me to my breaking point."

  "And you're close. I can tell. Just let go. You'll feel better."

  She rocked her hips in a small figure eight again, and I had to clamp my teeth down hard. I slid my hands up her back and then to her hair, then wound her ponytail around my wrist. "Do you understand that you are not ready for this?"

  "Oh, on the contrary, Bridge. I think you're the one who’s not ready. Go on, have a taste. I know you want to."

  I swallowed hard. I was always right on the edge of control with her. Always just desperate enough to give in. This was her fault. I didn't do things like this. Sure, I liked women. And since Mina had proven herself to be such a conniving bitch, I was availing myself of all the available, and not so available, women in London. And there were many. I could do mindless and easy. It was like a workout. And fuck, I liked sex. I liked it raw and dirty. Fun and playful. Any way I could get it. I didn't realize that Mina had kept me on this tether for years, doing my father's bidding. Jesus Christ. I blinked rapidly and shoved Emma away from me. "Enough. You can have the room down the hall to the right."

  She glowered at me. "Why do you do that? Pretend you don't want me."

  "I'm not pretending Emma. I don't want you."

  Liar.

  I could feel my inner self doing a double-take so hard I almost spun myself around.

  "You don't want me? Fine. It's bullshit, but fine. You know I could fuck anyone, right?"

  The fuck she would. It was better not to tell her that though. It would just make her run out and fuck the first guy she saw. Not that she'd actually get that far because I would stop her and lock her in this house until she saw reason.

  Oh yeah, that sounds completely rational.

  She rolled her eyes. "God, you're so fucking uptight. Would you relax? I didn't come here to steal your ever-present virtue. I want Middleton's head on a spike. And I'm pretty sure Nyla would have shot me if she had caught me at East’s. And well, you know Olivia and Ben. I would have gotten an eyeful of something I didn't want to see. So that left you. And Drew… Well, Drew is sort of a prick."

  "Drew is not a prick.” Okay, sometimes Drew was a prick, and something was up with his wife, so she was smart to avoid that ticking bomb. “I love hearing that I'm the last resort."

  "Yeah, pretty much. You think I would voluntarily come and talk to you? I don't know what the hell I ever did to you that makes you always act like such a twat. You made a deal with me. You made me a promise."

  "I did no such thing. Ben made you a promise. I told him to keep you out of it. He has reconsidered now."

  "Not my problem. If you're upset about it, that's too bad. Jesus, are you really not going to help me?"

  "No, I'm not. You're going to get yourself killed. I want no part of that."

  "Then help me."

  "God, you're so fucking obstinate. You won't listen to anyone. You think you're the only one who misses Toby?"

  "I'm his goddamn sister, aren't I?"

  I ground my teeth and tugged her back. "Get in the fucking bedroom."

  "Oh yes, you do know how to talk to a woman." She shook off my hold. "Make me."

  "Emma…"

  "Bridge," she mocked.

  "You're staying here. It's too late for you to go back to your mum’s.”

  “Like I said, you can’t make me. You’re not going to hold me like a fucking prisoner. You're not my father. Need I remind you that he is the worst kind of arsehole? I don’t need another one in my life. I’m going home."

  I stepped in her path. "You're staying the night, Emma. It's fucking 2 a.m."

  "Yes, and? You know, there are a million bars that I could go to all over London that are still open right now. Find me a nice bloke. Shag in a nice dirty alleyway."

  She'd pressed herself against me again, and I steeled myself. I couldn't stop the blood reeling in my veins though. "Fuck off, Emma."

  "Don't you wish I would?" She giggled then, twirling away and heading toward the hallway that would lead to the foyer and right out my door. She really didn't think I would do it. Well, as it turned out, Emma Varma didn't know me that well at all. I marched out after her, and she cast a look back at me as if to ask what the fuck I was doing. But before the words could tumble out of her mouth, I picked her up easily, flipped her over my shoulder, and carried her down the hallway to the bedroom.

  She screamed, battering me with somewhat ineffectual hits on my back. She tried kicking, but I wrapped my arm around her legs and then swatted her ass with my free hand. "Behave. It's just for the night. And trust me, the last thing I would want to do is join you. I'm just keeping you safe."

  "If you don't let me go right this instant, I swear to God, I will fillet your skin off your stupid muscles."

  "Oh, you noticed those muscles then?"

  That only made her kick harder, which earned her another swat on the ass.

  Her shocked gasp had my blood heating.

  Oh no, you don't. We're not doing that. Not with Emma. She deserves better than you.

  Once at the bedroom, I marched to the bed and dropped her down unceremoniously. She landed so hard she bounced. I worked hard to keep my lips from twitching at the sight of her with her dark ponytail bouncing along and cascading down her shoulders and her furious scowl as she glowered at me. "This is kidnapping."

  "Sue me." And then I marched out, using the keypad outside the door to lock her in.

  The room was designed as a panic room. I had converted it into a guest room, but the panels were still there. The only difference was that there were two panels. One on the outside and one on the inside. And I locked her in. If I had a heart, I'd have been slightly concerned that I was keeping her against her will.

  But this was Emma. I knew just how much trouble she could get herself into, so I got over that fast.

  Chapter Three

  Bridge

  I wasn't a complete monster. It wasn’t exactly like I’d kidnapped Emma.

  No, just unlawfully detained her.

  For her own good.

  I'd eventually let her out. I unlocked the door that morning before I left at five-thirty. I’d also left her a note, letting her know that security would take her anywhere she needed to go and or would have her car driven to her.

  I knew she wouldn't appreciate it, and she would be well mugged off. But when I looked in on her, she was passed out in the most hilarious fashion. Emma slept like a starfish. A sloppy starfish to boot. The covers were kicked off the bed and she laid right across the center of it, hair in a tangle around her face. I had to resist the urge not to go and smooth her dark locks away so that the moonlight could hit that beautiful cinnamon skin. But of course, I didn't touch her because that would be creepy and also one hell of a temptation I did not need.

  So I’d walked away and stuck to my program. A quick early morning text to Mum to remind her to take her medication. I’d also set several alarms at her house. But I knew how she was when she was working on something new. She ignored lots of alerts and warnings. Then I headed for a workout. My trainer and I hit the mats for forty-five minutes. The jiu-jitsu got my blood flowing, and I could already think more clearly.

  Ever since my first time on the mats, when I’d had my arse thoroughly handed to me, I’d clicked with the sport. It hadn’t felt good to fail so spectacularly the first time out, but the moves had felt good to my body, like something I could learn. It calmed down some of my wild, angry energy. And that was exactly what I had needed this morning, especially after a fitful night of sleep while thinking about Emma.

  A nice Zen hum.

  Was it the jiu-jitsu or the blow job from the yoga instructor right after that brought on the Zen?

  Sigh.

  Honestly, I was almost disgusted with myself. What was her name again? Lizbeth? Lilibeth? Something. Lily? I honestly didn't know. But she was always there setting up for her class that was thirty minutes after my training session at the gym. Sure, I could have had my instructor come to the house. It would have been more convenient. But I liked the routine of leaving home, going somewhere. Being responsible to someone else. It forced me out of some of my more selfish habits. Almost made me seem human.

  In retrospect, I was well aware that in the past I had been eager to leave Mina's bed just to avoid early morning complaints. The blonde instructor had made it apparent from day one that she was more than happy to jump on my particular ride.

  I'd never taken her up on it until this morning. I’d still had all that edgy energy from the round with Emma. I just needed something to take the edge off. She had wanted to kiss, and I'd told her I didn't do that.