Page 54 of Dark Soul

“Of course. I need to get rid of this, and I’ll be right back,” he said, pulling the crisp, white duvet around her slim body.

“I love how warm it is here,” she said.

He didn’t tell her he’d turned the heating on as far as it went, just for her. The guys would probably bitch at him all night, but they could sleep outside on their balconies, for all he cared. If Alexia was happy, that was all that mattered to him.

He stood up and walked over to the ensuite bathroom. After the last four years, he’d never take such luxuries for granted again.

He took off the condom and washed his hands, looking down at his wrists. There was nothing there—no mark on his wrists to indicate where he’d been or what he’d done. And yet, the handcuffs were still there. They might not be visible, but that didn’t mean he was a free man.

Dark walked back to the bedroom and looked at Alexia. The bed covers rose and fell softly with each breath she took. She looked like she’d fallen asleep.

And he wanted to get under those covers with her and hold her—wanted it so badly it hurt, right in the center of his chest. But something stopped him.

You’re not a free man.

You shouldn’t be going around acting as if you were.

In another life … in another life, he might have been the right kind of man for her. But in this life, he wasn’t free to pursue a relationship.

He steeled himself against the pain. He wasn’t free to pursue a relationship with Alexia, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do everything in his power to protect her. To make sure that, whatever happened, she wasn’t hurt.

17

* * *

Dark

“What are you thinking about, Dark?”

Alexia.

“The charity event,” he answered automatically.

“Pascale and Carrie are working on getting us tickets,” Rogue said.

“Still?” Griffin grumbled.

“It’s not the kind of thing you pick up on Amazon,” Rogue replied.

“Indeed, it’s not,” a voice said behind them.

All of them, except for Griffin, jumped a mile high. Dark cursed out loud as Thorne came into the games room.

“Jesus, Thorne, have you ever heard of knocking?”

“I had a set of keys, and didn’t think it’d be worth interrupting your work,” the man said. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a jumper with little skiers on it. The jumper might be a better disguise if he weren’t holding himself so stiffly.

“Nice jumper,” Griffin said, snorting. “Will we be getting matching ones?”

“Finish the job and I’ll get you all the jumpers you like.” His eyes roamed the games room. “Improved your game any?” he asked, pointing at the table tennis table.

“Fuck off, Thorne,” Dark said. “You know we haven’t been playing games.”

Thorne sighed. “I know. I brought you your tickets,” he said, giving an envelope to Dark. “Courtesy of the International Children’s Charity.”

“You came all the way here to deliver these?” Dark asked, his tone harsh. He held Thorne’s gaze, trying to figure out what the man was really doing here.

He doesn’t trust us to get the job done.