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“Kaden didn’t do this to me,” he said, gesturing to his bashed-up face and body. “I did it to myself getting out of the apartment.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was . . . I was locked in,” he said, looking down, feeling embarrassed.

Mason took hold of his hand and stroked the back of his knuckles gently with his thumb. It was soothing. He could hear Mason breathing heavily, and wasn’t sure why, so he looked up. The man looked like he wanted to kill someone, and Zeb knew it wasn’t him.

“I wasn’t locked in the whole time. It was just when he went away for Thanksgiving to see his family.”

“And what if there had been a fire?”

“I don’t . . . well, it was okay as I got out anyway.”

“How?”

“Er . . .”

“It’s okay if you’re not ready to talk about it.

“No, it’s fine. It’s just embarrassing.”

“You’ve nothing to be ashamed of, and it’s only me here. Nobody else needs to know.”

“But you do?”

“Yes. I do need you to tell me, but only when you’re ready.”

The softness of Mason’s voice wasn’t something Zeb was used to. Yet it still had that commanding edge to it, in the same way he held respect in the kitchen. It was kinda hot as well. Not something he should think about with Mason sitting this close.

“I used a chisel to force the window open. That’s how I did this,” he said, holding his stitched arm up. “Then I had to slide down a drainpipe to get to the ground. Luckily, it was stable, but I went too fast and scraped myself on the brick. At the bottom, my foot caught on something, and I fell. It wasn’t far. Only a couple of feet, but I landed on my face, which is why I look like this.”

Mason looked pissed. He was referred to as Mr. Grumpy at work, but the look on his face right now was something else.

“How did you get to the restaurant?”

“I walked.”

“From where?”

“Williamsburg.”

His eyes widened. “How long did that take?”

“A couple of hours. I’m not sure. I got lost a few times, and people were wary of helping with directions because of how I looked.”

“Why didn’t you call?”

“I don’t have my phone anymore.”

“What happened to it?”

“Kaden suggested I move over to his plan as it would save money. There was an issue moving my number over, so I lost everything.”

Mason let out a sigh, as if he were holding onto his temper. He wasn’t mad at Zeb, was he? It had sounded genuine when it happened, but Zeb had had no way of getting hold of anyone when he’d lost all his backup data. He could have called the restaurant, but given how he’d left, he was too embarrassed. There was no way he could get hold of Hunter any other way. He had thought about calling Deacon, as he knew where he worked, but he was friends with Mason and would know what he did. It had all been too shameful.

Kaden had often reminded him of how much Mason and Hunter had betrayed him, and he’d bought it. The way he’d believed everything he said. It was only when he was locked in that apartment on his own that he realized he’d been manipulated and controlled yet again. He’d known he had to get out before Kaden came back.

“I think that’s enough for now. Do you want some breakfast?”