Chapter 21 #2
Before we can make a decision, the door opens, and Colton peers out, blinking at the bright light of the hallway.
“I thought I heard someone out here.” He rubs a hand across his naked chest. “You guys okay? Are you going to come back? Vienna says you were here earlier in the night but had to go out for work.”
“Ah, yeah, we’re good,” I reply, distracted by his naked skin.
These men really are a work of art, like someone sculpted them out of clay.
Shaking my head, I move closer to him, feeling Sage at my back.
“Um, I know it’s late and you’re probably still hurting, but I was wondering if it would be possible for you to help us out? ”
Asking for any kind of help is difficult for me. I like to be able to do everything, but even I know hacking a surveillance feed is beyond my meagre hacking skills.
His eyes brighten, and he becomes more alert. “You want my help? Sure, what can I do for you?”
Sage groans and mutters, “So many things.”
I roll my eyes at his reaction but focus on Colt. “Ah, so Sage and I may have done a little B and E this evening.”
He becomes even more alert, his body tightening with awareness. “Are you guys okay? You didn’t get caught or hurt, did you?”
I wave him off. “No, nothing like that, but I’m embarrassed to admit I forgot about the surveillance cameras.”
Before I even finish explaining, he spins around and reenters their room. Sage and I exchange a glance and follow him. He turns on one of the overhead lights and sits down at the small desk, then he opens up his laptop, and his fingers start flying across the keyboard.
“What’s the address? I’ll hack the feed and erase it.”
“What’s going on?” Xavier sits up in bed, and I see the other two stir as well.
“Just helping Tori and Sage out with something. Go back to sleep.” Colton doesn’t look away from the screen, his focus on the task at hand.
“Hi, how’s your arm and shoulder?” I ask him when he winces, sitting up further.
“A little sore,” he admits, and I walk over, grabbing the bottle of pain pills from the side table and tapping a couple into my palm before passing them to him.
“Here, take these. There is no point in being in pain if you can avoid it.” I hand him the glass of water that is also there, and he doesn’t hesitate to throw them back.
“Are you guys okay?” Vienna sniffs. “You don’t smell smoky this time.”
Sage chuckles. “Nothing quite as dramatic as arson. Just liberating some enemies of something that doesn’t belong to them,” he says vaguely.
“What’s the address?” Colton asks me, and as I rattle it off, Sage pulls the backpack from his shoulder with a cheeky grin.
“How about some role play? You can be Demi Moore, and I’ll be Robert Redford, and I’ll offer you money to sleep with your wife,” he says to Tristan who frowns.
“I’m so much better looking than Woody Harrelson.”
Sage starts pouring the cash onto the bed.
Vienna’s eyes grow wide, but then she purses her lips. “So you think I’m a whore?”
He tosses the bag to the side when he’s finished and puts a finger under her chin, lifting it so he can place a kiss on her lips.
“A very expensive one.” He winks, and she rolls her eyes.
I shake my head at his antics as Tristan wrinkles his nose.
“Ugh, do you know how dirty money is?”
Sage toes his shoes off and leaps onto the bed, making money angels. Vienna giggles at his behavior and showers him with bills.
“Who cares? I’ve always wanted to roll around in a mountain of cash.”
“Where did that come from?” Xavier looks at me, curiosity and wariness in his eyes.
“From someone who didn’t need it.” I shrug, and he frowns, but Colton requires my attention.
“Tori, what the fuck am I looking at?” His voice is hard, and I can tell he found the footage.
The others stop messing around on the bed as Xavier climbs off and peers over Colton’s shoulder. I wince.
“You are looking at the holding cells of a future skin auction,” I tell them bluntly.
Vienna gasps, and she and Tristan scramble off the bed to hurry over to have a look. She puts a hand over her mouth in shock, and Tristan swears up a storm.
“Well, that killed the mood,” Sage grumbles and starts to gather the money off the bed. Thankfully it’s only on the top covers, and the sheets beneath it are still clean.
“And you just left them there? How could you?” Vienna scolds, and I feel it stab through my heart.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” I tell her coldly, becoming the angel of death in an instant.
“But all those people,” she argues, and Xavier puts his hand on her shoulder.
“Leave it, Vienna, I’m sure Tori has a reason.”
She crosses her arms and turns her back on me as Colton continues to input things into his laptop. Suddenly, the screens flash and return to an image without Sage and me in it.
“I looped some earlier footage and spliced it into the gap where I removed the footage of the two of you. They won’t know what happened or who it was,” he tells me, not looking in my direction, and I release a small sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I reply, annoyed that I had to rely on him for his help, but grateful that he did it.
“Do you want to share what’s going on?” Tristan prompts, and I cross my arms and shake my head.
“No, this is one of those things that I can’t share with you. You need to decide whether you are okay with that and still want whatever this is.” I gesture between us. “It’s nonnegotiable.”
There’s a loaded silence, and I guess that tells me everything I need to know.
“Well, okay then. Thank you again. I need to head to bed.” I turn my back on them and walk toward the door. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, and I hold my breath to see what Sage does.
“Goodnight,” I hear him mutter, and again, another rush of air escapes me in my relief. He chose me. God, that feels good.
Before I can pull the door closed behind us, I hear Vienna cautiously call out, “Tori, are we still on for tomorrow?”
“Why don’t you decide what your answer is going to be and let me know?” I reply without looking back, pulling the door closed.
It’s not until we’re in Sage’s room and his arms are wrapped around me that I react to what happened. A small sob escapes my lips before I can stop it, and my chest aches with heartbreak.
“Fuck, I allowed myself to hope for the first time in ages,” I admit as he rubs a hand up and down my back in comfort.
“I know, but don’t count them out just yet. I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised in the morning,” he says reassuringly, but I’m not so sure. It’s a big ask, and I wouldn’t like to be put in the same situation.
“We’ll see,” I mutter before he steers me to the bed, helps me remove my clothes, and holds me as silent tears trail down my face. Damn it, I had been teasing Sage about catching feelings, but he wasn’t the only one.