Page 65 of Fool Me Twice

“I’ll let go if you don’t bolt for the exit as soon as I do,” Cane bargained.

Hart’s eyes shifted tellingly, and Cane tried to ignore the way it burned.

“Okay,” Hart said finally. “I won’t go.”

Cane knew he only meant for now. It was temporary. Ephemeral.

Cane wished it meant more. He wished it meant everything.

But he would take this for now.

Chapter 14

Cane

He sneered as he stared out at the half-empty warehouse in front of him. It looked like they’d just come out of a fucking apocalypse with the way people huddled away from each other in small groups, leaving empty seats between them as if that would help them.

The private booths though, those were full.

Full of the people he truly didn’t want to see on an evening like this. People who weren’t regulars. People who hadn’t come to have fun and make a few deals and a couple of thousand slates.

No.

They were there to watch him fall. To strip the carcass of his failing business like the vultures they were. He saw money exchange hands before the fight even started. He saw looks thrown his way as the bickering kept tensions high.

There was a chance this would end horribly for him. He knew that. But they were all out of options to catch whoever was fucking up Cane’s life in action.

Through the mire he could feel another set of eyes. A feeling that was both familiar and different enough that it stood out from the rest. He scanned the crowds for the owner of the prickle on the back of his neck.

“You’re tense,” Hart said as he approached, keeping an infuriating few inches between their bodies. For appearances.

Cane wanted him bent over something. Naked and bruised and screaming. He wanted it to be the only thing he saw, the only thing he thought of. He hadn’t had enough time to gorge himself on Hart the way he wanted to. The way he’d always planned to once he finally had Hart back under his hands.

The desperate, rushed tryst they’d had in Cane’s office had barely been enough to take the edge off. It was barely a taste. A small release from the pressure valve before Hart’s brain started getting all professional and throwing out ideas.

Despite it being Cane’s business and life on the line, he found it hard to concentrate when Hart was naked and spent next to him. He was like a drug. Definitely a weakness. And Cane had to step back and deal with real life before he allowed this thing to take him under.

So they’d parted to put the plan in motion, and now he was here. Working. Scheming, instead of burying himself in Hart and letting everything else fade away.

“Wanna do something about that, sweetheart?” he said through clenched teeth, allowing himself a moment of enjoyment at Hart’s visible shiver.

Thank fuck, he thought at the sight of it. Hart had looked entirely too unmoved by what had happened yesterday, and it made Cane want to do something crazy.

The little crack in Hart’s mask kept him in check.

He was done with pretending between them.

“Not in front of me.”

Cane whipped around to find Ash standing there with his hands in his pockets. His infuriating grin stretched around a lollipop as he looked between the two of them. Hart took a pointed step to the side, away from Cane. Cane fought down the feral urge to piss a circle around him to mark his territory.

“Ash.” Hart fussed unnecessarily with the cuff of his fancy shirt.

“Hart,” Ash said, matching Hart’s tone. He plucked the lollipop from his mouth to wave it in the air. “Candy Cane.”

“I hope someone stabs you,” Cane said casually.

Ash barked out a laugh. “Would be fun. But Morgan would kill me, so let’s hope not. Also, it’s admirable that you can joke about your misery already. Shows true resilience.”

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