Page 53 of Fool Me Twice

“Didn’t look like it. I’ve never seen you look so…intense,” Fix said slowly.

Hart swallowed and turned back to the big screen. “Let’s concentrate on the case.”

He opened the next file before Fix could disagree.

He could feel Fix staring at the side of his head, his gaze like a hot brand, but eventually he turned his attention back to the board. Hart breathed a small sigh of relief, refusing to let his eyes stray back to his phone.

He didn’t care.

He read through the summary notes, only half focused. The curse had been obvious at first diagnostic procedure, which meant it was useless to them. He groaned in frustration and put his head in his hand.

His phone pinged again, and Hart moved before he even registered the action.

Cane: Are you alone?

Hart contemplated leaving Cane on read this time, but his fingers had already typed a response and hit send.

Hart: No.

Cane: Who’s with you?

Hart: Fix.

The texts stopped again, and Hart wished he had said a different name, one Cane didn’t know, one that would make him storm the room and fight him over it. Pin him down and punish him for ever wanting to be with anyone but him. He closed his eyes and bit his lip. The cut reopened and blood trickled into his mouth, the copper taste making him shiver.

He was losing his mind.

He shoved his phone away from him, removing the temptation and trembling all over.

They went through a few more cases, and Hart was unable to keep still. He tapped his fingers, bounced his leg. All he wanted was to grab his phone. All he wanted was for Cane to come and get him.

Taylor popped her head into the meeting room. “Delivery.”

Fix spun in his seat just in time for Taylor to drop a plastic bag with a few containers inside on his lap.

“We didn’t—”

“The delivery boy said it’s all paid for,” she said before flouncing out.

Fix pulled the food out, opening the containers to find a steak with baked potatoes and vegetables in one. The other held a rich-looking salad with grilled prawns and dressing.

“Do I even have to ask?” Fix said, pushing the salad toward Hart.

He took it, frowning at the container.

His phone pinged again.

Hart stared over at it for a long time before reaching out, happy that Fix was too engrossed in his food to notice. Hart didn’t need the questions. He didn’t have answers to them anyway. At least not any he could say out loud.

He flipped the phone over slowly.

Cane: You need to eat, sweetheart.

Hart was stunned.

The carnal desire, he could take. The push and pull and the violence of who they were together, he could deal with. But Cane being able to read him that well, know him that well…it was too much.

“You hate that I know you. Better than your trainers. Better than your brothers. I know you.”

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