Page 147 of For the Sub

At the time she’d first spoken to him, he hadn’t been interested.

But after he never managed to get to sleep and was operating from exhaustion, fueled by coffee and energy drinks, he’d dug out her business card and called her to set up a meeting.

Because he was ready to sell and she was ready to buy, negotiations had been pretty straightforward.

Since then, he hadn’t returned to the Den. Until now, when there was no one here except for the three of them.

The decision to step back had been the right one, and he’d fallen into a deep sleep soon after talking to Starla.

Unfortunately, nightmares, and a clawing sense of loss had awakened him a few hours later.

He’d taken care of some business.

But not all of it.

Realizing Damien was still waiting for a response, Niles shook his head. “Lost the thread,” he admitted.

That seemed to happen to him all day, every day.

Instead of focusing on business, relentlessly driving toward success, his thoughts were consumed with the beautiful, sexy blonde submissive.

“Does it have anything to do with Brandy?”

Scowling, he swung his gaze toward Gregorio. “The hell?”

Gregorio shrugged.

When Niles said nothing, Gregorio took a drink of Scotch and waited.

Though he knew next to nothing about the man’s past, he’d heard rumors.

Served in an elite special forces unit or a private military company in psychological and rescue operations.

No doubt he’d performed countless interrogations, as evidenced by dropping an innocent-sounding question then exercising untold patience while Niles squirmed.

“Until recently, you hadn’t scened in years.” Damien finally broke the silence. “Then you don’t show up for filming. Now you’re selling your company.” With one eyebrow lifted, he finished. “Doesn’t take an investigator to put all that together.”

The question crossed a line, and he took a small drink from his glass.

Friendship or not, what he and Brandy had shared was personal, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“She hasn’t been herself,” Gregorio said.

“Oh?” Despite himself, his decision not to involve anyone else, he leaned forward, desperate for any information.

The exchanges he’d had with Brandy had been all about business.

But that wasn’t necessarily true for Brandy and his aunt.

The two had evidently met for lunch to chat about ideas.

If Aunt Mame had told him before the event happened, no doubt he’d have shown up.

As it was, Mame told him next to nothing about how Brandy was doing, just that she was such a wonderful person, such a pleasure to be around. And so different from his deceased wife.

“Has she been sceneing?” Jesus. Why hadn’t he been able to hold that question back?

“Does it matter?” Damien countered.

---