Page 65 of Borden 3

He raised his brows. “Fond memories?”

“Memories I revisit before I put them to rest.”

That smile vanished. His eyes darkened. “You came looking for me.”

“No.”

His expression was loaded with arrogance. “Oh, but you did.”

“No, Theo, though I suppose I know where to find you in the unlikely event I do come looking for you.”

Theo shook his head. “You know that’s not how this works.”

Hector’s eyes felt heavy on me. I sensed his confusion as his fingers dug into my skin. I wished he wasn’t present so I could say some things to Theo. Things that I didn’t want Hector to hear.

“Why did you come see me at the charity event?” I asked, sticking to safer topics.

“I couldn’t pass that up. You’re quite hard to get a hold of.”

My eyes narrowed. “Bullshit.”

He looked at Hector now, and his face seemed to convey what I felt. He wanted Hector gone. He raked his teeth over his bottom lip, looking back at me. “Can we talk somewhere quiet?”

“No,” Hector cut in. “This is all the quiet you’ll get.”

“You like living like this?” Theo questioned me, brows coming together. “You can’t even catch up with an old friend without it getting back to your boyfriend?”

“My husband,” I icily corrected him. “He’s my husband.”

“So I hear.”

“I have a son with him, Theo.”

“Does he keep that boy all caged up, too?”

“Watch yourself,” Hector sharply said.

Theo’s face tightened. “Fucking weak, Emma. I expected better than this.”

I caught on to the way the others in the room were coming closer. Dozens of men, shirtless, flexing their muscles, fisting their hands. Hector’s grip tightened. He was watching out, too.

I returned my gaze to Theo. “I did, too.”

Theo’s face split. I almost saw the boy in him staring back at me. Almost. He buried it away, glaring at Hector for a long moment before looking back at me. “If I wanted to see you, I’d have ogres like him around?”

“You don’t need to see me,” I retorted.

“But we have so much to catch up on, don’t we?” His eyes glowed with mischief. “No one else would understand like you, sweet Emma.” And then in a loud proclamation, he said, “For he who shall fall from this point on shall die a cruel death!” He grinned at my glare. “Find me there, at the bottom. Or maybe at the top?”

I said nothing to that, though I understood perfectly what he was saying.

I felt my gut twist.

“Thanks for the visit.” Now he turned his gaze to Hector, coldly adding, “This is the part where you get the fuck out of my face. Oh, but do tell Borden to watch his back.”

Hector’s face hardened. “What the fuck did you just say?”

Theo grinned. “Been hearing whispers, Hector dear. Of spiders building webs around some warehouse locations. Specifically the ones with red tin roofs. I think they might go ‘kaboom.’ But you didn’t hear it from me.”

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