Page 324 of Master of My Life

He pressed his lips together as they crawled into the back of a taxi. “Do you know why?”

Lia glanced at the taxi driver and shrugged.

The short drive was quick and quiet. Inside the hotel room, he sat down on the bed and rubbed his

head. Lia sat next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. “I know you don’t want to do those

things anymore,” she said softly.

“I don’t.” He sighed. “But something inside me does.”

“Maybe it’ll get easier as time goes by.”

“Maybe.”

“What do you think?” Chase asked as he pulled away from the curb in front of Jayson’s apartment. He

glanced in the rearview mirror at Lance and Ethan.

Lance shrugged. Ethan looked thoughtful. Sabrina stared out the side window.

“I almost feel bad for hating him before,” Ethan said at last.

Chase nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. He’s a different man than the person we met

before.”

“But your gut’s never wrong, Chase,” Lance said.

“I know.” He glanced at Sabrina. “What do you think?”

“The darkness is gone,” she said quietly. She looked at him. “I hadn’t realized it before, but there

was a darkness that surrounded him. It’s not there anymore.”

Ethan nodded. “Maybe he changed? Maybe there was a reason to hate him and he . . . got rid of

it?”

Chase sighed. He’d watched the man all evening. There was something different. Every once in a

while, Chase would see a glimpse of it, but it seemed the man was fighting it. Fighting . . . something.

“Maybe.”

56

TWO WEEKS AFTER GOING OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH S ABRINA AND HER HUSBAND , DAMIAN SAT ON

his bed in the hotel room, staring at the floor. His head ached and he rubbed his temple. Lia had told

him he needed to spend as much time with Sabrina as possible, and he had. Unfortunately, every time

he did so, the beast inside him grew stronger. He was constantly barraged with headaches and he just

wanted to crawl into bed and sleep.

Sydney sat on the couch, as usual, playing on her phone. She only spoke or moved if he told her

---