Page 26 of Judging Duke

“I have a massage I need to get ready for. Say one word to anyone about this, and I’ll…”

“You’ll what? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone your precious secret.”

I stared at him, wondering if I did, in fact, believe him.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.”

He shrugged and left the room. I had a feeling that the whole staff would know soon enough. And there was another reason not to stick around.

My past was just that, and no one had a right to know anything.

The thought sat with me for the rest of the day, and when I returned home that evening, I made a plan. One that didn’tinvolve working for someone else, one that meant leaving here, but it felt right.

It was time to move—back to where I felt at home. Back to Liverpool.

CHAPTER SIX

SIMON

My mind filled with conflicting thoughts as the car sped away from the hotel the following day. The ivy-covered walls disappeared from view, but the image of the man I loathed remained.

What the hell had I been thinking, forcing Duke against the wall and kissing the shit out of him?

But he’d been as turned on as I was and had returned the kiss with vigour. The thought of his thick lips moving against mine, his tongue as it invaded my mouth, had me wanting more.

My mind was hazy as to how we’d ended up in that position, but I couldn’t forget the push and pull, the ferocity of him as he claimed my mouth. I’d started off wanting to dominate him, to force him into some kind of submission, only to find myself surrendering to his authority.

He had the air of a man who didn’t take no for an answer, not at all like the boy I knew all those years ago.

He’d been timid then, only coming out of his shell if he knew you well, which, of course, he had. He and Robbie had been friends for years.

Whatever happened to him after he left home had changed him, and I was curious to discover what that was.

Why did I care so much? Why was I sitting here, unable to get him out of my head?

I touched my mouth, still able to feel the ghost of his lips against mine. I licked them, but the taste of him was gone.

I’d lain awake all night, tossing and turning. Guilt eating at me. He was the guy who had thrown all our lives into turmoil.

He’d ruined the life we’d had, especially Robbie’s, and I’d hated him for so long. I never imagined I’d ever feel anything but that. Seeing him, though, tasting his lips, feeling the hard press of his body against mine, it had distorted every thought I’d had since the accident.

“Where to Mr Fletcher?” the driver asked.

“What did Dexter say?” No doubt he had plans for me.

“To take you wherever you wanted to go.” Crystal-clear blue eyes stared at me through the rear-view mirror. Once upon a time, I might have asked him to pull over somewhere secluded. I was a sucker for blue eyes, but now, I only wanted the dark chocolate-brown eyes of the man that had ruined my life staring back at me.

“Take me to see my brother,” I ordered him and closed the privacy glass. I wanted to be alone in my head, to make sense of what I was feeling.

I knew seeing Robbie would reaffirm my hatred, and I wasn’t wrong.

By the time we arrived home, Robbie was in the middle of one of his physio sessions. Despite not being able to walk, Carlos, his physiotherapist, would come in to work with him. He’d push him hard, doing his best to keep him active.

“You’re a bastard.” Robbie’s voice rang out, followed by the deep rumble of Carlos’s laughter.

“I’m here to help you. Stop being a baby.”

“Don’t call me a fucking baby, you sadist!”

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