Page 76 of Training His Pet

“Maybe he just wanted you out of the way so he could get chummier with those Persuccio bastards,” Trevor offered.

“I’ll find out when we get home.” Dax nodded. Speculating wouldn’t get him real answers.

“And if he’s been working his way onto the Persuccio crew? What then, Dax? You own that club, too. If he’s doing illegal shit with it, you go down with him.” Trevor laid it out plainly. He wasn’t wrong. If Corbin was doing shady work with the club, Dax’s name was all over the business. Even if he knew nothing, dealt with nothing, he might still go down with Corbin. But he had to believe Corbin wouldn’t put them both in danger. He had to have faith that his little brother wasn’t as selfish and self-serving as others saw him.

But if he wasn’t? What would Dax do about it? What road would he go down? Fight one of the strongest families in the city to get his brother back? How far down that rabbit hole had Corbin sunk? Did he even want help?

“Until I know for sure what’s going on, I’m not making decisions,” Dax stated in a hard tone.

Silence settled between them. Out of everyone Dax knew, Devin would understand the need to protect his brother. And Trevor knew Dax well enough to know, he wouldn’t just abandon his brother. Not when there was still a chance to get him back on the straight and narrow.

“How have things been going with Erika?” Trevor broke the silence with a change in topic. No one wanted to argue with Dax about his little brother, and Dax wasn’t in the mood to figure out what bullshit he’d been fed.

“Fine. She’s not as hard to deal with as I thought. Just needed to learn her language.” Dax leaned his hip against the wall.

Trevor chuckled and Devin rolled his eyes.

“She’s not getting any ideas about writing a piece on this place, is she? ‘Cause she was asking a lot of questions when I found her in the dungeon the other day.” Devin pointed a finger at Dax. Privacy and seclusion were the biggest selling points of Whispered Desires.

“I took care of that. She’s not going to mention this place and nothing about Addison either.” He swung his gaze to Trevor.

“Good. She was a little nervous about that,” Trevor admitted.

“Erika won’t,” Dax said again.

“She’s been good for you this week. Kept you from roaming down old memory lane,” Trevor said.

“Probably would have stayed off it too, if you didn’t mention it.” Devin shot a glare at his younger brother.

Dax laughed. “It’s fine. I told you, I’m good. It’s been a long time, but I’m okay.” And he was. The residual ache that normally settled into his chest during the summer wasn’t there. He could even think about Sarah without the dull pain worming its way into him.

“So, what happens when you guys get home?” Devin prodded.

Dax shrugged. “I’ll make sure she’s safe and then...” His words trailed off right along with his thoughts on the matter. He hadn’t stopped to think about what would happen once she was back in Chicago.

“I’m gonna get a beer, you two want one? I’m sure the girls are already halfway through a bottle of wine.” Devin pointed toward the kitchen.

“Sure.” Trevor nodded and Dax added a beer onto the order for himself.

“Addison really likes it up here?” Dax asked Trevor.

“It took some getting used to, but yeah, she’s happy here. Not so much to worry about and the society bullshit doesn’t weigh her down.”

Dax nodded. Would Erika be happy like that? A quiet life? No chasing headlines or hot tips?

“And the other stuff?” Dax asked with a sly grin. They’d been friends for too long not to know practically everything about each other.

“We’re compatible in pretty much every way.” Trevor laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be so lucky someday.” It was a repeat of what he told Dax almost every conversation they had.

“Yeah. Well, until then, I’ll have to settle for mindless sex and complete freedom.” Dax pushed off the wall, deciding to check on Erika. She couldn’t help her curiosity, and he wanted to be sure she wasn’t hounding the girls with questions.

As he turned the corner out of the living room, he bumped into her. She looked up at him, as surprised as he was.

“You okay?” he asked, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

Her cheeks were flushed. She cleared her throat. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good. I was just coming to tell you guys Kara made some food. There’s a tableful of snacks.”

Dax squeezed her shoulders. “Great. I’m starved.” He kissed her forehead. “And I have some decent news. We can head back to the city whenever you’re ready.” He tried to sound casual. A lot of questions still went unanswered, but holing up at the resort for the rest of their lives wouldn’t get them resolved.

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