Page 95 of Training His Pet

“She getting in your way?” Devin asked Dax seriously.

“No.” Dax shook his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “She’s fine.”

Devin looked less than convinced, but he let it go. “It’s been over a month since you got here, and things are really looking good from a security standpoint. I mean, I hope we never need the severe systems you put in place, but it definitely gives me peace of mind.”

“But...” Dax nudged the conversation.

“No, but. Just noting that you’ve been here... alone... for over a month,” Devin said.

“Are you here to talk to me about the thing I don’t want to talk about? Because your wife was just doing that.” Dax pushed his sunglasses up on his head. “It’s over with her.”

“Yeah.” Devin rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay, well, then you’ll be good with what I came out here to talk to you about.”

Dax prepped himself for anotherplenty of fish in the seatalk.

“There’s a website, Positively Sexy. It’s a sex positive site, talks about everything having to do with sex, and they have a whole section on BDSM. Kara found it a while back and she really likes it,” Devin explained.

“...okay? I think I’ve seen that site. Good information, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“They asked to do a spotlight on the resort. They agreed to keep the location out of the article and only list the website as the contact information, so we don’t have to worry about being outed to the whole world.” Devin looked at the fence where the men were finishing up their wiring work. “Last thing we need is to have this place exposed. People come here to get away from the worry of being found out.”

“That’s good, then. Good for business, right?” Dax said. “Not that you seem to be hurting for guests.”

Devin grinned. “We’re doing good. And once the cabins in the back are finished, we’ll be even better. Which would make the timing of the article even better.”

“Okay, sounds good. So, what do you need from me?”

Devin’s gaze faltered. “Erika’s the reporter. She’s working freelance apparently. She’s done—”

“Did Kara set that up?” Dax demanded, his heart stopping to catch up with his mind.

“No. They reached out to us, maybe it was Erika’s idea. I don’t know.” Devin held out a piece of paper. “She’s not working at the newspaper anymore, Dax. Her last piece went out a month ago—in the society section. She never printed one word about me or any of us. Nothing about the Persuccio family or your brother.”

Dax looked down at the paper. A printout of her work. He made out her profile picture next to the byline.

“It’s not just that article. The story will always be more important...” The thought—the excuse—he’d been telling himself died on his tongue. If that were still true, would she have quit the paper and start writing for a sex positive website?

“You didn’t give her a chance to explain, to really talk about it.” Devin thrust the paper at him again. “You let your past fear overrule what you really wanted, what you knew—you love that girl and she loves you. That’s not fucking hard to see, man. But you were still scared she was going to end up being a mistake like Sarah.”

Dax took the paper. A goodbye letter to the readers letting them know she was moving on to bigger things.

“I did love her, I told her as much, but then I saw that shit on her computer...”

“And you thought she was just using you.” Devin nodded along though his tone suggested he doubted it to be true. “I’d say her actions are speaking a hell of a lot louder than those words you saw on the computer.” Devin tapped the paper. “She’ll be here next week.”

“Does she know I’m here?” Dax asked.

“She didn’t ask about you when I talked to her, and I didn’t offer.”

“You talked to her?” Dax demanded, but Devin was already walking away.

“Pull your head out of your ass before she gets here, Dax. That’s my advice.” Devin waved his hand in the air. “I’m heading to town.”

Dax folded up the paper into quarters and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans.

Erika would be there in a few days. Right in front of him. He’d be able to see her, sense her, and talk to her.

She’d given up her position at the newspaper, and he needed to know why. It couldn’t be because of him. Not after what he’d done. He hadn’t given her a real chance to explain. He’d thought her reasoning weak and pushed it off as excuses.

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