Page 84 of Never Enough

He smiled. “You’re the only one who makes me feel like I matter. The only one who I really want. The only one who makes sex move the earth for me. The only one I want to commit to in every way. No one else completes me.”

He let Gem free one of her hands, which she brushed over the top of his head, threading through the glued-up hair, separating some of the tangles that managed to settle in his short strands. Her fingertips smoothed down the sides, then traced around the shell of his ear and traveled to his swollen lips from making love to her with his mouth. “I think those are all lovely sentiments, but when this is done, and I go back to contracting for Mythos, you’ll go back to your playboy ways. It’s part ofyou, Nemo. It’ll always be part of you. It’s just… who you are. And while our paths may cross again in the future, even leading to more sex, I don’t know if it’s truly in you to commit to anyone but yourself and Midas. Even your friends see that.”

He felt anger rise from deep inside his belly. “You honestly believe I couldn’t make a promise to you and keep it?”

She smiled sadly at him. “I think you truly believe, right now, in this moment… maybe even over this short-term period… you could commit, but it would fizzle sooner rather than later. You might not cheat on me, but you would eventually move on.”

Nemo extracted himself from between her legs and stood at the side of the cot. He yanked the condom off his cock, pulled up his pants, buttoned them, zipped them, and shoved the condom in his pocket. He snagged her panties from where they lay on the floor and handed them to her.

“We should head back to the hotel. We’ve got an early start tomorrow.”

He watched Gem swallow tightly, aware that she’d hurt him, but no apology or backtracking came from her mouth. She simply stood, pulled down her skirt, and put on her underwear. Absently, she smoothed her hair back.

Silently, he headed to the door, opened it, and waited for them to pass through. Nemo and Gem walked side by side back to the hotel, but this time, there was no hand-holding, no tucking her into his side to keep her warm, whether she was cold or not. He was thankful it was a short walk.

When they got to the room, Nemo opened the door, then held the key out to her. “Phone.” He held his hand out.

Reaching into her back pocket, she removed her phone and handed it over. He clicked into her contacts and added several series of numbers. He extended the phone back to her. “Make sure to bolt the door. Don’t open it for anyone but a member ofthe team, no matter what the reason. Midas is next door. Waters and Demon are across the hall. TB and Steel are just two doors down and will come running if you text them. One of them will collect you at five o’clock.”

She looked up at him, her eyes sad and filled with regret. “You’re not staying?”

“No. I don’t think it would be a good idea.” His voice went softer, but he knew it was clear that he was still mad. “You’re safe as long as you stay inside. I’m going to head to the airport. Scheherazade is probably confused without me there, anyway.”

“I’m sorry, Nemo.”

“Don’t be,” he said tightly. “You’re probably right. I’ve always been an asshole on the inside. The pretty candy coating on the outside only covers that up. It doesn’t make up for it.”

“You know that’s not true,” she chastised. “Asshole is never a word I’d use to describe you, and I don’t think anyone else would either.”

Nemo shrugged, attempting to hide the hurt. “Asshole. Irresponsible. Playboy. They all essentially add up to the same thing. Incapable of being taken seriously.” He felt his mask solidifying in place. “Go inside, Gem. Bolt the door. Go to bed.”

She gave him one last look, then passed into the room and closed the door. He waited until he heard the bolt flip over, then he turned on his heel and went to the elevator. With each step he took, he felt colder. And when the doors closed on him and the empty hallway, he held his head high, his face expressionless. But inside, the shutting of the door was a loud thunk, closing any opportunity to have his pixie in his life.

32

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

Haskell

As soon as the door clicked shut, Haskell felt the loss of Nemo. She leaned her side from head to knee against the door as she shot the bolt, then placed her palm flat against the door and closed her eyes.

It’s for the best, child. You know what you said is true. You’d never hold his attention for long, and he’d be chasing everything with tits while you watched him do it.

“Maybe you’re wrong,” she whispered, a tear escaping from one eye.

She heard the lift ding as it arrived and listened to the door close, knowing that Nemo was inside and traveling away from her. He should be in the room with her, stripping her down and making love to her right now. Instead, he was heading to the airport to spend an uncomfortable night sleeping on the plane, despite the comfortable leather seating,with only his dog for company. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered.

Before she could pull away from the door, there was a quiet knock. In her excitement that maybe Nemo had changed his mind and not gotten in the lift after all, she unbolted the door and whipped it open. Unfortunately, Nemo was not standing there. Instead, it was the hulking figure of TB.

He glared at her. “What if I’d been someone who took the hit on you?”

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Then I guess I’d either be dead or carted away inside a piece of luggage. What do you want?”

“Let me in,” TB ordered.

Haskell stood back from the doorway, holding the door in her hand. Once TB had cleared the threshold, she closed the door and turned to face him. “What do you want?” she repeated.

He studied her. “You okay?”

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