Page 55 of Mind Maze

After shoving my phone back into my coat pocket, I pick up the pace. Thoughts of Romy once again flood my brain.

I couldn’t stay off her last night. Hell, I couldn’t even stay out of her last night. When I’d woken up literally fucking her, I thought it was a really good dream. But it wasn’t a dream. It was real.

You came inside her, stupid. Too many times to count.

The reminder is a harsh one, but I don’t let it ruin my good mood. Besides, it’s not like she’s going anywhere. If something happens, I’ll deal with it.

You just want a reason to keep her…

Rather than confirm or deny that thought, I fling open the door to the restaurant and head inside. I find a table in the back where Theo, Dad, and Kaitlyn are already seated. Once I pull off my coat and sit beside Dad, I reach across the table to ruffle Kaitlyn’s messy blond hair.

“What did you order?” I ask her. “Let me guess. Spinach.”

She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Ew, Uncle Cai. I got pancakes with chocolate chips and whipped cream.”

“But how will you grow muscles if you don’t eat your spinach?”

“I don’t want muscles,” she says with a huff. “I want chocolate.”

“Spoken like a true lady,” Theo says, turning to fist bump her.

She nearly knocks over her glass of orange juice with her other elbow, but Dad steadies it before it goes flying across the table into his lap.

I’m grateful they took the initiative to order my food because I’m starving. Turns out, spending all night fucking your girl will do that to you.

Stop. Thinking. About. It.

Theo, as if attuned to my brain, frowns and starts texting on his phone. He likes Romy. I get that. She’s smart and beautiful.But she’s mine. He may have grabbed her, creating this huge debacle, but I claimed her. Now, after last night, she’s absolutely mine. If I catch him in bed with her again, I won’t let him slip away so easily.

Kaitlyn busies herself setting her Barbie dolls in seated positions on the table and then tears a napkin to make them all bibs.

“This is the only family we have left,” Dad says lowly, leaning in close. “Cherish it, Son.”

When he calls me Son now, I don’t get pissed like I did at fifteen. He’s not my real father, but he’s spent the last twelve years fathering me. It’s difficult to think in another few years, I’ll have had Orion longer as a dad than my real one.

Guilt niggles at me. As much of a monster as Gareth was, he was still family. I stole him from Dad and Theo and Kaitlyn.

I refuse to think about walking in on him with Romy. After last night, my feelings for her have transformed. I’m not sure I could control myself from flipping the fucking table right now.

This woman is making me lose my mind.

“Everyone else outside of the Crowne family are pawns, Caius,” Dad murmurs. “We are the rulers and controllers of those around us. I taught you and your brothers well.”

I nod as though I agree, but I don’t truly. Though my focus has always been on Calista, I’ve felt the heaviness of being on the wrong side of morality. You’d have to be a robot or a psychopath not to feel for some of the people who’ve crossed paths with us Crownes. I know it impacts Theo. I can see it in his pained eyes.

When I glance over at Dad, he stares back at me, eyes soulless and empty. He’s worked so hard to make us just like him. I’m the best one at emulating his behavior. But inside?

I think back to that girl on Solomon’s yacht. My desperate need to get information on Calista blinded me. I’d sat therewatching the girl—LuLu—as the man abused her. She wasn’t but a decade or so older than Kaitlyn.

Before Romy came along, it was easy to hide behind this cold, cruel man I’d created. She’s stripped me raw, though, and exposed me. There’s no turning a blind eye away anymore. I can’t help but see.

Dad is the worst.

Even more so than Gareth.

While he doesn’t have a taste for the innocent, he greatly enjoys the manipulation of minds. It’s his life’s work.

The waitress brings our food and I’m pleased to see a pile of biscuits and gravy. Kaitlyn’s pancake looks like pure sugar. She’s pleased that they made a smiley face with the whipped topping. Everyone’s quiet as we dig in. I make note to bring something back for Romy. I’m sure she’s famished after our nonstop workout last night.

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