Page 78 of Connected

“But do you actually read any of them?” Digby sits and again spins the chair. Then standing up, he restlessly browses the rows of leather-bound books. “You know Kat would love this place. She’d stay in here all day.”

“Well maybe I’ll invite her over—show her myworks.” He stares at Digby, a smirk fills his lips and over the rim of his glass he winks.

“You stay the fuck away from her. Do you hear me, Rhys? I mean it, don’t even think about goin’ there.”

“Why?” he laughs. “Oh, I’m joking! Hey, don’t worry brother, she’s all yours.”

“Hm,” Digby sneers. “And what the hell is it with all these cameras? You got some kinda God complex—you wanna see everythin’ goin’ on?”

“Yup,” Rhys gives his brother a sly grin. “I am God—in this club or maybe the devil? Actually, I quite fancy myself as the king of hell. This office, it’s where everyone’s sins get found out. And trust me, there are a lot of sinners out there. What are your sins, Ryan?”

“Hm, you’re funny.” Digby sneers, ignoring him as he turns his back and plucks some books from the shelf. Looking at them, he cocks an eyebrow, and unimpressed, he shoves them back in their slot.

“If you’re looking for something of interest, then that large black one, the one just above your hand. Do you see it? Yeah, that one… I think you’ll like it.”

“What the hell do you think I want with a book? You should know readin’s not my thing.”

“Yeah, well then, just look at the pictures,” Rhys sips again from his drink. Smiling, he watches Digby take the large heavy book from the shelf, “Go on open it.”

“Shit… how the hell old is this book? It looks like about two hundred years old;The Art of Lovemaking—is this like some ancient porn magazine?”

“It’s at least a hundred years old and yeah; but it still has someinterestingpositions. You should take it with you—try some out with Kat. The fact you’re sniffin’ out shifter pussy, my guess is things have gotten a little stale back at the ranch?”

“Hey, I’ll have you know there’s nothin’ stale about my sex life… Holy fuck! Okay, I take it back.” Digby angles the book sideways, “Is that even fuckin’ possible? I mean, how do you—”

“Oh, trust me—they’re all possible,” Rhys grins. “What? I’m just sayin’ but some do take a little practice to get right. So then, if it’s not a stale sex life, what?”

He cocks an eyebrow, watching as Digby places the book on the desk and finishes his drink. Stepping forward, he grabs up a bottle of vodka and refills his glass.

“Oh, come on Ryan, tell me what’s going on? Is someone else getting in the way? Maybe they’re giving her something a little more exciting and a little lessvanilla.Why don’t you take the book and go spice things up? I’ll bet Darius has read it.” Rhys smirks, knowing that his comment will rankle; obvious it does by the sneer filling his brother’s face.

“This has got nothin’ to do with Darius.”

“But you’re gonna let that carry on—between them?” Rhys asks.

“What choice do I have? If I don’t go along with it; it’s gonna happen, anyway. He’s right though, she belongs to the pack now—so she’s not just mine.”

“Then brother dearest, what the hell’s the problem? Cos, it’s obvious somethin’s botherin’ you. I can tell and don’t try and lie to me because you know we are connected in more ways than I care to remind you of. So why are you out all alone tonight? Where is she?”

“Nowhere. I mean, she’s home… sick. She’s not feelin’ well. If you must know, somethin’ happened, somethin’ stupid—somethin’ that shouldn’t have and we argued about it. Rhys… I think I might’ve done somethin’ really stupid, tryin’ to put it right; I mighta made it worse,” Digby gulps another large mouthful of vodka.

“So why are you here and not home with Kat; talking to her—trying to fix it up?”

“Maybe because I don’t knowhowto fix it. I’ve fucked up big style and I don’t know what to do now? Actually… yeah, I do. Give me that damn bottle. I’m gonna get wasted and forget about it.”

“Problem avoidance—yeah, that’s classic Ryan. You know that won’t fix it and it’ll still be there in the morning.”

“Well, it’ll fix it for now. Anyway, talkin’s over-rated. She was gonna make a decision without me, so the fact I made one without her—is her own damn fault.”

“Well, if that’s how you feel… then let’s get wasted! Here’s to forgettin’ about problems. Cheers!”

Rhys tops his glass with the vodka and then opening the door to the office he yells into the corridor, “Klaus… Klaus! Ah, there you are… Go round-up those shifter twins and bring them to come up here—tell them we’re ready to party.”

The large burly goon nods. “Sure thing, Boss. Hey Boss, you wan’ anythin’ else?”

“Yeah, yeah we’re gonna need more vodka so get Hudson to bring some up. Oh… and bring up my machine.”

Rhys closes the door and smiles, watching as his brother still curiously browses the pages of the large black book that lies open in front of him. Rhys steps closer and pours more vodka into Digby’s glass. Then taking a small gold case from his inner pocket, he places it on the desk and hangs the suit jacket on the back of the chair. He unbuttons his shirt—exposing a glimpse of his own muscular, well-toned chest—and rolls up his sleeves. Opening the gold case, he takes out a small vial of white powder and a gold straw-like-tube. “You wanna do a line with me? Pep you up—give you some stayin’ power. Those twins look like they’re gonna be pretty feisty—we can put that book to good use. There’s a whole section at the back on foursomes.”

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