Page 54 of Surrender

And the idea of him taking anyone else—especially an entire football team—has me just as pissed as I’d been when he’d nearly kissed Silvano.

Unfortunately, I come up to a red light, and I’m forced to stop the car. I grab Fox’s arm before he can attempt to leave.

“You realize where I’m taking you, right?” Fox asks, a lot more defeated than before. “It’s better if you just let me go.”

I don’t move, even though a car stops behind me and honks. I start to piece together what he’s said—and what he hasn’t said. Fuck. I’m so agitated and upset and fucked in the head that I couldn’t even see a trap coming miles away.

“Give me directions,” I repeat. “We’re getting this taken care of one way or another. I’m not going down without a fight, if that’s what you think is going to happen.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Fox calmly starts directing me, and I don’t know what to make of his quiet mood.

We end up parked in front of a very normal-looking suburban house. There’s no car parked out front, but there is a closed garage. I don’t see any lights on—not that that means much either.

“Corbin is here?” I ask.

“Yeah.” Fox stares up at the house. “He’s probably in the basement. Waiting for me.”

I take a deep breath, following his gaze and just looking at the house. It seems so innocuous. It isn’t. It’s a place where I could potentially die, and I’m a fucking idiot for even thinking about walking through the doors. “I want you,” I say, and my voice is so ragged that I barely even recognize it. “Just the way you are. You may not understand that yet, but I do. I want you. I want to make you cry, make you laugh, make you scream… All of those things. I just don’t know how to respond to that. I’m a grown fucking man, for fuck’s sake, but I feel like a teenager.”

“Then why did you say…” Fox rubs his eyes with the palm of his hand. “Why do you keep pretending what we’re doing is wrong? We’re both having fun. I’ve never… I’ve never gotten off so hard with anyone. I’ve never felt so…” He trails off, and when he looks up at me, his eyes are clear. “Corbin knows what’s going on. I’m sure of it now. But if you’re not serious about me, I will fucking tell him to kill you.”

I blink at him, and I can’t help but bark out a laugh. “You’re blackmailing me now?”

“No,” Fox answers, but his lips twitch slightly. “I’m just telling you. I can’t deal with… all of this, if it’s fake. I want to believe you, Daddy. I do. But if you’re lying to me, I’d rather you be dead.”

“It’s not fake,” I say. “None of this is fake. I’m just…” I sigh. I’m not going to admit to being afraid, because then that really would make me look weak. “This is very new for me. Fox, I haven’t been in a relationship since I was… your age, maybe?” It feels like the most awkward time for this conversation, but at the same time… It needs to be said. “I was in love. I thought everything was perfect. But then my father found out about him.” I shake my head. “Everything since then has been surface-level. But you’ve gotten beneath my skin, and I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.”

“I’ve never done this either,” Fox says quietly. “I can’t. Corbin wouldn’t allow me to have distractions. Fucking is fine. Get it out of your system, he’d say. But nobody in our line of work is allowed to have families.” Fox’s voice cracks. “I don’t deserve a family.”

I reach out and touch his hand, very gently, because I half expect him to pull away from me. “You absolutely do deserve a family. Even those of us in this line of work… We deserve to have this.”

I want to keep talking about him, now that he’s finally opening up to me and I’m opening up to him, but we’re sitting ducks. I sigh, pulling the gun out from under my seat. I flash Fox a lopsided smile. “You were right about the gun under my seat.” My expression turns more serious, though; I can feel it. “I will use it on the fucker who made you believe you’re worthless and didn’t deserve a family.”

Fox smiles back sadly. “Okay. But I should probably try to get some information out of him first, or we still won’t know who hired me and who’s been trying to kill you.”

As much as I hate it, I nod. It would be pointless to take out one threat and leave others still out there.

But make no mistake. I’m going to murder Corbin for hurting my little Fox.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

FOX

I step into the basement, and I’m not surprised that Corbin is simply watching a late-night TV show. It’s what he does every evening when he doesn’t have work to take care of. We used to watch the shows together, and he’d explain the jokes I didn’t understand.

He had no qualms explaining the many sex jokes to me, even when I was just a kid.

I go to join him on the couch, and I wonder if I can actually kill him.

The only person who has constantly been in my life. The one who raised me and cared for me and trained me. Who made me strong.

Who made me weak.

“I went to a party,” I say during a commercial break.

Corbin snorts. “Did it include killing the target?”

“Yeah,” I lie easily. “I sliced his throat and left him slumped over a desk. He never even saw it coming.”

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