Page 34 of Room Ten: Put on a Show

Baron turned around, gesturing at me with a spatula.

“If you’re getting cold feet, you can always back out.”

“I didn’t say that. But you have to admit that this complicates things.”

Baron lowered his spatula and returned his attention to the stove. After flipping two pancakes onto a plate, he placed it on the counter and slid it toward me. I put a hand out to catch it.

“Kenna is our girl. There’s nothing complicated about that. We’ll figure it out.”

How?I wanted to ask.

I kept my mouth shut though. I saw the twitch of a muscle in Baron’s jaw. I noticed the rigid way he held his posture. After working with him for so long, I recognized when he was chewing something over in his brain, trying to sort it out like a puzzle.

A few minutes of silence passed. I retrieved a fork from the silverware drawer and cut into the pancakes. I didn’t have much of an appetite while I was preoccupied with thoughts of Kenna. For three years, I’d harbored feelings for her that I didn’t—couldn’t—allow myself to act on.

I couldn’t go back to the way things were before. I didn’t want to. Sharing Kenna with Baron and Troy was an electrifying experience beyond anything I’d ever felt in my life. If I quit my job in order to be with Kenna, that meant I had to entrust her safety to someone else. I would have to be dead and buried six feet under before I allowed that to happen. And what would I do for work after I left—or was fired—from Titan Defense?

At last, Baron cleared his throat.

“It’s going to be sunrise soon. You should grab a few hours of sleep while you can.”

I nodded, shoving the last bite of pancake in my mouth.

“Appreciate it,” I replied.

As I started to leave, Baron spoke again.

“Merrick.”

I stopped at the doorway.en

“Yeah?”

He braced his hands on the counter, shaking his head.

“I don’t give a damn what it costs us. Kenna can’t slip through our fingers. I won’t let that happen.”

I nodded. “Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

***

After an hour of tossing and turning, I gave up. Despite the fatigue weighing heavy on me, sleep remained elusive. My brain wouldn’t shut off. I kept thinking about Kenna. It was only a matter of time before our relationship was made public. Kenna’s life was in the spotlight at center stage. It was difficult to keep secrets when the whole world was watching.

I sat up with a sigh, rubbing the back of my neck.

Maybe Baron and I were getting ahead of ourselves. Kenna might not want to make this permanent between us. I’d seen the parade of men that passed through her life—some of them lasting no longer than a night of fun, others lingering a few months at the most. Nothing serious. Nothing that spoke of the commitment level Kenna deserved.

And what if she got bored in a week or two? What if she decided to move on after all?

That thought made my stomach clench tight.

A muffled sound echoed from somewhere deeper in the house. I lifted my head, barely daring to breathe as I listened. Instinctively, my hand strayed to the gun resting on the nightstand. The first rays of dawn were beginning to filter through the curtains, casting golden rays across the floor and bed.

Kenna was probably awake and rummaging around in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. After working so hard last night—in more ways than one—she must have a raging appetite by now.

Slotting my pistol into my holster, I left the guest room and headed for the kitchen. I gave a cursory glance down each corridor and into every room I passed out of habit, but the house was quiet.

As I turned the corner and the kitchen came into view, my heart stopped cold. Baron was slumped on the floor, his head resting against the wall at an odd angle. A knife protruded from his left shoulder.

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