Page 90 of The Billionaire's Rival (Bad Boy Billionaires)

Worth filled two glasses with double measures of bourbon and handed one to me.

“Let’s go sit,” Worth said.

I followed him to the living room. Carter and Miles hadn’t been gone for more than a few minutes, and already I couldn’t stand not knowing what was happening. How close were they to the meeting place? Would Ford be there? Would he actually be alive? Was he injured? If so, how badly?

I took a big sip of bourbon. “I hate waiting.”

Worth nodded. “It sucks.”

“Don’t you wish you were there with them?” If he did, maybe we could make our way there together.

Worth shook his head. “That’s their business, Carter’s really. I don’t want to wait, but I also don’t want to be in the line of fire. I’m not really a charge-into-battle kind of a guy. I’m more the fuck-someone-afterward type.”

I laughed. “I never really thought about physical battles outside of sports. Most of my battles deal with arguing. I’ve certainly never needed to confront a drug cartel.”

Worth laughed. “I bet not.”

I considered my options. If I was going to escape and make my way to the meeting place, I either needed to get Worth so drunk he wasn’t going to try to stop me, or I needed to knock him out somehow.

I wondered if Ford had any sleeping pills, and if I could manage to get one into Worth’s drink. I had a vague memory of seeing sleeping pills when I was looking for ibuprofen when Ford had yelled at me to not open his dildo drawer.

“All this restlessness is making me warm,” I said. “I’m going to go up and change really quick. I’ll be back.”

Fortunately, I’d left some clothes in the guest room Ford had originally assigned me to. Had he actually thought I was going to sleep anywhere but his bed?

My chest tightened as I thought about not ever sharing a bed with him again. I needed to be there. I needed to make sure that didn’t happen. I’d been such an asshole to him, and he still wanted to protect me. Now I needed to be there to protect him.

I hurried upstairs, but I didn’t go into the guest room initially. I went into Ford’s bathroom. It took a few tries opening drawers and cabinets until I found the bottle I was looking for. I blew out a breath of relief when I saw they were capsules. That would make it so much easier to put one into Worth’s drink.

I quickly changed into a T-shirt, realizing that would mean I’d be cold as shit when I left the house, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was Ford.

“Another round?” I asked as I stepped back into the living room.

“Hell yes.”

I reached for his glass before he could stand. “I’ll get it.”

“Thanks.”

“It’s hard to sit still right now.”

“Yeah, I get it, but there’s no one I’d trust more to take care of somebody I love than Miles and Carter.”

I nodded. “I know they care about him too, but this all happened so fast, and it’s all so crazy.”

“So you really thought you were straight?”

“Yes. I’ve never wanted a man before, but Ford…there’s been something about him since the day we met.”

“He lights up when he talks about you. I’ve never seen him like that.”

His words sent warmth spreading through me. “Thank you for telling me that.”

I walked over to the wet bar, hating what I was about to do even more now that Worth was trying to comfort me.

Thankfully, Worth was looking out the window while I cracked open the capsules I’d brought down with me and stirred the powder into his drink until there was no evidence. I hoped like hell it wouldn’t affect the taste.

I took a deep breath, then carried both glasses to the living room. When I handed Worth his glass, I hoped that any nervousness he detected would be dismissed as worry about Ford.

---