I roll my eyes, and he smirks.
Aubrey
“So what’s the scoop with you and Billy?”
Madi asks, not missing the fact that he escorted me to my private cabana last night.
And, yes, he did come in and wear me out, so I could get to sleep in a new time zone.
Yes, it was incredible, as always.
The man can make me orgasm over and over again until I’m wrung out.
Madi’s stretched out on a comfy blue chaise lounge beside me.
We’re both in fluffy bathrobes provided by the amazing spa, lounging by a salt pool.
We’ve just gotten massaged and manicured and pampered, and now we’re snacking on hummus and crudites in between sessions in the sauna and dips in the hot tub.
Madi’s two soon-to-be sisters-in-law are still getting their massages, so this is our chance for girl talk.
“I have so much to tell you.”
I start with the Sentience gala and give her the details of my shared days and nights with Billy.
She’s a good audience, gasping and laughing at appropriate times.
“He what?”
Her jaw drops when I tell her about him giving me the credit card.
I describe all the ways I charged it up, and she snickers.
“Get it, girl.
Torture him.”
“At first, I was doing it because of how he treated you.
But then it was just fun.”
A spa attendant comes by with tiny white cups of lemon sorbet, and Madi and I take two each.
The lemon flavor is both cool and sharp on my tongue, refreshing.
“He’s so good with Pepper, though.
I never would have guessed there was a softer side to him.”
Not for humans, apparently, but for puppies.
That must mean something.
“Let me see that picture again.”
Madi holds out her hand, and I give her my phone.
She studies the photo, frowning.
“I wouldn’t have guessed he had it in him, either.”
She shakes her head and hands me my phone back.
“He hates weakness, in anyone.
I guess puppies are exempt from his disdain, though.”
“I think it’s just an act.”
“No, I had to prove myself to win his loyalty.
And even then it was because Brick basically ordered him to.”
“Yeah, about that.
It’s weird how they take orders from Brick.
I mean, aren’t they basically college friends.
I guess it’s because he’s the CEO?”
But that wouldn’t affect their personal lives, would it?
“These guys, they do better with a leader,” Madi says.
“They were raised by hard asses.
They trauma-bonded in college and started Moon Co to prove themselves.
Brick led the way.”
“So they take orders from him all the time?
Like they’re a military unit?”
“Something like that.”
I get the sense that Madi wants to wave this away.
She’s not telling me the whole story, and I don’t like it.
I get that some of this might be proprietary information, but I’m used to Madi spilling all her secrets to me.
I fight disappointment that she isn’t going to open up to me like she did before.
I guess some secrets are meant to be kept.
“You know, Billy is a lot like you.”
She wrinkles her nose, not liking that comparison.
“Loyal,” I explain.
“Committed to his friends.
You say he hates weakness, but I think he just expects the best of himself and requires that of the people around him.
If you’re in his circle, he’ll fight for you to the end.”
I think of him in the stairwell of Sentience, kissing me like his soul required it.
Playing the part, but now that I remember the moment, his muscles were tense.
He was intent on me, but if those guys had tried anything, I have no doubt in my mind that Billy would’ve done what was required to get me out.
Even punching one of them.
He didn’t need to resort to violence.
He just acts like he has the biggest dick in the room and dominates everyone in it.
It helps that he does have the biggest dick in the room, I grin to myself.
I realize I’ve been reminiscing while Madi is frowning at me.
“Aubrey…”
“What?”
She looks away as if figuring out how to phrase what she wants to say.
“Billy is committed.
To Moon Co.
To Brick and the rest.”
She’s trying to tell me something, but she’s dancing around it.
“I know that,” I say.
“He’s not the type to settle down.”
Ugh, is this what she’s trying to tell me?
Billy’s not looking for a relationship?
I know that.
I’m not looking for one either.
“Billy is the last guy I’d want as a boyfriend.
We’re just hooking up,” I say.
“Having some fun.”
“Okay.”
She forces a grin.
“Good.”
A flash of irritation ripples through me.
“But why is that good?”
“I just don’t think he’s capable of a relationship.
Brick said he came from an abusive home with an uber-exacting father.”
That news hits me square in the chest.
Well, no wonder he’s so contained.
So cold and controlled.
“It seems to me he’s been hard-wired for ruthless success at any cost and not much else,” she says.
That fits.
Sorrow for the pain he’s endured drowns me.
Dammit, I don’t want to start seeing him as a three-dimensional human.
Meaningless sex is working right now.
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