Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 67966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He hated himself for still asking questions that would never be answered.
A hot tear escaped and slid down his cheek. He slammed his hand against his face and scrubbed it away so fast he probably left a mark.
Fuck.
He bit down hard on his bottom lip and hurried back to the bar.
Obviously, the gin wasn’t doing it, so it was time to switch.
Gin was for dulling the edges, vodka was for annihilation.
Belladonna Mansion
Virginia Beach Oceanfront
“Casey’s condo is up the stairs to the left. Go down the hall, and his is the only door at the end.” A thin hint of a smile curved Thorn’s lips. “He’s been in his sanctuary all day. I have a feeling he’s expecting you.”
“And you are telling me that you had nothing to do with Casey showing up at the club last week after I told you I would need time to consider your offer.”
“That is correct, Doctor. I don’t force Belladonna on anyone. In order to receive what she has to offer, you have to be willing to accept it.”
“So, the same Casey I saw in the club Friday night is the sub you said I needed to meet?”
“Why don’t you go on up and see for yourself?” Thorn nodded toward the stairs, and Galan’s gaze followed. “No one here is going to trick or deceive you. Casey has been waiting for you for a long time.”
“Me?” Galan eyed him cautiously. “He doesn’t even know me.”
“Dr. Briggs, I told Casey the basics from our two meetings, and he took it upon himself to go after you.” Thorn shrugged. “To me, that sounds promising.”
“So basically you’re offering me a temporary fix…” Galan shook his head sadly. “You haven’t heard back from me because I don’t do casual hookups.”
“Neither do my gentlemen, Dr. Briggs.” Thorn raised his brow. “And however permanent or temporary your time is with Casey depends on you and him.”
Galan looked placated for now as he gave a stiff nod and moved toward the stairs. He paused with one foot on the bottom step, his longing gaze staring toward the hall that led to Casey’s condo.
Thorn studied the doctor’s hand clenching the rail—the ache disguised as strength—the way his knuckles whitened as if it was taking everything in him not to retreat.
He’d seen hundreds of men pause there before—on the edge of indecision, weighed down by old heartbreak.
He always wanted to reach out, guide them up, and promise them it was safe this time.
Men like Galan were expected to be strong, domineering, and powerful, no matter what…but in Belladonna, it was okay for him to just be a man terrified of gambling on the unknown.
Thorn turned and left the doctor to his internal struggle. Coming out of a rut was never easy, and trusting again after a lover’s betrayal was the most difficult of all.
And god help him, he prayed the doctor chose wisely.
It was getting late, but Thorn went back to his office instead of going to his bedroom.
He was confident Galan would accept membership to Belladonna, so he decided to go ahead and get started on his contract. It wasn’t critical that it get done tonight, but it gave him something to do.
Busy work was safer than stewing.
His fingers flew across the keyboard, drafting a contract he could’ve written in his sleep, but every line blurred with thoughts of the man who wasn’t supposed to be his.
He growled in annoyance as he snatched Lucas Brewer’s business card out of his jacket pocket.
It had been in there all day like a weighty reminder of how much he’d fucked up. His job was to provide hearts-in-need for his gentlemen…not his own.
That was the irony that ate at him most nights.
He was the keeper of broken men, the architect of their second chances, the one who promised to mend what the world had broken.
Yet his own heart…it remained in ruins. Cracked, unpatched, and ignored.
Thorn had created a sanctuary for everyone else, but when the lights went out and the mansion fell quiet, he had nowhere to go himself.
Thorn relived Lucas’s goodbye in his head for the hundredth time.
“Thank you again for your help. I’d still be waiting on the police to remove Evan from the booth if you hadn’t gotten involved.” Thorn had tried not to look directly into Lucas’s hazel eyes. They were too full of hope and emotion.
“You’re welcome.” Lucas touched the small of his back as Thorn climbed into his Mercedes, the contact igniting a long-extinguished fire in the pit of his stomach. “Here’s my card if you need to reach me.”
Thorn took the ivory business card as if it were a golden ticket.
“For anything at all,” Lucas added in before he walked away.
Thorn was seconds away from picking up his cell phone when he noticed the hour. It would be a mistake to call so late. Lucas would assume he was calling for something besides conversation at ten o’clock at night.