Chapter 19

NINETEEN

BASH

I was falling in love with Rowe Prince. I knew it, Kenji knew it, and all of my friends knew it, too.

If I ever got up the nerve to tell him, poor Rowe would be the last to know. Hopefully, he could feel my affection through every touch and kiss between us because thinking about actually saying the words out loud to him terrified me.

It was too much, too fast. He had obligations to his family back in Indiana that he couldn’t and wouldn’t put off forever. He had major insecurities about money, like he hadn’t put together what I’d told him about Daisy Chain’s potential profitability with the concept that soon he would hold the patent. And I didn’t want to make him any promises, to get his hopes up about anything, until we could clear Austin Purcell out of our lives forever.

So I kept my feelings to myself, held it close and tried to appreciate these “between” days where we were no longer simply fucking but not quite officially together. It was quietly exciting, the closeness that built between us as we lived and worked together. A glimpse of something real that I wanted profoundly. But there was a stubbornly transient quality to it, too, that made me hold my breath when we encountered a setback with IT or when Rowe had a long, stilted call with his parents where he told them he needed more time in New York, wondering if that would be the thing that tipped the balance. I held him tight every night, hoping he didn’t run away before we could get this sorted.

And then, like a plague of locusts in ridiculously expensive cars, my friends descended.

Early Thursday morning, Rowe perched on a stool in the kitchen, checking his email. I’d positioned myself behind him, nominally waiting for the “jazzed-up TikTok cinnamon rolls” Rowe had baked to cool so he could ice them, but mostly enjoying the excuse to wrap my arms around Rowe’s waist, kiss the skin behind his ear, and make him shiver.

“What’s that noise?” Rowe asked, his voice breathy from the kissing. “That thumpy sound?”

I was on the verge of saying one of the unforgivably cheesy things that started popping into my head this week, like “that’s my heart, beating for you, baby,” when I heard it, too. An unmistakable thunk scrape thunk scrape , coming from outside.

I barely had time to straighten up before the side door opened, and Kenji and Landry invaded our space without even saying hello.

“… not buying me a Louis Vuitton suitcase,” Kenji insisted. “You can replace the exact one you just destroyed.”

“I didn’t destroy it! I lifted it out of the trunk of the clown car you insisted on driving down here—”

“And the back wheels just decided to swan dive to the pavement? No. Don’t blame the car for your lack of spatial awareness, Landry Davis. And you can march your ass right into Target and buy me a new one.”

“I hate Target. I always leave with toilet paper,” Landry whined. “I don’t even go to the toilet paper department!”

“Oh hey, guys.” Kenji set a bunch of grocery bags on the other end of the kitchen island and belatedly noticed Rowe and me staring at him. “There’s a bunch more groceries in the car, Bash, if you wanna help unload.”

I blinked. “I… don’t recall asking for groceries?”

“No, well, with five extra mouths to feed, I figured…” Kenji shrugged. “Easier to just get it on the way. Hey, Rowe.”

“Uh… hey?” Rowe said, at the same time I said, “Five extra mouths?” both of which were practically drowned out by what sounded like a jet airplane landing on the lawn.

“Sick,” Landry said, running to the door like a little kid. “Zane brought the Spider.”

“Zane?” I demanded.

But Zane wasn’t the next person in the door. That was Silas, carrying a giant leather duffel bag he threw onto the living room sofa… right where I’d planned to get Rowe naked before continuing our room-by-room christening tour of the house.

“Why buy an Aston Martin if you’re going to end up with a car that sounds like a leaf blower?” he demanded of no one in particular before walking directly to the coffeepot. “Hey, is this still fresh?”

Dev appeared right behind him, looking shaky. “At least the Spider isn’t made of tissue paper and daydreams, like the Smartcar you just made me ride in. I swear they designed it with no legroom so passengers are forced to sit in the crash position the whole time.” He plopped on a stool, gave my arm a friendly shove, and said gruffly, “Hey there, Rowe.”

Rowe lifted his hand in a tiny half wave.

“You can ride home with Zane, then,” Silas said, grabbing a mug from my cabinet. “Good luck getting him to listen to your sad-as-fuck country ballads the whole way.”

“Holy shit, you guys!” Zane appeared in the doorway, face flushed and dark hair mussed. “I only rolled out of bed twenty minutes ago! That car broke the fucking sound barrier. It’s a great day to be alive! Oooh! Cinnamon rolls!”

I grabbed the spatula I’d set next to the frosting container and brandished it at my friend warningly. “Not another inch closer, Zee Barlo. I haven’t even iced them yet! Would someone like to tell me what the fuck you’re all doing here? And how you got inside?”

Five pairs of eyes blinked at me in surprise. Then Silas snorted. “Someone didn’t check the group chat again.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I demanded, but it was hard to be as angry as I might have been when Rowe’s shoulders began shaking with laughter. “You don’t just invade a man’s house on a whim—”

“We’ve been talking for days about preparing for the board meeting Monday,” Kenji explained. “Silas said…”

“I said we need a power strategy session on how to handle Austin.” Silas began opening and closing cabinet doors. “And we do. Where’s the sugar?”

Kenji dug through one of the shopping bags and handed Silas a small container.

“Don’t blame me. I was practically kidnapped and forced to come.” Landry lifted himself up to perch on the counter and gave Kenji a glare.

“We wanted to make sure you were okay, too,” Zane said, his eyes still on the cinnamon rolls. “So, like, were you gonna frost those now, or… Hey! Easy with that spatula, Bash. I was just asking.”

“Looks like things are going pretty well from where I’m sitting.” Dev had turned on his stool to look at the living room, and everyone else did, too, staring in stunned silence for a moment at the bursts of color and kitsch Rowe had added to the Hampton house decor.

“A hot-pink French bulldog.” Landry hopped off the counter and ran a long finger over the back of the porcelain figurine standing on top of a new stack of colorful art books on a nearby shelf.

“I like the turquoise lamps,” Silas said with a nod of approval. “Definite upgrade from the glass ones that were here before.”

“I love it all,” I said, setting my hands on Rowe’s shoulders and letting my thumbs drift against the soft skin at his nape. “Rowe really does have an eye for this stuff. If I’d tried decorating this room, it would have been a disaster.”

“You did try,” Landry pointed out. “And it was.”

“Only because the designer Bash hired didn’t take the time to get to know him.” Rowe stood, grabbed the spatula from my hand, and began icing the cinnamon rolls. His cheeks were rosy under his freckles, the way they always were when he was praised, but he seemed to be taking the invasion of our private time in stride…

Which was more than I could say about myself.

“Speaking of disasters…” Silas took his mug of coffee across the room to the bar cart near the dining room table and added a generous pour of whisky. “The text you found about Justin was true. Rumor has it he is engaged. To a woman.” He lifted his mug in an ironic toast. “May the poor lady come to her senses faster than I did.”

“Thought he was gay,” Landry said, leaning his head against the cabinet.

“Same,” Silas agreed wryly. “Because that’s what he told me.”

Dev made a disapproving noise. “People’s sexuality can change. You know this.”

“Or they can lie,” Zane added, reaching for a handful of grapes from a bowl on the counter. “Sorry, Rowe.”

I shot him a glare, but Rowe only smiled. “No, it’s fine. I did lie. But so did Sebastian. Motive matters.”

“Oooh. Score one for the Indiana boy,” Landry said under a laugh.

“Look, I don’t know the exact details of what happened with you and Justin,” Rowe said. He grabbed a stack of plates, dished a gooey roll onto one, and walked it over to Silas. “But I do know beating yourself up over something only makes you feel bad. It’s what you do next that counts.” He squeezed Silas’s forearm sympathetically before returning to the kitchen to dish up more plates.

Silas stood still, plate in one hand and mug in the other, and watched Rowe for a long moment. He flicked his gaze to me and let out a deep breath.

“That segues nicely into what we most need to discuss.” Kenji took one of the rolls Rowe dished out and brought it to the dining table, then grabbed his laptop from his suitcase. “What happens next?”

“Rowe comes first,” I said before anyone else could speak. “I’m as eager to kick Justin’s ass as any of you, especially after hearing he and Austin might’ve been neck-deep in some kind of conspiracy, but we need to protect Rowe’s IP and Sterling Chase’s own interests before we ride in to save this woman from making a mistake or doing anything else about Justin.” I looked around at my friends. “Agreed?”

Zane licked icing off his thumb. “Yes. I think we all agree.” He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and sat down beside Kenji. “Right, Silas?”

Silas gritted his teeth but nodded, taking a seat across from them. “Fine. What’s the plan?”

We all took seats around the table. I sat down next to Dev and motioned Rowe to the chair beside mine at the head of the table.

I let Rowe take the lead in outlining the plan we’d come up with to confront Austin as a group quietly, in a way that would minimize the chance of media exposure that none of us—including Rowe—wanted. I felt an unexpected pride and rightness at the way they all nodded along with what he was saying.

“A couple of people from Legal will be there, of course, to keep an eye on everything,” he finished. “Margot said she knows tensions will be high, but if you want to keep Austin from contacting the Post to air his grievances, everyone needs to stay calm and professional—”

“Easier said than done for some of us,” Landry interjected, raising a sculpted eyebrow at me.

“Oh, I’m cool as a cucumber,” I lied. Just thinking of the way Austin had defrauded Rowe made my fists clench. “Worry about that one.” I tilted my chin toward Silas, whose jaw ticked with anger.

“Oh, Bash.” Dev draped an arm over my shoulder and pulled me against him. “You’ve never been cool, baby, but I love you anyway.”

Rowe’s eyes narrowed on Dev’s hand with laser focus. It took me a moment to realize he was jealous or possessive. Whichever emotion it was, I liked it.

I liked it a lot .

I grabbed Rowe’s hand and kissed it before holding it in my lap. The pink flush on his neck and cheeks thrilled me, as usual. Would that ever get old? Would he give me enough time for it to even be a concern?

Silas’s eyes rolled. “Can we focus, please? You had a conference call with Clarissa yesterday, Bash. Walk us through it.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him off, but I knew what he would say. His opinion about my sudden “relationship” was clear on his face. And up to now, it had made me doubt my feelings for Rowe. But I didn’t want to doubt them. After the days we’d spent alone together, I wanted him now more than ever.

I launched into a long explanation of my video call with Clarissa the day before. It had been a difficult and emotional one—Clarissa blamed herself for not seeing the signs and not supervising Austin more closely, just like I did, even though I’d assured her no one held her responsible.

“And we’re sure she wasn’t involved? Zane asked. “I mean, I like her fine, but she and Austin started at the same time…”

I spread my hands. “As sure as I can be. There’s no evidence tying her in, and she seemed genuinely upset. But really… I don’t know. I don’t know how many people at the company are involved.”

Rowe must’ve heard the catch in my voice because he took my hand this time, holding it firmly. “I don’t know her at all, but I can tell you, she looked genuinely shocked. She offered to resign, and Bash told her not to. I believed her.”

The others nodded thoughtfully.

“Tomorrow, she’s flying back for the Innovation Awards, so you can try to get a word with her Saturday night. I warned her to keep things normal with Austin between now and then.” I took a deep breath. “But that brings up another subject. I asked Clarissa to make a list of all Austin’s current projects. I’m going to reach out to the contacts there personally next week and transition them to someone on Austin’s team or take them on myself if necessary. But his team’s primary focus of late has been Daisy Chain—formerly known as MRO. We hit pause on beta testing, but we’re going to need to make some decisions about the project.”

Rowe squeezed my hand before standing up. “That’s my cue to leave. I’m going to go for a walk on the beach and give you guys a chance to speak privately.” He looked around at my closest friends. “Just know that I believe strongly in this project, and I’m not about to abandon it. But I will understand completely if it’s not the right fit for Sterling Chase moving forward. Either way, thank you for helping me protect the intellectual property. I appreciate it.”

Once he’d left through the glass doors and began making his way down the boardwalk toward the beach, Dev exhaled. “He’s different than he was when I met him at the stables.”

“How do you mean?”

“Gutsier,” Dev said with a shrug. “Just as sweet but more confident. I think you’re rubbing off on him.”

“Twice a day, if the scene we walked in on was anything to go by,” Landry said dryly.

Kenji elbowed him remorselessly.

“I didn’t talk to him much the other day, but he’s really cute,” Zane added. “Very hot in a Disney princess kind of way. And his cinnamon rolls are orgasmic.” He gave me a mischievous look. “Maybe I’ll write a song about him. Guys love when you write them a song.”

I glared, and everyone burst into laughter. Landry leaned over to give Zane a knuckle-bump.

“Ah, Bash is so fucking satisfying to tease,” Landry sighed. “And we so rarely got an opportunity before now.”

“Rowe’s a good person,” I said, sounding petulant. “He’s kindhearted and intelligent and dependable.”

“Then maybe we should add Rowe to the group chat,” Silas said mildly.

Everyone stopped their laughter and stared.

Silas shrugged. “At least he’d check it periodically. And it’s not like he’s going anywhere anytime soon, is it?”

I ran a hand over my hair, feeling unusually nervous. “I don’t know. I mean, I know I don’t want him to. That’s for damn sure. But… he’s got shit in Indiana that’s tying him there. Parent stuff.”

“Rough,” Dev said because he knew about parental expectations better than anyone.

“And I think… the shit that comes along with me is… a lot. All of this…” I waved a hand in the air to encompass the expensive beach house and all that it signified. “The galas, the money, the backstabbing employees. I don’t blame him for not being all ‘sign me up.’”

“Poor little billionaire Bash,” Landry said, half-mocking. Then he shrugged. “I don’t blame him. It is a lot to take in when you’re not used to it.”

“And that’s another thing,” I said, picking up on Landry’s comment. “I haven’t even told him I’m a billionaire. I haven’t told him about us owning Sterling Chase or creating ETC. He knows I come from the Dayne family, and even that level of wealth is problematic.”

“Meh, millions, billions,” Zane said. He’d gotten up to get another cinnamon roll but seemed to be spooning cinnamon goop straight out of the baking dish. “I doubt the extra zeroes will matter much when you tell him.”

“It matters that I can’t tell him.” I looked around the table. “Rowe and I have been discussing Daisy Chain all week, and I keep wanting to mention ETC or tell him he has the full backing of Sterling Chase, but I can’t. I have to act like I’m just a member of the board.”

Zane and Landry looked at each other, then at Dev. Dev pursed his lips for a long moment, then shrugged. As one, all eyes swung toward Silas. Silas was the one of us who’d been burned by a lover most recently—was still feeling burned, if his current level of anger was anything to go by. Silas, who’d made his distrust of Rowe very obvious just a week ago.

Shocking us all, Silas sat back in his seat and folded his hands over his lean stomach. “So tell him, then. Jesus, why’s everyone looking at me? I said to add him to the group chat, didn’t I? And Zane’s right. He makes a good cinnamon roll.”

I couldn’t have kept the smile off my face if I tried.

“You all are forgetting Rowe’s about to be pretty dang rich in his own right,” Kenji piped up, “once he gets his IP back and Daisy Chain is on the market. When he sees his own bank balance, I think the shock of finding out Sebastian isn’t just wealthy but wealthy as fuck will pale in comparison.”

“True story,” Dev grunted.

“I don’t think he’s put that together yet,” I agreed. “That would solve a lot of problems. He could buy his parents’ house or move them wherever they wanted to be. He wouldn’t have to worry about his job back in Indiana. He can go to design school, or… hell, he can choose to do whatever he wants.” And I prayed that choice would involve being with me. “But I can’t talk to him about any of that yet. I don’t want to get his hopes up until we know what’s happening with Austin.”

“Fucking Austin. I can’t get over that guy’s balls,” Dev said. “Stealing blatantly, thinking he’d get away with it.”

“Austin Purcell has no balls,” Silas corrected. “And he might very well have gotten away with it if Rowe hadn’t been willing to go to extreme measures.” He snorted to himself, shaking his head. “I’m still annoyed that he lied, but I’ve gotta give the man an A for effort.”

“Agreed.” I stood and walked to the windows in the living room. In the distance, I spied a lone figure standing atop a sand dune, watching the waves with a hand up to shade his eyes from the glare of the sun. The ocean breeze whipped his curls into a wild mess around his head.

I yearned to be out there with him. To have him in here with me. To follow him to Indiana or that nighttime flea market he’d mentioned. The where didn’t matter; all that mattered was the way I felt when I was with him. Settled and seen. Protective and protected. Challenged and accepted.

Home .

“Sit your ass down, Sebastian,” Landry said. “Let’s talk about the terms we’re offering Rowe.”

I turned from the window and gave him a speaking look. “Pardon me? You haven’t attended a board meeting in a year. Since when do you take an interest in the running of Sterling Chase?”

“Since our head of development became a criminal, our CEO is out of the country, and the guy on the board who usually handles this shit is currently suffering from a debilitating case of Heart-Eyes Syndrome.” He held up a hand before I could protest. “To be clear, I’m not worried you’ll be biased, Bash. I’m worried that you’ll know you’re biased, and once all this panic is over and you actually sit and think about it, you’ll wonder if you handled everything in a way that was fair to the brotherhood.”

I stared at Landry long enough for him to huff and roll his eyes. “What?” he demanded. “I have depths , fucker. You should know this.”

Kenji patted his hand soothingly. “Don’t worry. Half the gay population of Manhattan knows about your depths, Landry.”

Dev threw back his head and laughed, Zane snickered, and even Silas cracked a smile. But Silas quickly sobered. “Landry’s thinking smart. I say we make Rowe a solid offer that allows him to retain the patent, like the one we made on the Hegel Project back in the day. Remember? It was lucrative for everyone. This project might be a harder sell since it involves local government budgets, but…”

And like that, we were off, discussing business the way we used to when Sterling Chase was brand-new, weighing pros and cons and the legal organization of IP ownership. I was impressed and relieved that they handled Rowe’s project the same way they would have discussed any other project proposal at one of our board meetings. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed that connection, that support, until my friends had provided it without my having to ask.

When we adjourned, Landry, Zane, and Kenji moved to the kitchen to make lunch, Dev wandered off to check in with someone at the stables, Silas made some business calls, and I watched Rowe trek back from the beach with a dopey smile on my face. We had a plan to handle Austin and Sterling Chase, the brotherhood had opened their ranks to Rowe, and it felt like puzzle pieces I hadn’t realized were misaligned had begun clicking into place. But there was one more thing I had to do.

As soon as Rowe stepped in the door, all sun-warmed and disheveled, I immediately pulled him into our bedroom, shut the door, and lavished his face and neck with the hours’ worth of kisses I’d been storing up.

“Bash! Mmmpfh. Your friends are right th— shit … right there! And I… oh ! Oh god. ” He tilted his head to the side, panting slightly. “I… you… what was I saying?”

“You were worrying about my friends’ delicate sensibilities.” I bit his earlobe lightly. “Don’t.”

“But I get so loud .”

Yes, he really did… and I really fucking loved it.

But tempting as it was to take him right there against the bedroom door—Rowe would require almost no convincing, and I’d make sure he loved every noisy second—I knew he wasn’t secure enough around my friends to appreciate the teasing that would ensue. Besides, he and I had other things to discuss first.

Reluctantly, I stepped away. “Sorry. I really did have a reason for hauling you in here.” I ran my hands down my shorts nervously.

Rowe remained standing against the door. He ghosted his fingers over his lips dreamily. “I thought kissing was a solid reason, just so you know. I would not be averse to more kissing.”

I laughed, but it came out short and tense, and Rowe straightened up right away. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing bad,” I said quickly. “I promise.”

But of course, Rowe wouldn’t be pawned off so easily. “Is it about Daisy Chain? About your meeting with your friends? Because as much as I’d love to work with Sterling Chase, I knew it wasn’t a given, Bash. You don’t need to let me down easy. You guys have processes, and the legal ramifications are probably a nightmare. I get it. I don’t expect—”

“We founded Sterling Chase,” I blurted.

“What?” Rowe whispered.

Jesus. I could have handled this so much better. I wondered for a second where polished, urbane Sebastian Dayne who had no fucks to give had wandered off to.

And then I remembered. This was scary because I gave a fuck.

“Those guys—not Kenji; he came on board after—but my other friends and I, we developed ETC our final year at Yale.” It felt weird to say it out loud. Like a dark confession and a vow to Rowe all at once. “We own Sterling Chase together, through various pass-through companies. We’ve kept that knowledge away from the public for a lot of reasons, some of which you can probably guess and others that aren’t my story to share. No one outside this house knows the whole truth, though.”

Rowe’s eyes were huge. “But you’re telling me.”

I nodded. “Because I know I can trust you. Because I want you to know that I trust you. And because…” I took a deep breath. “Because Sterling Chase is going to offer you a deal for Daisy Chain, and I want you to know that’s not because I brought undue influence on anyone as a board member. It’s because I, and the other four guys who founded the company, believe in you and in your project.”

“Bash,” Rowe said softly. He took a step toward me and then another, like he was a lifeline towing me to safety. He lifted a hand to cup my cheek. “Baby. I already figured it out.”

I froze. “What? How? There’s no way…”

“Silas mentioned something in the office the other day about Sterling Chase being ‘our’ company. I put two and two together.” Rowe shrugged. “As soon as the idea occurred to me, I realized of course you’d invented ETC. You’re passionate about emergency medicine. You’ve invested your soul in the company. You care about people. And, honestly… you’re one of a very strange mix of people on the board of directors. I bet it’s not as much of a secret as you think.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Oh, I assure you, it is. No one else knows. Not Clarissa or Austin or any of our employees. Even our lawyers don’t talk about it openly.” Another thought occurred to me, even more overwhelming than the last. “Wait, so if you knew—”

“Well, strongly suspected might be more accurate—”

“Then you know that when we sold ETC, I—”

“Became a billionaire?” Rowe took a deep breath and smoothed my hair behind my ear. “Yes. Yep. That was… trippy.”

“And you’re fine with it?”

“I mean, no? Because I still cannot comprehend what a billion of anything would be like, let alone a billion dollars . But also, yes. Because I like you. You , Sebastian. And I’d like you even if you didn’t have a cent—”

“You’d probably like me better.”

“Not better,” he insisted. “I like you the way you are. Confident. In charge. Very, devastatingly…”

I lifted an eyebrow and asked hopefully, “Sexy?”

“Kind,” Rowe said with a grin. He pushed up on his toes and kissed me, and my arms instinctively went around his waist. “And sexy, obviously. Goes without saying.” He sank back down but linked his hands behind my neck. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I promise, I will keep your secret safe.”

“I know you will.”

“But let the record show,” he teased, “I trusted you first.”

I snorted. “Is that right, Sterling Chase ?”

“Mmhmm. I told you about the li’l baby Cupid picture,” he said loftily. “There is no greater trust than that.”

I covered his smile with my lips and took his laughter deep inside.

“Your friends are pretty great,” he said a long moment later when we came up for air. His hands roamed over my chest, lighting tiny fires everywhere he touched. “I’m glad. You deserve them.”

“They are,” I agreed. “I’m glad they came—”

Down the hall, a smoke detector began to wail, followed instantly by Kenji yelling, “Everything’s fine! Silas doesn’t understand how toasters work, but otherwise, we’re all okay!”

“—and I’ll be very glad when they go away,” I grumbled.

Rowe stifled his laugh in my chest. “Come on. Let’s go rescue them. It’s the least we can do.”

A little while later, I found myself perched on a stool, watching in amusement as Kenji tried to ride herd on all the sous chefs in the kitchen while Zane strummed his guitar at the kitchen table. It was chaos… and I thought I could get used to it.

Eventually, Silas, who’d been exiled to the living room for crimes against food preparation, came and stood by my shoulder, watching the spectacle with me.

“I told him,” I said simply.

“Good. And you two are together now?”

I shook my head. “He can’t make that decision yet, so I didn’t ask. He’s got too many other things to focus on. But after Monday…”

Silas nodded. “And if things don’t work out? If he makes a different choice?”

“He still won’t tell anyone.” I’d bet my fortune on that. In a way, I had.

Silas fell silent for a moment, but it was the kind of silence that I knew meant he was churning things over in his mind methodically, logically.

“Spit it out,” I prompted easily.

“Are you gonna be able to handle this and stay professional? Because I can take point on the Austin fiasco. Fuck knows you did it for me when things with Justin went to shit.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged.

“Yes, I know I was the one who just wanted to fire Austin in the first place, but now, after talking to Legal…” He shook his head. “You were right. That would have been the worst possible course. We need to pull Austin’s fangs by reminding him of the nondisclosure agreement he signed before he does anything rash that would earn Sterling Chase media scrutiny—like complaining about his wrongful termination at the same moment your new boyfriend is applying for a patent on the project Austin’s trying to take credit for.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Zane’s career is taking off, Kenji’s barely keeping Landry’s behavior off the radar, Dev’s in no shape to have people poking around his personal life. I don’t want this to blow up in our faces. And more than all that, I don’t want you to have to worry about all this when you’ve already got enough on your plate.”

Silas had always been the mother hen of our group, and I appreciated that he was concerned about my emotional well-being, but…

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I care about Rowe a lot. I want to build something real with him. But Silas, Sterling Chase is still my baby. It means more to me than anything.”

I said the words with confidence, believing them to be absolutely true…

But less than twenty-four hours later, I realized I’d become a bigger liar than Rowe Prince ever was. Because when I had to choose between Sterling Chase and… Sterling Chase , there was hands down no question which I’d choose.

My Prince of Lies would win every time.