“Yes,” I murmur.

“Now go back to your husband, but don’t you forget whose cum is inside of you right now,” he says before taking my chin between his fingers and giving me a hard kiss, then turning and walking out of the bathroom, leaving me standing here, a fucked up mess.

I turn around and look at myself in the mirror, working quickly to pull myself together before returning to the party. Taking in a few slow, deep breaths to calm my racing heart, I smooth my hair and blot the sweat from my forehead with a towel. I don’t have time to think about what just happened because I’ve been in here for long enough, and I need to get back to Bennett. I give myself another glance over to make sure everything is in place before I pick my mask up from the floor and walk out.

When I make my way back to the party, I scan the room for Declan but he’s nowhere to be seen.

“You feeling better?” Bennett asks, causing me to jump. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, you just snuck up on me,” I breathe.

His eyes roam over my face before he asks, “Why did you take your mask off?”

“I was hot,” I tell him. “Would you put it back on for me?”

When I hand it over to him, I turn around, and as he’s tying it back on, I spot Declan’s date, but she’s alone. Taking one more look over the room, I still don’t see him.

“There,” he says and then wraps his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go find a quiet spot and sit down for a little bit.”

“I’m fine. Really,” I assure. “Dance with me.”

He smiles and we spend the rest of the evening dancing and enjoying our night. After the countdown to midnight, we ring in the New Year with champagne toasts and lots of kissing, but with Declan nowhere in sight, it seems he must have ditched the party after fucking me in the bathroom. It isn’t until we get home that I lie in bed and replay everything that happened with Declan. Putting all the pieces of him together, I’m fairly certain that what happened was him staking his claim, albeit in a primitive and territorial fashion.

With Bennett going to Miami in a couple of days, I plan to lay low and focus my attention on him before I seek out Declan. That is, if he doesn’t seek me out first.

“HONEY.”

“Yeah?” I say as I grab a few more dress shirts from Bennett’s closet and walk back out into the bedroom to pack them in his garment bag.

“I wanted to talk to you about Baldwin. I’ll need to continue taking him with me for my trips to Dubai. I just want to make sure you’re okay with that.”

“We discussed this before, and I told you I’m fine. But why do you need to take him with you?” I ask.

“The laws there are strict, and I like having him to keep an eye on everything,” he explains. “It’s just safer that I’m not alone.”

After zipping up his bag, I walk over to him and ask as I wrap my arms around his waist, “Should I be more worried about you?”

“No. I don’t want you to worry about a thing, which is why Baldwin will be traveling with me.”

“Just you saying that already has me worried.”

“It’s just, last I was there, a situation arose with a couple who shared a cab that was staying at the same hotel as me. It made me realize how much I didn’t know about the laws there,” he tells me and then leads me over to one of the chairs that sit next to the windows.

“What happened?” I ask as he takes a seat and pulls me down on his lap.

“They were friends sharing a cab and they got arrested. According to the driver, they were holding hands and kissed, which I found out was against the law unless you’re married. The bellman who brought my bags to the room told me that they would most likely go to prison for the indiscretion. So, I just want the added security measures around me while I’m there on the jobsite, that’s all.”

Shaking my head, I remark, “That’s crazy.”

“I know I had mentioned you coming with me, but I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’d worry too much, so I think it’s best that you stay put here, where I know you’re safe.” He runs his hand through my hair, adding, “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if anything ever happened to you.”

“Baby, nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ll stay here and wait for you,” I tell him and then add with a smile, “impatiently.”

He laughs and brings me in for a kiss.

“So what are your plans for the next few days while I’m gone?” he questions.

“I need to stop by the Tribune Tower to meet with Mr. Bernstein about that social piece I was approached about writing.”

“Did you decide to do it then?”

“I think so. I mean, it’ll be great exposure for the charities we work with. I figured we could use this opportunity to get the word out about some of the smaller foundations we are affiliated with,” I explain. “I know I’m not a writer or anything, but I can try, right?”

“I’m proud of you, you know that? Plus, you’ll have an editor, but I have no doubt that you’re fully capable of writing a great article.”

“Well, the least it will do is keep me busy while you’re gone.”

“Three days. It’s only three days,” he says with a grin.

“Yeah. Three days and then you leave a few days after that,” I tell him with a soft poke to his ribs, which causes him to laugh and nuzzle his head into the crook of my neck, giving me a couple nips.

We continue to talk and be close until Baldwin calls with the car, and Bennett and I say our goodbyes for the next few days while he’s in Miami on business. Once he’s gone, I go to check my phone, wondering if Declan has tried contacting me, but I have no new messages. It’s been several days since the incident in the bathroom at the New Year’s Eve party, and I haven’t had any contact with him since. But now that Bennett is gone, I make the decision to drive over to his loft.

I distract myself when Clara comes over, helping her in the kitchen, preparing meals for the week. We share a glass of wine, and I fill her in on the party and we talk about her daughter’s wedding that is coming up in a few months. When everything is prepped, labeled, and placed in the freezer, she says goodnight and I take a quick shower to freshen up.

I dress casually, leaving my thick, red hair in loose waves and dabbing on a touch of makeup. I prep myself on the drive over to River North with how I plan on approaching Declan, needing to play heavily on his emotions to pull him into what he will assume is just your everyday affair. So I listen to a few songs that aid me in my doleful mood, and as I pull up to Declan’s building a little after nine, I breathe a sigh of relief when I look up to the very top to see the lights on in his place.

Giving myself a last look in the rearview mirror, I walk into the building and buzz for Declan on the intercom.

“Who is it?” his voice questions through the speaker.

“It’s me,” I say softly.

I have to wait a few silent moments before his voice responds, “I’ll be right down.”

Since you need a card to get to his floor, I wait for him by the elevator. When it finally opens, and Declan steps out towards me, I do as I planned and simply stand there, staring at him, willing the tears to bathe my eyes, until he finally speaks, “What are you doing here?”

With a subtle shrug of my shoulders, my voice trembles when I respond, “I don’t know.”

He closes the space between us, cupping my cheeks in his hands, but I don’t give him a chance to say anything when my vision blurs with unshed tears and I weakly say, “I want to be mad at you. For what you did the other night. But . . . for some reason I can’t bring myself to hate you.” My head falls to his chest, and he holds me tight in his arms when I add, “I just . . . I’m scared, but I want to be here with you.”

He presses his lips to the top of my head, and with me tucked in his arms, he moves us to the elevator and holds me the whole way up to his loft. When the doors open, he leads me across the room and over to the same couch we sat on the other week, next to the already burning fireplace. I curl up next to him, resting my head on his shoulder when he finally breaks the silence, saying, “The last thing I want is for you to hate me, Nina.”