Page 77 of Ruin Me, Daddy

“He won’t, because he will never find out.”

“Silver, honey?—”

Shaking her head, she cut Lottie off. “You guys don’t get it. Ace and Ice, they’re basically brothers. It’s why their band names are so close. They thought it was clever, like they were twins. Ice, he had it really bad growing up, and he’s said more than once that Ace and his parents saved him. I can’t—won’t—let him give that up for me.” Lifting the bloody Mary again, she sipped, willing back the tears tightening her throat. “Honestly, part of me wishes I could just go back to California and pretend this whole thing with Ice never happened.” Even if it kills me.

“Ah… I don’t think that’s really an option, babe.” Her expression almost painfully sympathetic, Frankie held up her phone. There, in crystal-clear color, was a photo of her and Ice, sharing an intimate embrace outside Club BDE. As if the photo itself wasn’t incriminating enough, the headline above the picture sealed the deal.

Whispers of Deviancy: Elias Turner and Amanda Sterling’s Secret Rendezvous in South Carolina.

Fuck.

CHAPTER 27

ICE

Since Lottie had indeed taken herself out to brunch and had, somehow, dragged Silver out of bed to go with her, Braden called Holden and Beckett to see if they wanted to meet at the club. The chef had some new recipes she wanted to try out, and they were all too eager to help her taste test her ideas.

“Your group is growing,” Ice said, nodding to the small crowd of beige across the street. The solitary woman had grown to five men and women, standing in a huddle, staring at the doors to Club BDE.

Braden made a sound that was part annoyance, part amusement. “I see that. So much for hoping they’d get bored and move on.”

Unease crawled up Ice’s spine. It wasn’t the first time he’d come face to face with protestors. A man didn’t spend half his life making ‘devil music’ and not have a few nutjobs come out to play.

But this felt different, for reasons he couldn’t explain, and he was tempted to go find Silver so he could drag her ass back to California, away from the crazies.

Back to reality, where Silver was once again completely off-limits to him. Where he wouldn’t be able to touch her whenever he wanted, kiss her whenever the mood struck. Where he’d never again have the pleasure of seeing her on her knees, her mouth stuffed full of his cock.

Back to a reality where he faced the very real possibility of losing both of his best friends forever.

Feeling vaguely nauseated by the thought, he practically jumped out of the car the moment Braden put it into park. Holden’s giant SUV with the blacked-out windows was already parked on the street in front of them, along with Beckett’s more sensible sedan.

Their friends were waiting for them upstairs, seated at the booth closest to the kitchens. As Ice and Braden made their way over, Ice’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it free, he grinned at Silver’s picture on the screen. “Hey, baby. What are you?—”

“We have a problem, Ice. A big fucking problem.”

Again that nervous feeling crawled up his spine at the panic in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

The phone in his hand buzzed again. “Check your texts.”

He lowered the phone and swiped open her texts, his heart slamming up against his ribs at the headline of the link she’d sent him. “Son of a bitch.”

“I know.” Her voice practically vibrated with fury. “Someone outed us. What the fuck are we going to do?”

Damage control. They needed damage control. “I’ll call Simon, get him out in front of it.” And see if he can keep Ace from losing his fucking mind.

“Ace is going to flip when he sees that photo,” Silver said, echoing his own thoughts. “I’m so sorry, Ice. I never meant for this to happen.”

“Baby, this isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, it is. I should have just gone back to California when you told me to, but I was selfish and now I’ve royally fucked us.”

We were both selfish.

But there would be plenty of time for self-recriminations later. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”

“Don’t bother. We’re like ten minutes from the club. We bailed on brunch once we saw that fucking article.”

“All right. We’ll see you when you get here.”

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