Page 40 of His Dark Vices

I start to feel sick.

We're not even driving home together?

"Sam, what's going on?" I plead with him again as I charge down the steps toward him, my emotions spilling over. I hear my voice shake.

"This car will take you back to your apartment. This is the last bag of yours, so you're all set." Sam opens the door for me and gestures for me to get inside.

I can feel the warmth pouring out of the car as I get near, but that's not where I want to be right now. I want to be with Sam. A panic seizes my chest, and I feel myself starting to lose control.

"Sam, please. What's going on? Something happened. Did I do something wrong?" Even though I know I couldn't have, I still ask.

Still not looking at me, he shakes his head. "No, just something I need to take care of. Get in the car, you're shivering."

"When… when will I see you again?" I continue pathetically, my voice coming out as a whine.

He shrugs, then rakes a hand through his hair with a hard sigh. "I don't know." He places his hands on my shoulders and steers me toward the car, practically pushing me in.

"Wh-what about Christmas?" I sit in the car like he wants me to do and pull my legs in, still desperately trying to catch his eye.

Sam scoffs, and his grin chills me to the bone, it's so empty. "You're having family dinner, remember?"

With that, he shuts the door and taps the hood of the car, signaling the driver to leave.

I'm too numb to even put my seat belt on. My head is spinning, and I'm fighting the urge to throw up. It's like I can't even recognize that man. And nothing makes sense. What could be making him almost act like he hates me now?

But that's not what's making dread settle in my stomach. I whip my head around as we drive off, searching for an empty bag to throw up in. I know I can't hold it together, not for much longer.

I only just confirmed the family dinner, only a couple of hours ago.

How did he know what my plans were?

CHAPTER 15

Bree

Ileft my bags at the door as soon as I got home, my mind still whirling and tossing jumbled thoughts around my head like a tornado. There's the feeling that I've lost something—and so easily, which makes me wonder what I had at all. But I don't entertain that thought for long. The depth of what I felt when I was in his arms… there's no mistaking that.

Then my mind snaps to what could have possibly happened, but the possibilities are endless. And I torture myself with as many as I can. Did he find out something unsavory about me? I haven't done anything weird or wrong, though. Did he have to rush home to another girl he's seeing? Even if he's called me his, it's not like we've talked about exclusivity. Or is he mixed up in some shady shit? Did a deal go wrong?

Whatever it is, the fact that he's hiding it from me cuts deep. I'm not as close to him as I thought I was getting, and why would I think we were getting close at all?

I'm getting upset about being reminded that I'm only his fuck buddy.

But all of that is a distraction from the real source of anguish, anxiety—the restlessness in my heart.

No matter how I think about it, there's no way Sam should know about my Christmas plans with my family. Not unless…

Not unless he's spying on my Companion data.

I can't even think about it without my heart rate spiking. This is what's keeping me up right now, even though I've been in bed since I got home hours ago. Because I don't know where to go from here. If true, that kind of violation is bigger than me and my hurt feelings. How could I not expose him? How could I even keep seeing him?

All the consequences that would surely have to follow, they are what's assaulting me, keeping sleep far away from me.

Wouldn't this privacy violation shed light on why everything with Sam has felt like a dream? It all felt so perfect, so coincidental. When he met me in the park, did he know I'd be there?

Fuck, of course! I schedule my morning jogs, and Companion tracks my location. It would have been easy for him to encounter me again. He has immediate access to my routine. And when I submitted my last article last week, just before he took me out to celebrate, I checked the project off of my Task List in Companion.

But wait, more than that.

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