Page 49 of You Owe Me

“This isn’t your fault,” Sebastian says firmly. “Carter’s the one playing games. We’re just playing them better.”

I manage a weak smile. “From your mouth to God’s ears.”

As I head toward the door, I can hear them already starting to plan who to contact, what to look for, and how to cover theirtracks. It should make me feel better, knowing I’m not alone in this.

Instead, all I can think about is the look on Maverick’s face when he finds out I’ve been lying to him. When he realizes I’ve been making decisions about his life without him.

He’s going to hate me for this.

But if it keeps him safe, if it keeps him from losing everything he’s worked for, I’ll take that risk.

Even if it breaks my heart to do it.

I just hope we can find something on Carter before it’s too late. Before this elaborate deception blows up in all our faces.

Because if we can’t, I’m not sure any of us will forgive ourselves for what comes next.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rumor has it, she’s playing dress-up for the devil.

Ainsley

I’m an asshole. I might have said yes to the gala, but I didn’t say yes to Carter.

“Gross, you smell like Maverick,” Eliza groans, waving a hand in front of her face as I collapse face-first onto her bed. “What’d you do, bathe in his body wash?”

I roll onto my back and grin at the ceiling. “I fucked him on the poker table before I left.”

Her mouth drops open. “You didn’t.”

“I absolutely did.” I stretch like a cat who just licked the cream and stole the saucer. “Right on top of his precious poker chips. He made me help re-sort them afterward because I compromised the deck’s integrity.”

I close my eyes, letting the memory replay like my favorite kind of sin. He’d been sitting at the table, sorting cards with military precision, wearing that stupid old Lone Star Beer T-shirt that clung to him in all the right ways, brooding, focused, dangerous. My favorite version of him.

I’d walked in wearing just his shirt and nothing else. He looked up, paused, and his eyes darkened instantly.

What happened next was chaos in the best possible form. His hands gripping my thighs, lifting me onto the table like Iwas lighter than logic. The feel of green felt against my back, the scatter of chips under my palms. His mouth on my skin, pulling moans from me like secrets. The way he took his time with no rush, no mercy, all claim. He made me say his name like he didn’t want me to forget who I belonged to.

I didn’t. I won’t.

“Are you trying to kill him?” Eliza shakes her head but smiles. “The man has a heart condition.”

“If I am, it’ll be the sexiest obituary ever written.” I sit up and run my fingers through my wild hair, tangled, marked, full of Maverick. “Besides, he started it. Came home all intense and muttering about strategy and power dynamics.”

“And your response was to ride him on a table he treats like a religious artifact.”

“Exactly. Equal power exchange.”

“Goodness, you’re unwell,” she mutters, dragging a garment bag from her closet. “Also, you need a shower. You reek of sex and questionable life choices.”

“Nope,” I say immediately.

She pauses. “You’re... not showering?”

“Hell no. I want Carter to smell him on me.” I can still feel Maverick’s grip on my hips, the way he murmured ‘mine’ against my neck, the shiver it sent down my spine. He left fingerprints on my skin and heat in my blood, and I am not wasting that edge on a hot shower and good hygiene.

Eliza stares at me. “You’re weaponizing post-sex pheromones.”

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