An Unlocked Mind (Secrets #2)(13)

“I’m sorry,” Rob said softly. He hoped Vic could hear the sincerity in his voice, hear the truth in his words.

Apparently not.

“So you’ve claimed, but you haven’t lost any of that attitude, have you? Even when you say you’re sorry, there’s an underlying anger to your tone, as if I’m the one at fault. How am I supposed to know you’re actually apologetic?”

Is that what he hears? Is that really how I sound?

“Because I… I….” Then he thought about it. How would he know? With the way Rob had behaved at the club, the fact that Vic was even talking to him instead of kicking his arse to the curb meant something. Didn’t it?

“Go on,” Vic demanded. “Don’t stop there.”

How the hell could he know, when Rob wasn’t sure himself? Recollections assailed him. The lies. The threats. The lonesomeness. The… abandonment. “I don’t know,” Rob wailed. “I have no idea how to prove to you how sorry I am. It’ll be better if I just go.”

Rob grabbed the handle of the door. He had to get away from Vic. Away from the feelings that he engendered. And he would never go back to Secrets. Not again. Fuck them all.

“Stop.”

Vic’s voice barely rose above a whisper, but Rob knew it was a command. He stilled.

“Put your seat belt back on,” Vic said.

Rob’s hands worked as if they had a mind of their own as he obeyed Vic’s order and latched the belt across his chest. When Vic started the car, Rob froze. “Where are we going?”

Without so much as a glance, Vic replied. “I’m going home. It’s up to you what you want. You can sleep in my spare room or out on the curb. Or I can just drop you at the train station. There clearly won’t be anything settled tonight, and I’m tired. So let me know what you decide.”

The thoughts tumbled through Rob’s head.

Fuck, but he’s an arrogant sod.

Who is he to think that I would spend the night at his place? Fucker would probably try to have sex with me.

Like I’d agree to that.

The wind buffeted the car, and just like that, Rob came to his senses. He didn’t want to be out in that shit. And the staff who manned the train station might not even let him sleep there until the morning when he could get home. Fuck.

“You won’t….” He swallowed hard.

“I won’t touch you,” Vic promised. “In the morning, I’ll take you to the train so you can go home.”

It all sounded so easy.

“How do you know I won’t hurt you?” Rob demanded.

The corner of Vic’s mouth curled upward. God, Rob hated that smirk. What was more, he loathed the fact that Vic seemed to know him so well, even though they’d only just met.

Am I really that transparent? The thought dismayed him.

“Can I…?” Rob couldn’t get the words out. To ask would be showing weakness, and Rob wasn’t weak. He wasn’t.

“What?” Vic asked.

Rob breathed more evenly. “Nothing. Never mind.”

There was a moment’s pause. “Very well. I’ll drop you at the station.” Vic put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb.

Fuck it. He couldn’t do this. Sit in the station for hours with nothing to do? Alone? Again?

It was now or never.

“Can I stay the night at your place?” The words came out in a rush.

Vic smiled. “Yes, you may. We’ll be there in about ten minutes. When we arrive, I’ll make us a cuppa, then show you to your room.”

They lapsed into silence as Vic drove through the wet streets, the rain still bouncing off the windscreen.

Rob couldn’t believe he’d just asked to spend the night. What was I thinking? Then he reasoned that he’d be warm, safe, and, more importantly, not alone.

That’s the only reason I asked.

It had absolutely nothing to do with Vic.

It didn’t.





Chapter Five


VIC HEADED for his place, wondering what was going through Rob’s mind. The one thing he’d noticed was that Rob’s emotions showed clearly on his face. His anger was a sight to behold—the flinty eyes, the tightness in his expression, the flushed face—but there were also others mixed in with it. He wasn’t sure Rob had control over his feelings at all.

Vic prided himself on his ability to read people. Often, he knew what they needed before they knew themselves. It was an invaluable skill he’d honed over a lifetime, then perfected while employed by Montgomery and Trypp. He’d worked his way up from laying sod to helping to design public spaces. People loved to work with him because he always understood their unspoken needs.

It also helped to make him a formidable Dom.

However, the young man who sat beside him, trembling as he wound his arms around his body, perplexed him. Rob had a hard shell, probably one he’d cobbled together over the years as a means of survival. And though there was anger beneath it, Vic was convinced there was also a desperate longing to be accepted and shown he wasn’t broken or damaged. Or, if he was, then put back together. More succinctly, Vic was certain young Rob wanted to be owned. To be given direction, discipline, and love. Most definitely love. But it wasn’t something Vic could do in one night, and once he dropped Rob off at the train station, it was more than likely he’d never see him again.