I took a shower.

After showering, I checked the box he said I would find in his closet, and when I did, I found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It was not what I expected, and I laughed when I saw it. Honestly, I thought I would find something a bit sexier? Like the other time, he gave me a dress that I loved but ended up setting it on fire. It still pained me when I thought about it.

There were no bra or knickers, so I decided not to wear any because I hated wearing knickers that were not cleaned. I dashed out of the bedroom and made my way into the kitchen. There, I found Rogue had finished cooking me breakfast—an English breakfast because he thought it might remind me of home. As touching as that was, anything else would have been good. I was so hungry that I ate up everything on the plate, much to his amusement.

After eating, he told me we weren't going out anymore, and I took that as a win because this was a chance to go back home and call Hanna before she goes out of her mind with worry, but Rogue had other things in mind.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he pulled me into the elevator.

"Follow me, you impatient little human," he chastised as the door closed, and the car took us up to another floor. When the doors slide opened, Rogue grabbed my hand and stepped out of the elevator.

Light flittered through the windows of the spacious room. I gaped at the long wooden table holding equipment and wood sculptures, and a stack of lumber piled on the floor. Darting my gaze around, there were workbenches with tools and equipment. Wood chips coated the floor and machinery bits piled all over. On the shelves were a different kind of sculptures that I hurried to take a look at.

"Holy shit. This is yours?" I asked in fascination, as I stared at every piece of sculpture that was carved and made perfectly. I was too afraid to touch any.

"No, I'm just keeping the workshop for someone else."

Rogue's sarcasm had me turning around to glare at him playfully, but then I saw sculptures of figures and abstracts, and some that looked so realistic I was stunned.

"You made these?" I knew I sounded like it was too hard to believe him, but I was genuinely surprised Rogue had a hobby and was good at it. I already knew he was a good businessman, but I just didn't know that he was a great woodcarver.

"Yes," he offered, staying close behind me and letting me gush all over his talent. It was so impressive. "Are you surprised?"

I laughed, striding past each shelf but making sure to walk slowly to savour each sculpture. "Actually, yes I am," I answered without turning around. "I didn't know you were so talented, oh my god."

"You're the second person that I've shown this to you."

His admittance had me pausing and turning my head to smile at him, this time more naturally. "You mean you're hiding your talent? Are you crazy? You should be showing this to the world—you could sell out everything in here."

"Sell them?" He frowned at the suggestion, then shook his head. "No, they're not for sale." His face went blank as I watched his gaze roamed around his workshop and the sculptures he made, and I couldn't spot pride or happiness in his eyes. "They're intimate things I can't show to everyone. Besides, this isn't a hobby."

"If it isn't a hobby, then what is it?"

Rogue met my eyes steadily. "Torture." His voice was soft yet firm, and his words pressed on me with grave seriousness. "That's what it is."

Torture? I considered that statement. I wondered what his demons were, and what would possess him to do something he claimed was torture to him. "Then, why do you do it?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear him say it anyway.

He just grinned, leaving it at that with no explanation and no understanding of the situation, but I guess he was in the process of trying to trust me. I shouldn't press him for answers if he didn't want to give it up to me yet.

My body betrayed me more and more as he prowled forward, his chest almost touching mine and looming over me. His hot breath fluttered my face, and his eyes crushed me. "I wanted to show it to you," he murmured.

"You wanted another second input? Rogue, these are amazing. I wish I had your talent. I'm practically talentless, and this is making me jealous so much."

He chuckled. "I'm sure we can figure out what your talent is." He touched the side of my face, affectionately.

I stared at him. "We?"

"Yes, if you will let me."

Feeling awkward, I turned away when my eyes fell on a small dove on the shelf, the smallest thing in the room. "Wow," I said, walking to stand in front of it, scared to touch it.

"You like that one?" He turned his head and looked at me. His gaze was blazingly intense. "Take it."

Surprised, I glance at him. He was still staring at me with that dark fire in his eyes. "You will let me have it? I thought they're intimate things you can't give away." His words and behaviour confused me.

"That one doesn't mean anything to me."

My heart sank, but I tried not to show it with an eye roll. "Oh, geez. Thanks." It was easy for him to give away something that didn't mean anything to him, just like how I thought myself to be. The dove and I held little importance to Rogue, although he would both treat us delicately.

Rogue shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that." His hand reached out to the shelf to pick up the dove, grabbing my hand and placing it on my palm, making me grip it. His head looked up. "I made that when I was happy. Everything else in here has a memory that I can't share with anyone, so that's the only thing I can let you take." He pressed our hands together before pulling it back.

I opened my palm and stared at the dove, and despite what I thought, his intentions weren't bad. He gave the dove to me because it held a beautiful memory to it, a memory in which he had been happy. Rather than choosing the unhappy ones, he decided the one thing that was the light in the darkness of the room. It was such a priceless thing. Maybe not to him, but me, it was.

"Are you sure? You won't come and regret it?" I felt the need to ask because he clearly didn't know what he was giving away was a big deal to me.

He chuckled. "Beth," he dragged my name out. "It's yours. It's a gift from me."

Shaken to the core, my heart thumped heavily in my chest, wanting to kiss him, wanting to heal this broken man standing before me. "You won't take it from me and destroy it, right?" I gripped the dove protectively, glaring at him.

Rogue raked his hand through his hair and gave a short chuckle. "I apologise for my behaviour the other night."

"You ruined a perfectly good dress."

"It was worth it."

He let me walk around for a few more seconds, and that was when my eyes caught on a framed glass that was turned upside down. I went for it, turning the frame around to a picture of three young people. Two were male, and the other was a female. At my close inspection, I realised who these people were.

"That's you?" I pointed at the teenage boy on the right, his hands in his pocket as he stared into the camera without emotion. It was him no doubt, so the female in the middle had to be Veronica. No, it was Veronica. She had blue streaks in her hair, and she was wearing the biggest smile on her face. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the other boy at her left as she leaned into him.

I pointed at the blonde boy winking into the camera. "Who is this?"

Rogue looked down at the picture and threw me a tight smile, taking the frame from me. He ran his fingers over the face of the boy I asked him about. "That's Tyson. A friend of ours. He died when he was sixteen."

I gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad." I studied his face, watching the light flicker in and out of his eyes as he continued to stare at the picture, gripping the frame so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. I felt so shitty for asking. "Rogue, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you recall bad memories."

"It's fine," he replied tightly, throwing me a slight smile. "It was a long time ago. I have forgotten about it."

Somehow, it felt like a lie. I nodded, feeling uncomfortable.

"You're not going to ask me how he died?" he wondered with a glint in his eyes.

"No, it's fine." I quickly moved forward to avoid his gaze again.

Rogue led me back to the penthouse and went straight to get something to eat, claiming he was still hungry, but that was only when I asked him where my stuff was and reminded him that I was leaving. He seemed to be doing things deliberately to get me to stay with him longer.

He grabbed a loaf of bread and took out two slices for me and two for himself, despite telling him I wasn't hungry, but he didn't listen.

"Careful to deny me what I want," he said as he busied making sandwiches for us. "You still owe me." He spread peanut butter in each slice, and I watched him unscrew a pickle jar. I stared at him with twisted lips.

"That's disgusting," I commented, as he laid the slices across his sandwich, and when he went to put some on mine, I dragged my plate away. "No, thank you. At first, I thought you were unattractive, but now, you're professionally unattractive."

Rogue snorted and replaced the top slice of bread, picking up the sandwich and bringing it to his mouth. "So, you don't find me attractive?" he asked, watching me with amusement as he took a huge bite.

"Why is a grown man eating a peanut butter and pickle sandwich?"

He walked around me, saying, "Do you think me old?"

I followed him to the living room with my own plate in hand, replying, "You're too old for me," I lied. He was twenty-nine. Four years older than me. Rogue carried his plate to the couch and tossed the remote down, sitting down as he patted me to sit next to him.

My blood started to heat, and my hand with the plate shook. It felt normal. This was like me hanging out in a boyfriend's house and chilling in his living room, which was not the case with Rogue and me. We were not dating. I shouldn't relax around him.

I heard someone punching in the passcode before the door was unlocked, and in she walked, dragging herself inside. I immediately tensed up when I saw her.

"Honey, I'm home," Veronica called out happily as she took off her coat and rested it on her arm, taking her shoes off next. She still had not looked our way to realise that he was not alone. I turned to look back at Rogue, but his eyes were on TV. When I turned around to Veronica, I saw her bristled when she saw me. Surprise shone on her face, and then she hesitated to walk to us.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a guest over. I could come another time, sorry for interrupting." She turned around to leave.

Rogue was already up before I could realise, sweeping past me. "I'm sure Beth won't mind, right?" He darted his gaze to me with arched brows, and I could tell what I think mattered to him, but I didn't want to be the one to send her away. I mean, I had no reason to. Veronica had more rights on him than me, so if anyone were kicking anyone, it would be her kicking me out.

I tore my gaze away from him and stared down at my untouched sandwich, which I suddenly didn't feel like eating anymore.

Veronica looked between Rogue and me, standing there awkwardly. "No, if it's any trouble, I can come back another time," she tried again, sounding like she was actually feeling bad for interrupting. Ridiculous.

"What's that?" Rogue suddenly demanded, handing over his plate for me to hold. He walked up to Veronica, grasping her hand and turning it around. "Your wrists."

Her eyes were still on me when she pulled it away from his hold as if she did it for me, which was funny to me. "Rogue, it's nothing," she assured, running her hand through her hair. Now that I noticed, she didn't have the glow on her face that she normally does, and her eyes were a bit red and tired, signifying the lack of sleep and stress. She was wearing dull and dark clothes—jeans and a grey sweater.

"It happened?" he guessed with a dark look over his face.

Veronica gave him a timid smile, pulling her sleeves to hide the hands I wanted to see. "It's fine," she waved it away.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"You were busy. I didn't want to bother you with it."

I noticed his hands gripping hers tightly as he bared his worry and concern to her, while I stood behind there like a splatter of red stain in a beautiful canvas. "You always call. You should've called me," Rogue remarked tightly, sounding angry. "I don't like that you handled it alone. Wherever I am, you know I will always come to you."

Veronica nodded with a smile on her face as she enclosed her hand over his, squeezing it a little with the same care and love I had seen him showing her. It was like an ugly sound that shattered the quiet house.

"I'll be right back," he informed her, turning around and sweeping past me to get to his room, leaving me to stare at his retreating form. I no longer held his attention. With difficulty, I looked away from him and stared at Veronica, who seemed to be avoiding my gaze as she played with her fingers nervously.

"You must be happy," I finally said, just as I started to head for the kitchen.

I heard her follow me, asking, "What?"

I opened the trash bin and threw the sandwiches inside, taking the plates to the sink to wash them. Veronica's presence behind me irked me and made me so angry.

"Your ploy worked." I sent her a look across my shoulder and added with suppressed anger, "You got his attention from me to you. I'm surprised it took you this long to appear." Turning away, I continued to wash the plates.

"Is that a joke?"

"No, it isn't. I see what you're doing, and I have to say, you don't have to try so hard. Weren't you confident in your relationship before? Why are you suddenly using these tactics to gain his attention?"I grabbed the plates and put them back, just as I caught her bland face.

"You're out of your mind, Beth. You don't know what you're saying."

I laughed. "If that's what you think."

Rogue walked into the kitchen with cream in hand. He darted his gaze to Veronica and me. His face tightened, and he demanded in a dangerous tone, "Is everything all right?"

Forcing a smile on my lips, I said slowly, "Just girl's talk."

"I'm leaving," Veronica announced abruptly.

"Hey, where are you going?" Rogue caught her hand and pulled her back before she could exit the kitchen. "Sit." He pulled out a stool and guided her into it, taking a seat himself. His hand was still holding hers when he opened the tube of cream and started to apply it on her wrist.

"Yeah, Veronica, sit. Rogue is going to do what he does best. Tend to his girl, and then his mistress. I can't wait for the next shift."

He froze. Slanting me a glance, he said, softly but firmly, "Knock it off." He lets go of Veronica's hand.

I smiled, taking pleasure in his annoyance, but pain reflected in my eyes as I stared him down. "Because it's Veronica, huh?" The words came out bitterly, and I knew they both could hear it in my voice.

Rogue looked directly at me as if trying to look into my soul. "Because I don't want you to be childish. There's nothing to fight, Beth. Let it go."

I took a tight breath. "Childish," I repeated, listening to the sound the word made in the kitchen. I felt my shaking fingers clenched against the counter. It was one word, but it was enough, it was all it took to make me feel sick. I couldn't let it go. He had the right to call me childish, but I wonder what he would feel about this. "What would you think about her, then? Did she tell you how she almost killed me that night after the party?"

Veronica's deep sigh brought me back to look at her. "I wasn't going to kill you," she told me, explaining further, "I was only trying to get you to understand."

I finally saw a tinge of concern in Rogue's eyes when he looked at her. "You gambled with Beth's life?" It was the first time I could say I saw genuine anger in his face and voice. He pinned her with such a cold look that I felt excitement coursing through me. Finally.

"I gambled with both our lives. I knew if something were to happen to her, it would be on me, so I decided to gamble with my life too, Rogue. If anything were to go wrong, it would happen to both of us."

"How is that any better?" I exclaimed. I couldn't believe she was trying to make herself a victim and put the spotlight on herself. "Does murder come so easy for you, Veronica?"

But she wasn't looking at me. She was staring at him with an apologetic look on her face and a need for him to understand. Rogue got up and grasped her arm, pulling her with him out of the kitchen. I followed them, in time to see him grabbing her chin as he pinned her to the wall. I didn't make my presence known.

"Now, why would you go and do something like that?" he asked, his fingers digging into her cheeks. Instead of being terrified of him, Veronica merely smirked. "You want to play games with me, Veronica?"

For a second, I didn't breathe. I remained where I was, unable to ignore the agony right in front of me. Still, it was the rage that continued to hold me right there because I wanted something to hold him against, so when he denied anything between them, I would let him recall this moment and every little detail from it.

"I just did what you and I love doing; playing god," murmured Veronica with a large grin on her face. "You should remember how fun that used to be." She poked at his chest, and a small, husky laugh escaped Rogue.

He shifted and leaned against the wall. "I do, very much, but it's not fun when you play your little games on Beth. She thinks you did that because you want me. She doesn't know that was a message for me."

Message for him? What the hell did that mean?

"I did love testing you before, darling."

"Don't involve her again." His words echoed the warning I read on his face.

"You're not fun when you like someone," she grumbled, but the look in her eyes shifted, turning harder, colder. "I remember you having no trouble doing the same thing with a guy that I liked."

"That's because I knew you weren't for him, and I was doing a good friend of mine a favour. I could care less about how you thought about it."

"Come on, admit it. You felt that rush when she told you."

Rush? Over my near-death experience? Are you kidding me? I didn't know what was more frightening, that it was something they got thrilled over, or it was something they did for fun.

"No," Rogue said sternly, staring back at her. "Which comes back to this again; don't play games with Beth and just stay away from her. She doesn't like you."

Veronica rolled her eyes, not in the least bit worried about his warning. "She doesn't like me with you because she doesn't know anything."

"It's not yours or mine to tell." It was halfhearted at best, but it was still a warning.

"You like her. I think you should tell her, or else she's going to continue thinking I'm in love with you." When she said this, I knew I had struck a nerve with her.

I didn't think she was in love with him. I knew she was in love with him. If she wanted to fool him, she could, but she couldn't fool me.

Rogue's gaze was filled with seduction. "Aren't you in love with me?" The sound of his voice had turned sensual and melodic, vibrating the room.

Breathe.

"Oh, please. You aren't my type."

"I think I'm exactly your type." He paused, the hesitation odd in his firm and confident demeanour. "How do you think she will take it if I tell her? She will fucking run. Right now, I don't trust her not to run just like how I don't trust her not to say anything to someone." There were things he wanted to say and wasn't. He turned his head slightly away.

She sucked in a breath and released it. "You don't know that."

Rogue played with his jaw softly. He was tentative and wary of whatever he was hiding from me. I couldn't stand it. I wanted to know every little secret of theirs. There was always confusion when he and Veronica were near. I felt a conflict over what I should do or shouldn't do.

He held her hand and gripped it tightly. "You and I have come a long way without any trouble in our lives, V, and I won't be the reason that peace is gone. I can't do that to us, especially you. I want you to be happy." He drew his hand upward until he enclosed his fingers in her forearm and stepped closer to her.

"You know it's impossible," she whispered to him, as he let his forehead fall onto her shoulder. Veronica fluttered her eyes closed and inhaled deeply. I backed up for a moment to clutch my own heart that was burning through my clothes. When I looked back at them again, Rogue had raised his face and was staring into her eyes with a different kind of intensity that roared a flame into my heart.

"Then I want you to hold onto the little happiness you have," he retorted calmly.

I didn't think I could stand it any longer. I didn't think I could ever compete with what they had. Every time Veronica was close to him, the place in Rogue's heart for her seemed to get bigger and bigger, and mine just kept reducing and reducing. Every little of their interaction made me forget every single thing Rogue had whispered into my ears because they seemed to be words to charm me.

Sometimes, for a moment, I continued to forget there were like an airborne infection I had breathed in, and I could neither escape from it nor find a cure for it. They were like tight shackles in my life, meant to keep me a prisoner, breathing down their lies and deceptions on my face, their walls clamping around me, and their love was like sharp nails gouging my flesh.

"What about you? I care just as much as you care. You like someone now, Rogue. Doesn't it terrify you when she comes to know? Will she accept you? I knew sooner or later, this will happen, but I still regret you liking someone. Why couldn't your heart just have been ice cold and unable to feel?" The pain in her eyes was real, and Rogue seemed to breathe it in. There was much more, deep in the pit of their gazes, I saw pure love laced with pain in them.

I was shattering and sinking. I wondered how long before I reach the bottom and break.

"Are you sure you're sad? Because your fear of me clinging to you and your husband forever won't come true now," he teased, though he seemed to be the one to hold onto his pain locked inside, even while he was joking with her.

"Well, there's still time for me to fear, and you know with you by my side, everything gets easier, darling."

Change seemed to come over his face now. "Do you think so?" he questioned angrily. "Because if you did, you would have called me rather than endure it alone. What if something had gone wrong, Veronica? Do you want me to live the rest of my life in guilt and being haunted by you?"

"I thought I could handle it alone. I wanted to learn how to deal it alone now that you're with someone.

"I'm seeing someone, not dead," he hissed, glaring at her.

"And look how messy it is right now," she cried out defensively. "Beth hates me, and she thinks I will steal you away. I made it clear that you're for both women. I thought that was funny."

Breathe.

Veronica shook her head again, backing away from the wall. She turned to him so I couldn't see her face anymore. "Anyway, I have to go. There are some things that I still need to take care, and if you stay here with me longer than necessary, Beth might think we're fucking each other right now."

I bit down on my lip so hard.

"I'm going to drop by later."

"Okay, good." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. Rogue's arm went around her waist, and the other caressed her hair. When she pulled away, she muttered, "I love you, and sorry for creating a mess for you."

"Nothing I can't handle," he retorted, leaning in to kiss her cheek. He watched her walk out of the house with an affectionate smile on his face.

***

I was in bed, FaceTiming Lauren. Ever since that conversation I heard, I had snuck out of Rogue's house without talking to him and came back home to mope in bed. My phone was still with him, so there was no way to call or text me. I wasn't going back for it either. If he expected me to come for it, he would have to wait forever. I was getting a new phone.

"Do you know Rogue Slade?" I questioned, watching her pause from typing on her phone and darted her gaze back to me. My best friend in the entire world stared at me in confusion and nodded.

"Yeah, but just his name. He's Mason's friend who helped us once. That's what I know about him," she answered, keeping her phone down as she paid me more attention than she did before.

He was Mason's friend?!

"Are you kidding me?" I cried out in disbelief. "So, all this time I could have found a way out of that house? I didn't know the strong card that I held? Ugh!" It was so frustrating to think I didn't use the Mason card on Rogue when he kidnapped me. If he knew I was the best friend to his friend's wife, he would have let me go the second I revealed that information.

Lauren frowned. "Huh?"

I shook my head. "No, it's nothing."

She stared at me like she didn't believe me, which I knew she didn't because my face could have revealed what my lips couldn't. "What are you cooking up?" she demanded, all suspicious. "Why do you want to know about Rogue? Do you know him?"

"No." I clamped my mouth shut, but a smirk slipped onto my face, and before I could hide it from her, Lauren already saw it.

"Bethany Wallace, spit it out! You're hiding things from me now?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not hiding anything. I'm just curious about him." That wasn't completely a lie. Ever since I met the man, I had been curious about him, and my curiosity had still not been satisfied.

"Just stay away from him. Mason dropped the hint that he's a little intense?"

Little? More like a hefty amount of intensity.

"He did?" I asked, surprised. Then something hits me, and my face lit up entirely. "Wait, where is he?" I angled my head to see if I could catch a little glimpse of her husband on my screen, but the only thing I could see was the chair she was sitting on.

"He's at his study."

"Can you dig me more about Rogue? Find out what Mason knows about him? Please." I gave her a pleading look accompanied with an innocent smile that I knew would get her to cave. If Rogue wasn't going to tell me his secret, the next best thing was his friend. I could not believe I was going to learn everything without breaking any sweat.

Lauren was hesitant in complying, but then she gave up and nodded. "Alright, but are you really not going to tell me what's up? You didn't even tell me more about that voicemail I got from you. Are you alright?" Her face morphed into concern.

"Just making bad choices." I laughed. She didn't laugh with me.

"Will you be careful, then?" she questioned.

I shrugged. "You know me. Hey, can I ask you a hypothetical question?" She nodded, and I licked my lips. "Say, Mason has a female friend that he is very close with, and you've seen them kiss before—uh, they're just, you know, also so touchy and secretive, but they keep denying a relationship between them, and you feel that they're kinda telling the truth."

Asking this hypothetical question might get me into trouble with Lauren, but I wanted to know her opinion on the matter. I wanted her to push me out of my bad choices like she had always done, to set me straight so I could see the bigger picture. I needed her to help me.

Lauren was paying close attention to every movement I was making, every fidget, and every furrowed brow, every inhales and exhales. She wasn't trying to read me. She knew me well enough to know the messes I ended up finding myself in.

"So yeah, you know Mason wants you and you want him too, but you can't ignore what you're seeing. He and his friend tell you they can't live without each other, and then, there's an issue of Mason kidnapping your friend and taking you hostage, but he denies the kidnapping and releases you. Although, in your heart, you know he didn't do it, but he knows who did."

"Beth, what the hell?" Lauren cried out in worry. "Does this have to do with Rogue?!"

"Calm down, Laurie. Nothing is going on like that. I'm just watching a show. The girl eventually got together with the guy, so that's what shocked me and got me seriously thinking. You know how invested I get with shows." I laughed to hide my panic. "So, would you get together with him if you were her?" I inquired, this time, my heart beating wildly in my chest.

"After doing all of that? Definitely not."

My heart sank, and my voice quivered. "Babe, have you forgotten your history with your husband? You had a bad start with him, but he eventually started to treat you nicely."

"So?" she retorted, staring at me as if I was crazy. "Does him treating her nicely erase what he's done?"

I merely blinked in response.

"Mason did what he had to do, but he doesn't sound as shitty as this fictional character." She shook her head and gave a tight-lipped smile. "You know I love you, and you and I make dumb choices sometimes, but I at least had faith in you to make good choices this time. But I forget you're literally called Beth the dumb."

I laughed.

I heard someone talking in the background. My ears perked up, and I caught a male's voice. "Is that Mason? Give him the phone!"

"Who are you talking to?" I heard him ask Lauren as his voice got close enough for me to hear.

"It's me, asshole! Aren't you ashamed of not knowing what the sound of your wife's best friend voice is?" I shouted, hoping he could hear me while Lauren shook her head at me. She wasn't staring at me now, and I noticed how bright her eyes got. It was great to be in love, I guess.

The phone was taken from her hand as Mason's face appeared on my screen. He occupied the chair Lauren was sitting on and pulled her to sit on his lap. "If you're not Lauren, then I don't make it a habit to recognise voices," he stated calmly, and even through the phone, he radiated strength and power. And he was still the beautiful asshole that he was.

I rolled my eyes. "Is that how you will act to the author of your happy ending? Have you forgotten who was there to make sure you have the family you cherish now?"

"Well," Lauren jumped in. "I think the person who deserves the credit is his dad."

"Excuse me?" I playfully shot her a glare.

"I will shut up now," she said, clamping her mouth shut, but couldn't hide the smile playing on her lips.

"What do you want, Beth?" Mason inquired.

"Rogue Slade."

A slow, smirk curled itself on the edge of his lips. "What about him?"

"Who is he?" I asked impatiently.

"Who wants to know?"

I glared at him, hating the way he was scrutinising me. It was my fault that I asked him. He wouldn't make it easier for me. "Me. I want to know. Who is he?"

Tearing his gaze from me, he looked at Lauren and raised a brow. She shrugged before he looked back at me. "What do you want to know about him? I'm sure google can help you, but what google won't tell you is to stay away from him."

A little too late for that.

"How long have you known him?"

"Six—seven years?"

That was long enough for him to know things about him. "Do you know Veronica?"

A smile split onto his face. "Yes, I know her. Lovely woman."

"Lovely?" I shrieked, and he stared at me in amusement. I calmed down and asked, "Do you know what her relationship with him is? What secret they're hiding?"

Mason cocked his head and studied me. I shifted uncontrollably, trying to avoid his gaze. "Yes to both."

My eyes widened. Holy shit. "Oh my god, what is it?"

"Beth, you shouldn't be interested in Rogue's life. Don't interfere with it. He doesn't take kindly to anyone asking questions about him. Stay out of his and Veronica's business." His words, coupled with the hardness of his tone, caught me off guard.

"Is it really that bad?" Lauren asked. He nodded in response. "Then tell her, so she has a reason to stay away."

"No."

"What?" Lauren and I both exclaimed in unison, gaping at him.

Mason released a resigning breath. "I stay out of Rogue's life, as you both should. It doesn't concern us." He looked me square in the eyes. "You hear me?"

But it was already too late now.

Too late to go back.

Because not only was I entangled in his life, but I seemed to have made a permanent residence there. There was no way to get out of it, and neither was he willing to let me go.

"I hear you."