Theodore:

I had been working out the minute I got home.

I did not know what it was, but there was a strange feeling in my body, as if I needed to get the frustration and anger out somehow.

I just did not know where.

Honestly, I did not even know why I was feeling this way.

Today went well. I had even aced a meeting and secured a project.

Then this lingering sadness settled in, and I did not want to acknowledge it either because I knew exactly what was going on.

"You up for a talk?"

Jaguar arrived, making me gesture for him to wait in the living room.

I was in my shorts and covered in sweat from working out.

I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower.

By the time I came out, Jaguar had already poured both of us some wine.

"How’s it going? You look nervous," I remarked, taking a seat beside him and accepting the glass.

He took a sip and immediately grimaced at the taste.

We always did, no matter how expensive the wine was or how much we loved it.

We would sink a grimace together.

"I was just thinking about stuff," he uttered, making me secretly chuckle.

"Did the date not go well?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It’s not that. I didn’t spend much time with her," he replied, referring to Aster.

"Please don’t tell me Gigi figured it out and got upset," I said, reminding him that we were supposed to keep her above everyone else.

"I spoke with her. It’s okay. I’m headed to her place in about an hour anyway. We’re having a movie night."

As soon as he said that, I straightened in my seat and turned to look at him.

"Really? She didn’t ask me for a movie night," I pouted in complaint.

I was pretty lonely here too.

See, I knew what happened that day was wrong.

The way my eyes had lingered on her dress was completely wrong. It should not have happened.

To be honest, I felt terrible afterward. Dirty too.

Later, I felt like I might throw up just thinking about myself with her.

Gigi was someone I respected deeply, more than almost anyone else, but that was all it was.

Even if my brother ever left her, I would never pursue anything with her because I respected her and saw her only as a friend.

What happened that day was my frustration spilling over, and I knew exactly where that frustration was coming from.

There was only one name on my mind.

Verity.

She had left her mark on my desires.

And that was the strange thing.

As much as I loved Gigi, cared about her, and considered her one of my top priorities, my body never responded to her the way it did to Verity.

That was when I started to wonder if maybe what I felt for Verity was lust.

Maybe her body was driving me insane.

Maybe that was why I was still so restless.

She had gone on a date tonight.

What if she took the date home?

What if he took her home?

The thought set my brain on fire.

"Are you jealous?" Jaguar scoffed.

Of course, we fought for Gigi’s attention.

I wanted to call her a sister, but she was not, so I never did.

Still, she was our best friend. The kind of best friend you fought over because you wanted all her attention.

Sometimes, it even felt as if she was our fourth brother.

"It’s okay. I’ll just tag along. She’ll never say no to me."

I stuck my tongue out at Jaguar before leaning back and taking a deep breath.

The sadness lingered, though.

Not thinking about Verity, not contacting her, not seeing her, not talking to her, felt like trying to quit a powerful addiction.

And quitting an addiction to cold turkey was always dangerous.

"I was thinking about something," Jaguar started speaking again, picking up the conversation he had left unfinished.

"About Gigi’s stalker."

The moment he said that, my jaw clenched again.

I was angry too.

Gigi was an innocent person. She had already been through so much.

If anyone so much as looked at her the wrong way, I would rip their eyes out.

I had only just started feeling that anger when Jaguar added, "But him going after Verity— it just made me wonder. Why?"

As he posed the question, I turned my head toward him and watched him attentively.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look, Gigi said her maids have been receiving letters too, but that makes sense. They’re close to Gigi, so they could easily become targets. As for Verity, I think the motive is different."

He paused again, holding my gaze.

"I think whoever this is, he’s taking Justin’s anger out on Verity for hurting Gigi."

The moment Jaguar put it that way, everything clicked into place.

The way Verity had been attacked the other day.

Whoever it was, he was specifically targeting Verity because of his love for Gigi.

It was like he was trying to play the hero.

At the same time, I was scared for Verity.

I mean, Gigi was still my top priority. She was the most important person in my world.

But if you put her side by side with Verity, Verity might win when it comes to aura, personality, sex appeal, beauty, and physical attraction.

The bond I shared with Gigi, however, was much stronger.

"So I was kind of wondering—"

Before he could finish, the words slipped out of my mouth.

"What happens to Verity when we leave for the vacation?"

I did not know why I had said it. I was not supposed to say that out loud.

Why the fuck would I put her above our vacation?

But when I looked at Jaguar, I realized he seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Maybe it was because she was his employee.

She was our employee, and we took the protection of the women who worked for us very seriously.

For a moment, we simply stared at each other in silence before his phone beeped.

"Gigi is calling."

He glanced at the screen before looking back at me.

"If you’re coming, let’s go."

"I am," I replied, nodding as I slowly got up from the couch.

"I guess we should talk to her about Verity’s security situation. She’s so sweet. She’ll understand," I added, and Jaguar nodded.

Well, at least that was the plan.