The Game

Aiden was still holding my phone when I walked through the door.

"You left this on the table," he said, his voice pleasant. Too pleasant.

I forced myself to walk slowly. "Thanks. I didn't realize."

"I know." He turned the phone over in his hands. "It kept buzzing while you were gone. Someone really wants to talk to you."

My throat closed. "Probably just spam."

"Probably." He held it out to me. "You should check. Might be important."

I took the phone, fingers numb. The screen was locked. I couldn't tell if he'd tried to open it, couldn't tell if he'd seen anything.

"Who was it?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

"I didn't look. That would be rude." His smile widened. "Privacy is important in a relationship, don't you think?"

"Of course."

"Good. I'm glad we agree." He moved closer, wrapped his arms around my waist. "Did you have a nice walk?"

"Yes."

"See anything interesting?"

My heart hammered. "Just the lake."

"The lake." He nodded slowly. "Beautiful, isn't it? The way the water reflects everything. You can see things clearly that you'd miss otherwise."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

"Aiden—"

"I love you," he said, cutting me off. "I want you to remember that. No matter what happens this weekend, no matter what anyone tells you, I love you more than anything."

The words should have been sweet. Instead, they sounded like a threat.

"I love you too," I whispered, because what else could I say?

He kissed me. His mouth was soft, familiar, nothing like Jamie's rough desperation. When he pulled back, he was smiling again.

"I'm going to bed. Long day tomorrow. Coming?"

"In a minute. I want to check my messages first."

"Sure. Don't stay up too late." He kissed my forehead and headed upstairs.

I waited until I heard his door close before I checked my phone.

No new messages. Nothing from Jamie. Nothing from anyone.

So what had been buzzing while I was gone?

I checked my call log, my emails, my texts. Everything was normal. Nothing unusual.

Unless Aiden had deleted something.

My hands shook as I opened my phone settings and checked my recently deleted messages.

Empty.

He'd covered his tracks.

---

I didn't sleep.

I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, listening to the cabin settle around me. Every creak sounded like footsteps. Every whisper of wind sounded like voices.

Around two in the morning, my door opened.

I sat up fast, heart in my throat.

Jamie stood in the doorway, barely visible in the darkness.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

He closed the door behind him and crossed to the bed. "We need to talk."

"Are you insane? Aiden's right next door."

"He's asleep. I checked."

"You checked? How?"

"I listened at his door for ten minutes. He's snoring." Jamie sat on the edge of my bed. "Elena called me after you went upstairs."

Dread pooled in my stomach. "What did she say?"

"She wants money. A lot of it. In exchange for her silence."

"She's blackmailing you?"

"Us. She knows everything, Lilith. She knows about that night at your apartment, knows about the cabin last week. She has details no one should have."

"How is that possible?"

Jamie's jaw tightened. "I don't know. But she's given me forty-eight hours to transfer two million dollars or she goes to Aiden with proof."

Two million dollars. The number didn't even sound real.

"Do you have that kind of money?" I asked.

"I could get it. But paying her doesn't solve the problem. She'll just come back for more."

"So what do we do?"

"We tell Aiden ourselves. Tomorrow. Before she can."

"He'll hate us."

"He already suspects something. You saw him tonight with your phone. He's testing us, waiting for us to slip up." Jamie's hand found mine in the dark. "If we tell him the truth now, at least we control the narrative."

"And if he doesn't forgive us?"

"Then we deal with it. Together."

The word settled between us like a promise neither of us was sure we could keep.

"There's something else," I said quietly. "Something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"That night at dinner, when Aiden mentioned talking to Elena, he said she asked about me specifically. Asked if we were still together."

Jamie went still. "What exactly did she ask?"

"I don't know. Aiden didn't give details. He just said she was fishing for gossip."

"Elena doesn't fish. She hunts." Jamie stood, pacing. "She's been planning this. Probably for weeks."

"But how does she know? We were careful."

"Not careful enough." He stopped, turned to face me. "Someone told her. Someone close enough to know our schedules, our movements."

"Who?"

Before Jamie could answer, the door opened.

Aiden stood there, fully dressed, holding his phone.

"That's a good question, Lilith," he said calmly. "Who could possibly have told her?"

Jamie moved in front of me instinctively, protective. "Aiden—"

"Save it, Dad." Aiden's voice was ice. "I already know everything."

My blood turned to stone.

"How long?" Jamie asked.

"Since that first night." Aiden stepped into the room. "You really thought I didn't notice you going through my phone at the restaurant? Taking her number? I watched you do it."

"Then why didn't you say something?"

"Because I wanted to see how far you'd go." Aiden looked at me, and his eyes were empty. "How far you'd both go. Turns out, pretty far."

"Aiden, I'm so sorry—" I started.

"You're sorry." He laughed, sharp and bitter. "You fucked my father and you're sorry."

Jamie's hands clenched into fists. "Watch your mouth."

"Or what? You'll hit me? Go ahead. Add assault to the list of things you've done to me."

"I never meant to hurt you," Jamie said.

"But you did it anyway. That's what makes it worse." Aiden held up his phone. "Mom doesn't know anything, by the way. I made that up. Wanted to see if you'd confess or keep lying."

"You manipulated us," I breathed.

"I learned from the best." He looked at Jamie. "You taught me that emotions are weakness. That business is war. That you take what you want and damn the consequences." His smile was cruel. "I'm just applying those lessons to my personal life."

"What do you want?" Jamie asked.

"I want you to suffer the way I've suffered. I want her to understand what she threw away." Aiden's finger hovered over his phone screen. "And I want everyone to know what kind of man you really are."

"Aiden, don't—"

He pressed send.

"Too late. I just sent the photos to your entire board of directors. By morning, everyone will know that Jamie Whitmore is sleeping with his son's girlfriend."

Jamie lunged forward, but Aiden was already backing toward the door.

"Enjoy the fallout," Aiden said. "I know I will."

He disappeared into the hallway.

I looked at Jamie, whose face had gone white.

"What do we do?" I whispered.

His phone started ringing. Then mine. Then his again.

"We survive," Jamie said grimly. "If we can."