Bryce grabbed his phone and the small bag containing his documents, which he was no longer willing to leave anywhere, before making his way out of the room.
He didn’t wait for Vincent to say anything, nor did he spare him a glance. He refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing him dressed in the outfit he had so intentionally chosen for him.
He heard Vincent following close behind, and Bryce could swear he could feel the man’s gaze fixed on his back.
After crossing the spacious living room, Bryce reached what he hoped was the exit. He pushed the door open and drew a deep breath of the cool air outside, but the moment he stepped through, his breath caught in his throat and his feet came to an abrupt halt.
This was the house from his dream.
He stood motionless, staring at the surroundings. In the dream, he had seen only the exterior, and now that he was standing outside the house in reality, every detail seemed painfully familiar.
The same door he had pushed open, the same space where the angel had stood in his dream.
He turned around and saw the swimming pool positioned to the side, just as he had seen it before.
Even the soft green grass covering the compound and the beautifully paved path running through it matched what he remembered with frightening precision.
The enormous iron gate that was polished to such an immaculate finish and intricately decorated that it barely resembled ordinary iron.
Everything he had managed to push aside for those few minutes came rushing back.
Sweat gathered across his skin. His legs weakened beneath him, and his thoughts became increasingly difficult to organize.
He barely noticed Vincent bringing the car around until it stopped beside him.
"Get in."
Vincent’s voice sounded distant, almost muffled, but Bryce heard him. He forced his unsteady legs to move and climbed into the car.
Once he settled inside, Vincent pulled away immediately.
Bryce could still sense Vincent’s attention shifting toward him from time to time, but he no longer cared about that.
One question consumed him.
If this house truly existed, then what did that mean for everything else he had seen in the dream?
"No."
The word slipped from his lips before he consciously decided to speak.
"No what?" Vincent asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.
Bryce looked at him and noticed that Vincent had removed his suit jacket and placed it across his lap. His shirt sleeves were rolled to his arms, the collar slightly open, exposing the suppressant at his neck.
The disheveled style suited him remarkably well, making him look even more attractive, but Bryce barely registered it.
"You don’t look well," Vincent said. "If you’re nervous about the presentation, I’ll handle it. You don’t have to do it."
Nervous because of a presentation?
Bryce almost scoffed.
A presentation was hardly enough to rattle him. He might have felt some pressure knowing how much Vincent expected them to win, but standing before an audience was nothing new.
He had spoken in front of hundreds of students in a hall before, so many times, so a few men listening to a business presentation hardly seemed worth this level of anxiety.
The problem was that he wasn’t sure he could concentrate well enough to present anything in his current state.
"Should I go back and wait for you?"
He hoped Vincent would agree. If he could return to the house, he could figure out what was happening to his body and make sense of the frightening possibilities forming in his mind.
"No. You’re coming with me."
Bryce suppressed a groan and looked away, his mind quickly settled on one startling thought that surfaced without warning. He needed a pregnancy test.
If the result confirmed what he feared, he needed to get away from Vincent as quickly as possible, he couldn’t allow Vincent to discover the pregnancy.
He refused to risk being taken to some hospital, restrained, and forced to surrender whatever fertilized egg was supposedly growing inside him.
It didn’t matter how absurd the idea of a pregnant man seemed; if he really was carrying a baby, he intended to keep it than have Vincent and his wife try to take it away from him.
He also needed to stop convincing himself that it was impossible. He was human, yet he had recently discovered that he could transform into an animal and possessed heightened senses and speed far beyond anything a normal human could have.
"Send me my money for participating in the design. I’ll present the project and make sure it’s the one they choose."
The request escaped before he had fully considered it.
By now, a grim certainty had settled within him. Whatever he was afraid of was real, and he needed to leave. Perhaps the meeting would give him an opportunity to disappear from Vincent.
"The company handles the payments. Once we’re back, they’ll transfer your money to you." Vincent paused before adding, "Actually, I’ve been thinking. You’ll take over as head of the design department and become my secretary."
Bryce stared at him blankly.
Head of the design department and secretary?
Why both?
Why the secretary?
The offer of becoming department head was tempting, but Bryce refused to let the prospect distract him from what he needed to do. Adam was competent at his job, and Bryce had no desire to displace him. If he intended to stay, he would gladly work under Adam.
But he wasn’t staying.
"I need the money now. I can’t wait until we get back. You can speak to whoever is in charge and have them transfer it immediately." Bryce drew a breath before continuing with a lie that came surprisingly smoothly. "I wasn’t shaken because of the presentation. I just found out that my... my mom is seriously ill, and they need money before they can treat her. They don’t have enough."
"Your mom?" Vincent turned to him. "No offense, but I’m pretty sure you don’t know where your mother is."
Right.
And he had no interest in searching for the people who had abandoned him.
"My adopted mom."
Vincent’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Those heartless creatures who threw you out with nowhere to go?"
Bryce swallowed.
Of course Vincent knew. He seemed capable of uncovering anything he wanted, just like Dave.
"My mom was good to me. The man was the problem. He was the one who threw me out." Bryce’s voice cracked convincingly. "I’m not going to let her die when I can help her."
Vincent remained silent for a moment before asking, "How much do you need?"
"Just send me what I was supposed to receive for the design..."
"How much do you need?" Vincent interrupted. "I’ll pay her hospital bill. You’ll still receive your design payment afterward. That money is for your work, and you shouldn’t have to spend it on something like this."
Bryce stared at him, momentarily unable to comprehend his offer.
Why was Vincent being so nice to him?
Was he still hoping to sleep with him again and simply trying to draw him closer so Bryce would lower his guard, or was there another reason for his sudden change in behavior?
"Five hundred thousand."
Bryce knew the figure was excessive. The company would only have paid him one hundred thousand if they won the project, but Vincent had insisted on helping, and he clearly possessed the means.
Besides, if Bryce really was pregnant, this was Vincent’s child too.
The money could help him prepare for it.
"What kind of sickness is that?" Vincent muttered.
He nevertheless retrieved his phone, navigated through the necessary details, and handed it to Bryce so he could enter his information. Within moments, the transfer was complete.
When the notification appeared on Bryce’s phone, his stomach tightened.
The reality of what he was planning suddenly felt far more frightening, the possibility of the pregnancy weighing even more heavily on his mind.
Regardless, he needed to get away from both men.
He needed a life of his own.
Vincent should have recognized the lie immediately, but his growing obsession with Bryce had begun to overshadow everything else.
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