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.