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A weighty stare stretches out between us, lust and stormy tension brewing in his eyes. “Did I fuck you like you were a princess or Hadleigh, the girl I met in a bar who had me by the balls at hello?”

Griffin fucked me like a whore and I loved it. It was raw... Primal.

My core tightens. Griffin wants the real me. But Ares is offering him a princess. A prize.

“I don’t remember,” I say, unable to look at him.

“Liar,” he hisses. “Are you wet right now?”

“No,” I whine. “I woke upin a cage.”

Griffin snaps back, his eyes softening. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I promise, no one will put you in a cage again. No one will go near you. And if someone tries to hurt you,Ikill them. Not you. Got it?”

“We’ll see.” I shrug.

“We’ll see, what? Which part?” Griffin opens an iron gate and leads me along a stone path.

“I’d rather keep you guessing. Right now, I need a real shower with real shampoo.”

“Your brother is bringing everything over for you.” He clears his throat and stops at his front door. “He and I have to have a long talk.”

“Can’t wait to hear that conversation.”

“Alone.”

“Figures.” Before crossing the threshold where I will officially be his captive fiancée, I look up at all the levels. There are six in total. Wow.

Griffin turns to his brothers and sneers when they try to follow us inside. “Give me a minute alone with her.”

“You sure?” Connor says, eyeing me cautiously.

Smart guy...

“She doesn’t have any weapons.” Griffin looks back at me with a hand raised in a defensive position. “Right?”

I blink up at him. “I haven’t figured out how to pickpocket you guys yet.”

“Comforting.” Griffin huffs. “All clear. See you brats later. Go get a pint. Call Trace and Rhys and give them an update.”

Griffin’s guard opens the front door from the inside and greets us. The modern opulent interior offers a stark contrast to the shadowy Irish underworld he rules. We get inside a breathtaking foyer, but he pins me against the wall, his fingers around my throatagain.

“You like choking me,” I get out, trying to sound strong.

“You seemed to like it seven years ago.”

“So did you.” I raise my hand to cover his. “What do you want to tell me that you can’t say in front of your brothers?”

“Maybe I just wanted to be alone with you.”

“I won’t fuck you.” Mostly because I’m not sure what I’ll agree to if I get addicted to the kind of sex we had for hours in his motel room.

And Icanget addicted to this guy’s cock. I’m an adrenaline junkie after all.

He tilts his head. “But you’ve come around to the marriage part?”

If Ares made this deal, there’s no getting out of it, short of killing Griffin, and maybe some of his brothers if they get in the way. That will put the world’s biggest bounty on my head.

“I came to terms with it last Christmas. Then I got kidnapped byyourcousin.”