Page 169 of Carnal Games

“Brat,” I say under my breath.

She smirks.

Soon, I remind myself.I’ll punish her soon.

Once we’re finished and I’ve done the dishes, I sit down across from her. She takes in my severe expression and straightens.

“I need you to describe the man to me, Iris.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Iris

With Kian sitting opposite me, it feels like I am in an interrogation room.

My muscles go rigid as I fight to keep my features neutral. Do I tell him?

He point-blank admitted to never informing the authorities. If he catches the man before me, then everything I’ve done up till now will have been for nothing. He may serve justice for me, but not for the other victims. Besides, he’d be eliminating a lackey, not the head of the gang. Moreover, Kian will put a target on his back.

I wish I could warn him, but I can’t.

As I study the rugged angles of his sinful face, I rack my brain for a solution that’ll work in both our favor. Perhaps this is my chance to coax more information out of him and stay two steps ahead.

“He was tall and bulky. His face was covered in a ski mask. It was too dark to tell the color of his eyes, but I think it wasblack… dark brown. He attacked me from behind and dragged me into the alley. At first, I thought he was a street thug and trying to mug me. I offered him money, but he kept thrashing and slapping me. That’s when I realized who he was and hit him back.”

Kian’s eyes go deadly. Voice void of a single emotion, he grits out, “Did he say anything to you?”

I hesitate for half a second before lying, “No.”

I maintain eye contact, holding my breath until he believes my word with a nod. “I need to make a phone call. Go wait in the bedroom.”

“How do you know this man is dangerous, Kian?” I ask, unmoving and gauging how much he knows. “Why is he after me?”

“I can’t share.”

“I have a right to know.”

“I know, but I’m asking you to trust me.”

“I do trust you, Kian.” With every fiber of my being. Regret slices me in two because I am the one deceiving him and shattering his trust. It’s not even about the greater good of potentially helping bring down a trafficking ring. It’s a purely selfish act of clearing Kian’s name. “Try to see it from my perspective. I have an unknown and violent man attacking me and I have no clue what I did to earn his wrath. I need to know why and what I’m dealing with. If you’re thinking I’m too weak to handle it, let me—”

He’s beside me before I can finish my sentence, tugging my head back with a fistful of my hair. Unlike the attacker, his punishing grip grounds me and I arch toward him. “Don’t confuse me protecting you, or keeping things to myself, with me thinking you’re incapable of handling things on your own. It sure as fuck doesn’t imply that you’re weak, Iris. It just means I protect you because you’re mine.”

God! His protectiveness settles deep into the caverns of my heart, and I melt against him. “Kian.”

“After today, I know if I’m not there with you, you can guard yourself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t go back to punish the ones who hurt you afterward.” Brushing a knuckle along my jaw, he demands in a raw voice, “Do you understand?”

“I do.”

His eyes close for a fraction of a heartbeat, like my trust is everything to him. Running his fingers through my tresses in a comforting gesture that leaves a pleasurable sensation in its wake, he settles his muscled body into the chair beside mine and peers at me with a grim look.

“A year ago, female employees at my company began disappearing from one of the welfare programs we were running in collaboration with a local NGO. I didn’t come to know until five of them were gone with no trace and the local police started investigating and questioning me. Working at my company was the common thread among the victims. The HR department didn’t take notice because the NGO would send another girl, informing us the previous one had quit.”

“What did you do?”

Regret washes over him. “I told them they were wrong about the kidnapper being one of my employees. I had them back off. I thought I was right when everything went back to normal. I kept a strict vigilance of every employee laid off or who resigned for the next few months. I told the authorities as much too. I honestly believed I made the right decision until…”

“Until I got attacked.”