Page 171 of Carnal Games

“Just like that?”

His lips quirk. “Just like that.”

I wait for him to lower me and my back to hit the mattress. It never happens. The temperature in the room drops to sultry degrees. My pulse kicks up when I peer at Kian. I swallow at the untamed possession in his eyes and the hard set of his jaw, dark with stubble. “Kian?”

“Take offhisring.”

The low and dangerous command knocks the wind out of my lungs. Each word rolls off his tongue deliberately and hard, leaving no room for confusion.

Raising my left hand from his chest, I slide the diamond ring off my finger and close my fist around it.

Finally placing my ass down on his sheets with my back against the headboard, I’m boxed against it with his fists on either side of my hips. Every inch of me thrums under his undivided attention.

“I may be letting you wear his ring outside and in front of the world.For now. But in this room andourbed, you will wearmyclothes. The jewelryIgift you.Iam the man you belong to. Say it.”

“I belong to you.”

“Good girl.” Brushing his lips over mine in a soft peck until my body liquefies into a puddle, he straightens. Passing me the remote, he says, “Pick a movie. I’ll join you after the phone call and a shower.”

“Who are you calling?”

“A friend,” he answers cryptically and walks out.

I wait for a minute before quietly following him down the hall to listen to his conversation. I have a feeling Harshita was right about him hiring an investigator. I need to know how close they are.

Kian’s hushed voice travels to me. I hide against the wall that leads into the living room, thankful he’s turned off the lights.

“… He came after Iris again today.”

A pause.

“No, she didn’t see him. The description is vague. Won’t be of much help.”

Silence.

“Eliminate her from your list of suspects.”

Wait… he thinks I had a hand in this?

Why does that sting?

His voice goes up in pitch, sounding pissed. “I don’t care how you work. I told you the first time that Iris is a victim, just like those other women. Instead of wasting time suspecting it’s her, find the bastard who’s after her.”

My knees buckle. The burning behind my eyes dissipating as I absorb his harsh and protective words. So does the prickle of pain behind my ribs. He never doubted me. The man he’s working with did.

Shit. That’s not good either.

He could blow my cover.

“He’s fucking hiding in my own goddamn company,” Kian furiously rumbles, listening to the person on the other end before replying, “He had to have talked to the girls at one point, gotten close enough to gain their trust. I’ll share the surveillance footage while they worked here, but it’ll take too long to go through it. Cross-check the chats on the company’s server. Though he’d likely be smart to not use it.”

I didn’t know he had security cameras. How come he never checked them from the day I was attacked in the printing room?

“It was a dead end,” Kian says, making me frown. “It was the first place I looked. He knew the blind spots to avoid the cameras in the hall.”

The more I learn about this unknown man, the more terrified I become.

“Whatever you do, be discreet. Otherwise, he’ll disappear.” I hear Kian pacing, his voice coming closer. “Yeah, I’m not hiding her. I hired one of Darian’s guards. But I want you to keep an eye on her too. She’s not getting hurt a third time under my watch.”