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“I did not.”

Fuck, she was better than me. “You know, your honesty and trust are a little hard to comprehend.”

“Honesty and trust come easy until someone gives me a reason to break them.”

Chapter Ten

Freyja

Despite the slight sting of being checked out, I told him the truth about not being offended. But it did put a bit of a damper on the evening. My father was right. I had learned something tonight.

I had learned that not everyone was worthy of me. And maybe Duncan Murphy wasn’t worthy.

It was commonplace in our circles to have someone checked out. But just once I would have liked someone to learn about me from me. Not from a background check.

When Maxim gave his warning, I knew immediately that Duncan was a criminal. What kind I wasn’t sure, until he mentioned Miss Kelley. Madigan Kelley had been the talk of the town for a while. The rumors surrounding her varied from her being a stripper in Vegas to her having a baby no one knew about, that somehow had ended up with Illyria Valentinetti and Maxim Federov.

Based on Maxim’s veiled invitation, I would say that rumor was likely true. What surprised me most was my knowledge of Maddie Kelley’s relatives. Nolan Kelley, head of the Irish Mob in New York. Nolan’s wife, Caity, was the half-sister to Braesal O’Malley.

Nolan’s boss. And Duncan’s.

That meant Duncan was Irish Mob.

I wasn’t sure what that meant for me. Did I want to have a fling with someone in the Mob? What would my parents think of that?

You don’t have to tell them.

That was true, but I was honest with my parents and they were honest with me. This would be a big thing to keep from them.

“Have I broken that trust?”

“No, but I had hoped to have received the same trust from you. You could have asked my name either of the two times we connected on the street. You chose not to, but still asked me to call you and have dinner. So, my question is, why? Why look me up now? Why not ask my name the second time we met? I understand you were in a hurry, but again, you could have asked my name on the phone when I called you.”

Duncan folded his napkin and set it beside his plate. A sure sign that dinner was over. This made me sad. I hadn’t made up my mind yet as to what would happen when we left the restaurant. But apparently, he had.

“I could have asked your name. But to be honest, it didn’t matter what your name was or who you were. I wanted you. I wanted to have dinner with you and I wanted to get to know you. And I want you in my bed.”

My belly tightened and my lips parted at the bluntness of his desire.

“I had no intention of looking you up, even after my boss got in my head. He believed I was walking into a trap, either one of opportunity or one set up by our enemies. While I sat here waiting for you, I had decided that if your plan was to get me back to my hotel and rob me that I would offer you whatever I had in my wallet. Because regardless of your intentions, I knew what my intentions were. To have you in my bed.

“Then Maxim stopped at the table and he knew who you were. The veiled invitation regarding my boss’ niece felt more like a threat. That was the reason I left to make the call. Maddie is to be protected, no matter what. It was your dismissal of Maxim Federov, the head of the Bratva, that caused me to ask my associate to look you up.

“That one sentence from your plump lips had my dick so fuckin’ hard I needed to know everything about you to make sure I wasn’t causing my boss more shit when I took you home tonight.”

My hand shook as I lifted my wineglass to my lips. My plump lips as he called them. I had no answer for what he just said. I watched him as he spoke, looking for a lie or deceit. Something to tell me he was feeding me a line.

I saw nothing but hunger.

“So, Freyja Malpas. Will you accompany me back to my hotel? Or will we part ways here?”

My tongue slipped out to wet my lips, and Duncan groaned. A deep rumble in his chest as he watched my mouth.

“I need to call my driver. Tell him he has the night off.”

“Call him. He can drop us off at the hotel instead of getting a cab. Then he can take the night off,” he said as he waved to the server. He had our meals boxed up and added desserts to take back to the hotel.

Suddenly, I was very thankful Athena had given me that box. If I was lucky, we would need more than one.