Page 21 of Stolen Temptation

A dark chuckle creeps over my shoulder, sending a shiver down my spine.

He pushes me forward a little harder as we march down the long, lonely corridor. “I’m your ticket out of here. Scream, and we both die.” I feel the heat of his breath when he lowers his head to my ear. “And you’ll befirst.”

Chapter 7

Kiara

At his whispered threat, my mouth snaps shut. I don’t know if he’s telling the truth, but I really can’t afford to test that theory.

I need to find a way out of this. My eyes scan the corridor, anxious for an emergency exit door or a fire alarm I could pull to create a chaotic diversion.

There’s nothing in here. We might as well be marching through a prehistoric cave on a deserted island in the Pacific.

“Good girl.”

Since he believes I’m cooperating, he sounds smug, and the roughness in his voice has smoothed back to velvet.

The sound infuses me with an urge to close my eyes and curl up on a couch like a cat in winter.

I bite my cheek to snap myself out of it.

“If Leo didn’t know you were missing before, he definitely does now,” the man muses aloud.

My heart leaps into my throat. Tears sting my eyes.

The emotions of the day threaten to choke me, so I abandon any attempts to speak.

“As long as you behave, I’ll get you out of here. Resist, and that promise flies out the window. You’re so close…you don’t want Leo to find you, do you?” I hate how his silky voice shiversacross my skin even while he’s essentially threatening me. “You can relax. I know the way out.”

My pulse leaps. Can I believe him? Should I believe him?

“What’s your name?” He drops his head near my ear again, and the sensation of his warm breath tickles my skin.

“Kiara.” No one outside the De Luca estate knows I exist, so sharing my name seems safe enough. “Yours?”

“Rory.”

Rory.

Such a nice name. One more suited to the guy I originally believed him to be, not this current jerk version. It’s unnerving to talk to him without being able to see his face. If not for the vice grip on my wrists and his body heat radiating into my back, I wouldn’t even realize he was there.

I swallow my trepidation. “Why did you help me?”

Rory’s murmured answer is so unexpected, my heart actually skips a beat.

“I don’t like to see women in distress.”

“But you’re fine with restraining them?” I demand in the semidarkness. “Because that makes so much sense.”

His grip on my wrists tightens and loosens again, almost like it was an involuntary reaction.

But he doesn’t respond. And the more I dwell on this crazy situation, the more confused I become. If Leo invited this man, then they must be associates or allies in some respect, right? And if they’re on the same side, why help me escape?

What if he’s lying to me, and instead of getting me out of here, he’s taking me directly to my cousin?

Something in me doubts that theory.

Still, I can’t trust him. Not when he clearly has plans of his own.