Page 55 of Stolen Temptation

“What the heck is this thing?”

“A tracker. Just in case you get the bright idea to try to run again.”

Immediately, she begins tugging at it with her other hand.

Itsk. “Don’t bother trying to remove or deactivate the bracelet.”

Her head snaps up. “What?”

“Without the key or a proper tool, you’d basically have to gnaw off your own hand.”

After one last tug, Kiara visibly deflates. It’s as if my statement ripped a hole in the hull of her hope, sinking her beneath the waves.

She doesn’t flinch away from my proximity. She doesn’t even acknowledge me. Instead, she studies her hands like they hold the secrets of the universe, studiously ignoring the new accessory.

The heat in my chest from earlier still burns from the fire ignited by her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks.

One second, I was aroused and preparing to kiss her.

The next, she was kneeing my nutsack into next month.

A forceful exhalation shoves out of my throat. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

In truth, her ballsiness almost amuses me. It’s as impressive as it is irritating. Kiara is an insanely fast runner. Like I said, if I didn’t have the advantage of cameras and home turf, she might have slipped right through my fingers.

Whether she had a chance or not, Kiara tried to run from me. She put herself in danger doing so, and that pisses me off.

If she had managed to leave the estate, where would she have gone? Escaping to where? Running to who?

When we’ve both caught our breath and the fountain is the loudest thing around, I use my smartwatch to retract the guns from the hedgerows, then give Kiara a look. “Where were you even going?”

Kiara remains silent, still staring at her open palms. The behavior is unusual enough that it’s starting to freak me out. Is she so upset over her little failed escape attempt that she’s gone mute? Or is she plotting her next move?

“What does it matter to you?”

Even her voice is duller than usual, but at least she’s talking again.

“What made you think you could succeed? We confiscated the cash you had on you, you have no wheels, and in case you forgot, you’re wanted by two mafia families who are at war with each other.” My anger grows again as I recite the dangers. “Do you have any sense of self-preservation at all?”

When Kiara deflates, I hate myself a little more. I’m chastising her with these pointed questions, but I might as well be kicking a puppy.

Tears pearl in her eyes and fall straight down her cheeks. I panic at the sight.

Shit.

Why am I such an asshole? And why am I blaming myself for her tears? Since when does the crying of a random woman even affect me like this? Nothing about this should bother me.

And why is she even breaking down in the first place? She’s such a spitfire, so I guess I thought she wasn’t the weeping type.

Panic surges in my chest. What do I do? Comfort her about the fact that I kidnapped her and dragged her here against her will?

I’m an idiot, but I’m not completely clueless.

“Away…”

The half whisper, half sob attacks my heart even more.

“What?” I soften my voice, the way I do when I speak to my mom.