Page 95 of Stolen Temptation

“We didn’t know he was behind it at first.” Rory runs a hand through his hair. “But then he sent in a video, basically signing his name and promising more chaos if we didn’t return you to him.”

I dig my nails into my palms. My head is spinning.Leo threatened the Kings. That’s what this little interrogation was about?

“Everyone seemed to agree that we should give you back to him, and by we, they meant me. Shane ordered me to come down here and wait while he went to get you himself. I was as shocked as you were that he just wanted to talk.”

Rory’s explanation doesn’t sit right with me. I believe Leo’s capable of everything he’s said and worse. Much worse. But that doesn’t mean Rory’s telling me the truth. Maybe everything we’ve shared over the past fourteen days was a ploy to get on my good side.

Unable to work it out, I fold my arms across my chest and drop my eyes from his. “I don’t believe you.”

I glance up to find his narrowed eyes conveying his growing frustration. “I’m telling you the truth.”

“Yeah, you’re so good at that, Mr. Art Collector.”

His face from the night we met shines in my memory. What luck I thought I’d found. A man willing to protect me rather than throw me to the wolves or use me for his own gain.

I want to laugh, but the joke’s not funny.

Instead, I pivot toward the giant window to my right and pace toward it. Rory tosses more words at my back.

“Maybe I considered it at the beginning, but not now. You belong here, with me. Even if Shane tossed me keys and insisted that I return you, I’d figure out some way around it.”

My heart flutters. I desperately want to believe that’s true, but how can I? This could be some new technique to soften me up so I’ll spill all my secrets. “You were going to defy your don? Yeah, right.” I spit the sentence under my breath.

“I was never going to…I would never…” Rory’s footsteps get closer as he fumbles over his words. My muscles stiffen, but I refuse to acknowledge him. “I will neverchoose to send you back to Leonardo De Luca.Okay? Fuck that. I won’t do it. But I don’t lead this organization.”

The determination in his voice tugs at my heart.Damn him.

I focus on the first part of his statement instead of the last bit. Shane’s virtual promise to return me to Leo can stay on the back burner until I’m prepared to deal with it. “Why wouldn’t you choose to send me back? Because there’s nothing in it for you? Taking me back means you’re fresh out of work-related ass, doesn’t it?”

Rory growls so loud, I whirl around to face him. “Shut your mouth. You’re really starting to piss me off. It’snotlike that.”

My fight reflex kicks in. “Don’t tell me to shut up—” As soon as I shove his shoulder back, his fingers clamp around my wrist.

“All I’ve wanted to do for every fuckingminuteof the past twenty-four hours is make love to you.”

My stomach flops like a pancake.

Make love?Heat invades my cheeks.

Isthatwhat happened earlier?

Does that mean…I wasn’t imagining the way he held me like I was somehow precious to him?

Rory’s just standing there, his muscular chest tight and still. He releases my wrist, his mouth falling open.

I can only whisper in reply. “Really?”

He closes that beautiful mouth and gives a single, jerky nod.

This is crazy.

Shaking the cobwebs of confusion out of my head, I force a breath between my lips. “Look, I’m scared as hell, and I…I deserve certainty about something, fuckinganything, so…just tell me this.” I swallow back the insecurity vibrating in my throat, heart pulsing like a techno beat in my chest. “Am I more to you than just an assignment?”

“You…” Rory’s so close that the heat of his skin touches mine. “You are more to me than just an assignment.”

Sincerity rings in his husky voice, but can I really believe him? “How much more?”

His eyes bore into mine. The intimacy of it is so much. Too much.