Page 85 of Claimed By the Villain

I just stare at him, and he knows what my silence means.

“You think she’ll leave when she finds out the truth.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“You’re only looking at it from one angle, like you always do, Lucifer.”

“From the angle I think she’ll see too.”

“Not if you tell her everything.”

“And what good would that do her?”

“She’s an adult. Stop protecting her. Let Jackie handle her own shit.”

“I’ll have to think about that.”

“You’re stubborn as hell.”

I grin. “And you’re the most flexible man alive.”

“Changing the subject: about the honeymoon, are you sure you’ll be safe on the island?”

“Absolutely. There’s only one way onto the property. You need a yacht, and even then it has to anchor a few miles offshore.”

“I can’t understand how we still haven’t found that son of a bitch hunting you.”

I shake my head, wondering how the bastard keeps hiding like a damn ghost. “I’ll get him eventually. It’s the twenty-first century—no one can hide that long or that well. That’s not what worries me. It’s the obsession he seems to have with me. The attempted kidnapping of Jackie was full of details, which means he plans every move. Something tells me he never really meant to take her that day.”

“What do you mean?”

“He took a huge risk. Being my wife, Jackie could have been armed, could have overpowered the bitch who came after her, and brought her straight to me.”

“But you think your enemy knew she wouldn’t?”

“Yeah. He’s studied not just me but my wife too.”

“I want to kill that motherfucker with my bare hands just for coming near her. The damned agreement between organizations, that wives and daughters are untouchable, has never been broken, except for that sloppy attempt by those Los Morales idiots. Other than that, we’ve all respected it. We live by it. It’s the only thing that lets us sleep at night.”

“I don’t care about dying,” I say, “but the thought of Jackie falling into the hands of someone who lives like a murderer, without rules, drives me insane.”

“You need to think about who he could be, Lucifer.”

“I already have. And like I told you, I’ve killed every enemy I had.”

“Not every one. You’ve got one left. And we need to find him.”

Chapter 44

I’m dancing with Amber in the private lounge at Hazard when, suddenly, a security guard approaches me.

I see Beau’s wife raise her brows as if asking herself what the hell that means. I don’t understand it either. I have no doubt every employee here was ordered not to disturb us. We’re the first ladies.

“Yes?”

“You need to come with me, Miss Alston,” he says, using my maiden name. “Your presence is requested. The director would like a word with you.”

I open and close my mouth, stunned at first by the disconnected words, then feel my heart racing in my chest when I realize what’s about to happen.