Page 189 of Morally Black Betrothal

I was a bad man.

I’d always known that.

But even the worst parts of me needed this woman, and somehow, that made them better.

Then she was kissing me too, with the kind of bite I was used to administering, not taking from others. Her hands threaded through my hair and yanked, that sweet mouth opening, her lithe body pressing into mine.

Take me, she seemed to say with every swipe of that delicate tongue.I’m yours.

How can that be when I belong to you?I wanted to answer.

I decided to stop wondering and just accept her love for what it was. A shining bright twin of my own.

“But…your company,” she whispered, breath hitched when we broke apart.

“Listen to me.”

My hands framed her face, forcing her to focus those big blue eyes on me. To see the truth in what I said. “I don’t care about anything else. Not the company. Not the goddamn boardroom. Just you. Always you.”

Her fingers curled tighter into my shirt, as if she could anchor me to the promise. But before she could answer, we were interrupted by Mac’s voice at the door.

“Brendan.”

I turned to where my head of security had just returned. “Yeah?”

“We tracked down two. One drove off with the papers, but we caught the other and Huntington on the property line. We have them secured in the forest. What do you want to do with them?”

I stood, Simone still cradled in my arms. “I’ll be right there.” Carefully, I set her on the floor. “I’ll be right back, baby.”

But Simone’s hand on my sleeve begged my attention. “Brendan, just let them take care of it. Please. You don’t have to do anything else.”

I wanted to stay with her. I really did.

But I also knew I’d already sacrificed too much to save her not to see it through to the end. To make sure, at least, that this fucker would never hurt me or mine again.

As I followed Mac out to the edge of the forest on the other side of the road, my phone buzzed with a text from Ronan:

Ronan

Found her yet?

I stared at the screen for a long moment, then typed back:

She’s safe. I’ll tell you the rest later.

His text came back almost immediately.

Ronan

I’m going to have a fucking mess to clean up this time, won’t I?

I stared at it for a long time. Yeah, mess didn’t cover it.

Don’t worry. I’m doing the dirty work for you this time.

Then I turned my phone off and accepted the gun from Mac that had been recovered during the pursuit.

Deep in the forest, I fired two shots.