Page 46 of Savage Hearts

“I think a man who spends his time spying on people, dispensing cash like an ATM, and appearing out of thin air in locked rooms is up to something other than vacationing.”

“Then maybe you should stop thinking.”

“So you’re telling me you’re a good guy?”

After a pause, he says darkly, “No. I’m not good. In fact, Riley Rose, I’m the worst man you’ll ever meet.”

He stares at me with the truth of it burning in his eyes.

I’m sweating. My heart is pounding. My knees knock together so loudly, he can probably hear them.

Despite all that, I’m not scared.

Jacked up on adrenaline, yes. But deep down, not really scared.

But we’ve already established that I’m a moron, so this shouldn’t be news.

I say breathlessly, “But you’re not a danger to me.”

“Not to you, no.”

The way he says “you” confirms my suspicions.

Malek isn’t a danger to me, but heisa danger to other people.

People, for instance, like my future brother-in-law, the head of the Irish Mob.

I close my eyes and moisten my lips. When I open my eyes, Malek is staring with intense focus at my mouth.

I whisper, “Declan.”

His lashes lift. His fierce gaze drills into mine. He says nothing.

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You came for Declan. But then you saw me and got distracted from killing him by trying to help me.”

The expression on his face is indescribable, but it does tell me one thing for certain: I’m right.

I put together the trail of crumbs, made a stretch even bigger than the one he made about me being a prostitute, and I’m right.

Starting to shake, I say, “Please don’t kill him.”

He replies vehemently, “You don’t know what you’re asking. And why do you care if he lives or dies?Who are you?”

“His future sister-in-law.”

Malek’s reaction is so stunned, I might as well have slapped him across the face.

His nostrils flare. His pupils dilate. He jerks back abruptly, like you’d recoil from a snake, and stares at me with eyes filled with revulsion.

A man calls out, “Riley?” It’s Spider.

From the sound of his voice, I know he’s close. He’ll walk around the corner of the aisle any second. And when he does, one of two things will happen.

He’ll shoot Malek, or Malek will shoot him. The thought of it makes me lose my senses.

I jump off the ladder, grab my laptop from the floor, and turn back to Malek. “I’m begging you. Please don’t hurt Declan. I believe you could, and if you did, it would kill my sister. I could never live with myself if that happened.”

I turn and run down the aisle, rounding the corner just as Spider’s walking up.