Page 33 of Stolen Temptation (Irish Kings #3)

Kiara

As soon as the heavy oak doors close behind Shane, Rory and I are alone again.

Seeing him standing there, eyes cast in the direction of Shane’s departure, shoulders rigid, muscles coiled tight, pushes my nerves into freak-out mode.

A few hours ago, having Rory all to myself was an unexpected fantasy, but being alone together right now lines my stomach with slimy dread.

I push up from the chair I’ve been perched on, all the tense, anxious, ashamed feelings inside me fusing together into some kind of defensive shell.

“Was this the reason you came by earlier?” I wait for him to meet my eyes. “You knew the Kings were going to trade me back to Leo today, so you showed up ahead of time, acting nice and hoping you’d at least get to screw me once before throwing me back?”

The line of his jaw tenses, and his body bristles, but he doesn’t snap back at me. He releases a steady breath. “Is that what you really think?”

I throw my hands in the air. “I don’t know what to think! So, what, you were just lying two weeks ago when you told me I’d be here for a while?”

Rory takes one intentional step in my direction. “Kiara, the situation changed.” His eyebrows cinch together, conflict scrunching up his face. “Leo sabotaged one of our operations, all right? The losses of both people and product are significant.”

Leo? He did something again?

People died?

“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 never choose 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’s not like 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 fucking minute of the past twenty-four hours is make love to you.”

My stomach flops like a pancake.

Make love? Heat invades my cheeks.

Is that what 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, fucking anything , 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.

I can barely breathe.

“More than I want to admit.” Rory softens, that macho mask slipping right off his face. “Do you believe me?”

“I…” I just gape at him, heart hammering at my sternum. “I want to.”

How can I not when Rory’s blasting me with the full force of his charm?

I want to run and hide, but I don’t get the chance. Rory pushes into my personal space with sudden and immense speed, the scent of his skin crawling up my nose and blunting the armor I’ve been defending myself with.

I back away until I hit the hall, and his hands appear on my shoulders.

Rory’s got me cornered, and my heart is shaking in my chest.

“What do I have to do to convince you?” He could bulldoze me flat with the intense strength behind those irises. “What do I need to do to convince you that withholding information from Shane is a terrible idea?”

Like I don’t know that already. I’m not completely clueless. But I still can’t give him what he’s asking for. My trust.

Not unless…

“If you want me to believe you, tell me the truth?—”

“I am telling you the truth.”

“About yourself , Rory.” I frown up at him. “You know everything about me, but aside from the few stories you’ve shared over cupcakes, I still hardly know anything about you. How can you expect me to bare my soul when you haven’t exactly been forthcoming about your own life?”

Rory leans away from me, an unreadable expression on his face.

A few beats of tense silence drift past, then Rory nods. “Ask me anything you want.”

“ Anything ?”

Rory migrates to my left, dropping down onto a nearby dark leather loveseat. He kicks his feet up on a matching ottoman, throws his head back, and closes his eyes like he needs a nap.

He’s not taking this or me seriously, is he?

“Is this how you treat all your captives?” When I lob the question at him, his eyes snap open.

Instead of answering, he points at the seat beside him and then at me, beckoning for me to join him.

Once I’ve parked myself on the seat next to his, careful to leave as much distance between us as possible, he levels me with his gaze.

“You’re my first.”

His first? My heart stumbles against my ribs. “You’ve never captured someone before me?” That shouldn’t make me nearly as happy as it does.

Rory shakes his head. “Not really my style, you know?”

Am I really feeling flattered that I’m his first victim?

What is wrong with me?

Clearing my throat, I try to shake off my reaction and think up a question that might yield a response I’m actually comfortable with. But before I come up with anything, Rory blows out a breath.

“Okay, so I’m your first abductee, but what about other girlfriends? You must have had some of those before.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I want to vaporize into mist and vanish into the ether. Other girlfriends? What was I thinking?

But he doesn’t scoff. Instead, his eyes shutter. “I’ve had one girlfriend, but it didn’t end well.”

His defensive posture warns me to drop this line of inquiry, but now I need to know what happened with Rory’s only long-term relationship.

Unable to help myself, I press. “What do you mean? How long were you together?”

The way Rory’s gaze darkens grips me on the inside. I know this is going to be bad. “Alayna and I were together for almost a year. She moved in with me after three months, and I planned to marry her, even though no one else in my life was convinced we were endgame. Including her.”

“She didn’t want to get married?” I adjust my position on the couch so I’m just a tiny bit closer to him.

The tendons in his neck flex. “I never got a chance to ask. Before I got around to it, I learned that our initial meeting wasn’t random like I thought, but a setup.”

“A setup?” My eyes widen as I attempt to put two and two together. “Does that mean…”

“Alayna was a spy. She engineered our first encounter in my favorite coffee shop. I believed she ran into me and spilled her latte all over my shirt by accident, but she planned the whole thing.”

Shit. My stomach drops. I can’t imagine how betrayed he must have felt once he found out.

Also, what a witch. How could she treat Rory that way?

Soon, questions start to explode in my mind like popcorn kernels, one after the other. Is that why Rory runs so hot and cold? And why he seems so suspicious of me sometimes? A deception like that from the person you hope to spend your whole life with would shred anyone’s ability to trust.

“How did you find out?” I whisper.