Page 33 of While She Sleeps (The Hunter and The Thief #1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

ORION

F ucking Killian.

The man is the bane of my existence at the best of times, but right now, I could strangle him in the middle of the bustling restaurant.

Which I can’t do for a multitude of reasons.

One, because it’s busy as hell, and that’s how you end up in a prison cell.

Two, because he’s the only person other than me who can run our business, which I need when I finally make Ember mine.

And three, the woman across from us likely wouldn’t be a fan of watching me murder someone.

She looks up at me with brows pulled together. She knows Killian’s excuse was a lie. Of course she does. She reads people for a living. She’s the best fucking thief in the city, which means she can see through a lie without so much as blinking.

I kick the leg of the chair Killian is sitting in, the same one I vacated to chase off the threat to Ember. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

He nods and gives Ember a smile, which doesn’t help his cause for ending up in a shallow grave. If I could stop all men from looking at my woman, I sure as hell would.

But I can’t, and I need Killian to be able to look after her when I’m not around to keep her safe.

We take a few steps from the table, but I make sure I have a clear view of Ember as she toys with the bracelet on her wrist.

“What happened?” Killian asks. “I noticed a few guys skulking around, which is why I approached the table.”

“Not to talk shit about me?” I snap.

He chuckles. “You’re so gone for this girl, it’s fucking crazy.” He shakes his head. “Now answer my question.”

I suck in an irritated breath. “There were two guys parked out front. Said they were just supposed to distract me so they could get Ember out.”

He rubs a hand down his face. “Any information about who ordered the extraction?”

“No,” I growl. “I came back inside as soon as they told me that.”

“Effectively confirming that you’re attached to Ember,” Killian provides very unhelpfully.

“Yes.” Perhaps before I sprinted back into the building like my ass was on fire, I could have claimed Ember was nothing more than a passing interest, or a piece of ass I wanted to get a piece of.

But I showed my hand, and I have no doubt the assholes from the van are going to report back to their boss, if they haven’t already.

“You need to move her into your penthouse. Like, tonight.”

“And how exactly do you propose I do that?”

“I don’t know. But make it fucking happen, because as soon as you showed an interest in her, you put a target on her back.”

Killian stalks off without another word, but he does give Ember a quick wave as he heads toward the exit. The asshole is right, and as always, I hate it.

But alas, there’s a reason I made him my number two, and why I’ve kept him around all these years.

I step back to the table and slip into my chair, while Ember keeps her eyes trained on the empty plate in front of her.

“Little Flame?” I say softly, so as not to startle her.

She lifts her eyes until they meet mine, and my stomach rolls at what stares back at me. Dejection. Sadness. The wall I worked to knock down is being rebuilt right before my eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She nods. “Of course.” A fake smile appears on her lips, but she clearly doesn’t realize how well I know her and how closely I’ve studied her. Every expression. Every move she makes. I know what it means without exception.

“Don’t lie to me, Ember. It won’t end well for you.”

Her brow lifts in challenge. “You planning on killing me or something?”

I chuckle. “I was more so thinking of denying your orgasms until you’re a boneless mess before tying you to the bed and leaving you unsatisfied. But if you’re more into murder…”

Her eyes widen, and she shakes her head. “You and Killian lied to me. Why?”

I brush my fingers over the stubble on my chin as I consider my options.

I may know her every move, know what she’s feeling at all times, and can read her better than I can myself some days, but Ember is a professional lie detector.

She has to be. Which means there’s not much I’ll be able to get past her.

Once she rules my kingdom by my side, it won’t be a problem, because she’ll know everything. But for right now, I have to keep some things close to the chest if I want to protect her.

“There was a security problem, and I imagine Killian didn’t want to alarm you,” I tell her. It’s enough of the truth that it should placate her, but not enough to scare her.

She stares at me for long moments. “What kind of security issue?”

“A threat. On you.”

“On me?” Her brows tug together. “What could they possibly gain from threatening me? I’m no one.”

“You’re not no one,” I growl. “You’re fucking everything.”

She opens her mouth to reply, but I shake my head, effectively cutting her off.

“It seems to be clear as day to everyone except you how enamored I am by you, sweet Ember. And unfortunately, that means you will become a target.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I have no doubt.” And I’ve seen it, not that she knows that, nor will I be divulging that information tonight. “But I want you to know that there’s nothing I won’t do to keep you safe, even when that means you’re unhappy with me.”

Ember rolls her lips together as she holds my eyes, trying to read me and my intentions.

If it were anyone else, I have little doubt that she would be able to see straight through them.

She’d see the monster lurking behind the pretty face.

She’d see how unhinged my obsession with her has become.

And she’d see the man who murdered her brother in cold blood.

Who should have killed her, but couldn’t.

If she was looking into the eye of any other man, she’d see right down to their soul. But that’s the thing. I don’t have a soul. At least not one that lives inside my body.

Because my little flame has quickly become my heart and my soul. Two things I didn’t think I had until I pulled her out of the burning wreckage that killed her brother.