“They won’t fucking touch her. And you’re gonna go on about your business, just like you normally would. Nothin’ has changed in your world. You don’t know a thing about this, and no one else knows about this.”
“Are you crazy?”
Rix crossed his arms. “You’re gonna do exactly what I told you, because anything else is gonna put your girl in more danger. You go to the cops and it’s all over.”
Talk about a leap of faith. “You’re serious.” I met his intense silver stare. “You really expect me to trust that you have it under control, and go on about my routine?”
“Yes.”
“And pretend nothing is wrong?”
“Yes.”
He was implacable. That was the only word for it.
“I can’t.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“What about updates? Are you going to make me wait and wonder?”
“In person only. Anything else isn’t a good idea.”
Both my eyebrows shot up. “Paranoid much?”
“I call it smart.”
“How long? At least tell me that. How long is it going to take?”
Rix’s jaw tensed before he answered. “As long as it takes. I’m working it from more than one angle. She’ll be fine. I give you my word.”
The last words he spoke were so low and solemn that I knew he was deadly serious. Rix had just given his vow to return Trinity safely. In this situation, the only thing I could do was hope that his threats were scarier than the other guys. I didn’t know how to navigate this world, but something told me that having Rix on my side was like having a ringer on your team.
“Fine.”
He watched me, as if gauging the sincerity of my answer.
I squeezed my hands together to avoid fidgeting. For a moment, I wondered what it would take for Rix to lose a measure of that intensity, and laugh and smile easily.
None of my business, I reminded myself, but at the same time, his words from last night echoed through my brain. “I don’t want anyone to know that I’m fucking fascinated with you either.”
I needed to stop myself before I tumbled down the same rabbit hole. This man was dangerous. And yet, strangely, I trust him.
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Trinity back.
Rix, obviously not waging the same mental war I was, stepped back. “Take care, duchess. I’ll be around.” He strode toward the door without pausing to even look back.
“That’s it?”
Rix stopped, steps from the door, and turned. “You want more from me?”
It was a loaded question. I must have looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Words, Valentina. You need words here. Say something. Anything.
“I, uh . . . I just . . .”
Oh hell, he’s moving again. Toward me.
Rix stopped only inches away this time. “You think you can handle more, duchess?”
Handle more what? That was the question. More of him? God help me, but the idea was so much more tempting than it should have been.
He lifted his hand, moving it slowly toward my face, as if waiting for me to bolt. But I didn’t bolt. I didn’t want to bolt.
Because even though the air had shifted in the room from all business to something decidedly not businesslike, I still felt safe. And that meant everything.
When his thumb finally smoothed across my cheekbone and his palm cupped the side of my face, he spoke. “I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t want more. A fuck of a lot more. But you aren’t ready yet. I know it, and you know it. But that don’t mean I don’t want it. I’ll be back, duchess. We settle this business, and then we’ll figure out the rest.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
A hint of a smile played around the corners of his mouth, but Rix didn’t let it free. He dropped his hand, but only for as long as it took to pull me close and bury it in my hair. There was no hesitation, no asking for permission, before his lips took mine.
I gasped against his mouth and Rix shifted, his tongue sliding between my lips as he deepened the kiss. With his free hand, he palmed my ass and rocked his erection into me.
Heat flashed through me, violent and needy. My hands bunched in his shirt as my gasp turned to a quiet moan. My panties were soaked when he finally pulled away.
His silver eyes flashed with untamed desire, and he said only one word before heading for the door, unlocking it, and letting himself out.
“More.”
TRYING TO GO ABOUT MY life and pretend like nothing was wrong was nearly impossible. Actually, skip the nearly, it was impossible. Still, I attempted it.
After I flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED again at the end of the day—and purposely avoided thinking about Rix doing the same thing earlier—I contemplated my choices. Go home and wander my empty house, worrying about Trinity, or go find a distraction.
A distraction in the form of good food won out.