2. Chapter 2 #3
“He presented an offer everyone in that room pretended was normal. They sat there while he laid out my life for me. I’d be compensated.
It would be temporary. I could keep my first name, but I had to change my last name to Delgado.
I’d assist him with certain legal matters, appear where he needed me, and then one day I’d be free.
Wealthy enough to build whatever life I wanted. ”
“He made an offer you couldn’t refuse.”
Her eyes lifted to mine.
“No one said those words. They didn’t have to.”
I studied her face.
The tears were still there. One broke free and rolled down her cheek.
I should’ve let it fall, but I didn’t.
I cupped her cheek and wiped it away with my thumb.
Her breath caught.
“Go on,” I said. “I want the whole truth.”
“It isn’t what you think.” She shook her head fast. “It wasn’t sexual. He didn’t want me in his bed. He wanted me to be useful.”
The thought of Delgado touching her made something ugly open in my chest.
“He wanted me to pose as his daughter, an attorney. A Delgado with a law degree and clean hands. God help me, I was relieved.” She drew a long, cleansing breath. “He uses me in different cities when he needs pressure put on enemies. Businesses. Men like you.”
“Men like me?”
“Powerful and difficult. Too used to everyone else getting out of your way.”
A bitter smile pulled at her mouth, then faded.
My gut still didn’t like the story.
It was too neat. Too heartbreaking. Too well-timed.
Part of me believed her.
Part of me didn’t.
But she was right about one thing.
If even half of it was true, she was in a bind that got women killed. Ciro Delgado didn’t collect useful people and let them walk away when he was done with them.
“Isabella,” I said, and her name felt strange in my mouth now. Less like a target, more like a problem I hadn’t meant to take home. “You’re in deep. Maybe deeper than you understand.”
“I understand plenty.”
“No. You understand men who threaten you across a conference table. You don’t understand what happens when the cartel decides you’ve outlived your purpose.”
She bit her lip and looked up at me with those puppy-dog eyes.
“There may be something I can do,” I said. “A new identity. Money. Somewhere safe until Delgado forgets you exist.”
She slid off the desk so fast I barely had time to brace before she was right up to me.
“You would do that?” Her hands landed on my chest. “Really?”
“Easy now.”
“You’re not going to send a syndicate hitman after me?”
“Not unless you give me a reason to.”
The words were meant to comfort her, not lead her to other conclusions.
Her fingers curled into my shirt, and before I could say another word, she rose onto her toes and crushed her lips to mine.
The kiss hit hard.
Desperate.
Hot.
Wrong.
For one stupid second, my body answered before my brain caught up. She pressed against me, soft and warm, her mouth opening under mine. Her hands slid up my chest, over my shoulders, around my neck.
Fuck.
I was a man, and she felt like every bad decision I’d ever enjoyed making.
I caught her wrists and started to pull back.
She moved faster, jumping and wrapping her legs around my hips. Instinct made me catch her under the ass before she hit the floor. She kissed me again, deeper this time, her fingers twisting in my hair, her body rolling into mine as though she wanted to climb inside my skin.
My dick went hard.
I broke the kiss and hauled her off me, dropping her on the desk. Her skirt rode high, flashing pale pink lace between her thighs before I stepped back and made myself look at her face.
Her mouth was swollen, and her eyes were wide.
I dragged in a breath and forced my hands open at my sides.
“No.”
She blinked. “No?”
“I’m not here for that.”
Color rushed into her cheeks.
“You kissed me back.”
“Aye. I did.” The admission scraped going out. “And now I’m stopping.”
Her head quirked to the side as her brows knitted in confusion.
“You don’t owe me your body because I offered help,” I said. “You don’t owe me a kiss, sex, gratitude, or anything else. You stay out of trouble. You keep pretending you’re doing Delgado’s business while I figure out how to get you out of this mess.”
She stared at me as if she didn’t know what to do with that.
Maybe no man had given her the choice before.
Maybe she’d expected me to take what she offered.
Maybe she was just very, very good at manipulating men.
I didn’t wait to find out.
I turned for the door.
“Lachlan,” she called out.
I stopped with my hand on the knob.
When I looked back, she was still sitting on the desk, skirt twisted, palms braced beside her hips, looking like a woman caught between shame and relief.
That image would not help me sleep.
“Stay away from Xyst,” I said. “If Delgado asks, tell him we’re rattled. Tell him whatever keeps you breathing. But do not come to my club again.”
She nodded once.
I opened the door and stepped into the hall before I changed my mind about any of it.
Nothing about that meeting had gone the way I expected.
I’d come to threaten a liar.
I’d left with a hard-on, a headache, and a woman I might have to save.
It would’ve been easier if she’d kept her claws out and her eyes dry.
But no.
Nothing in my life was ever that simple.