“I-I didn’t mean?—”
“Yes, you did.” His smile is all teeth. “But you won’t again. Not if you want your family’s foundation to continue receiving funding from Ward Enterprises.”
She blanches. “Ronan, really, it was just girl talk?—”
“It was petty and beneath you.” His gaze sweeps the gathered onlookers. “Anyone else have comments about my date? If you can’t say it to my face, then don’t say it at all.”
The silence is deafening, and I try not to show how good it feels to have someone stand up for me. Yes, I don’t belong in this world. That doesn’t mean they get to insult me. They just don’t have the right. After all, they’re not feeding me or paying for Mom’s treatments.
Ronan returns to me, taking my hand. “Let’s get some air.’
He leads me to a balcony overlooking the city. Christmas lights twinkle below us, and my breath forms clouds in the cold night air. Ronan drapes his jacket over my shoulders.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say quietly.
“Yes, I did. No one disrespects what matters to me.”
My heart stutters. “And I ... matter?”
Instead of answering, he cups my face and kisses me deeply, possessively, his body pressing mine against the stone balustrade. Everything melts into the background, and nothing matters anymore. Nothing but his mouth on mine, his tongue sliding in and out of my mouth, eliciting sounds I’m pretty sure everyone can hear.
God, I get lost in a kiss so easily with him.
When he finally pulls back, we’re both breathing hard, pulses pounding and I have to hold onto his biceps for support.
“Does that answer your question?” he asks roughly, his face darkening.
It does and it doesn’t. It tells me he wants me, maybe even cares for me. But tomorrow still looms like a shadow over this perfect night.
Tomorrow, our deal ends. Tomorrow, I take the money and walk away. For tonight, though, I let myself have this—his warmth, his protection, his desire.
I lean into him as we watch the city lights, his arm secure around my waist, and try not to think about how empty I’ll feel when it’s gone.
7
RONAN
The car pulls away from the Bergman estate, and I watch her reflection in the tinted window. She’s ethereal in the passing streetlights—gold hair tumbling loose where my fingers have already disturbed it, lips gone from my kisses. My body is still tight with the rage I felt when Vivian tried to diminish her. Nobody has the right to talk to her like that. Nobody.
What Vivian doesn’t understand is that I’m the one who’s been captured.
“Thank you,” Rayne says, breaking the silence. “For defending me back there.”
I turn to her. “I won’t tolerate anyone disrespecting you.”
Her eyes search mine, hungry and uncertain. It’s that look again—like she's memorizing me, storing up details for later when I’m gone. But I’m not going anywhere. And neither is she.
She bites her lip, and that small gesture ignites something primal in me. I lean across the seat and take her mouth withmine, swallowing her gasp of surprise. Her hesitation lasts only a heartbeat before she melts against me, fingers clutching my shirt.
I pull her onto my lap, the silk of her dress sliding dangerously high on her thighs. She straddles me, deepening the kiss with a boldness that leaves me breathless. There’s an urgency to her tonight, a wildness I haven’t seen before.
“Ronan,” she whispers against my mouth. “I want…”
“Tell me,” I growl, nipping at her throat.
“I want to remember every second of this.”
Something in her voice—that note of finality—makes me pull back to study her face. She thinks this ends tomorrow. Our arrangement, our weekend together. The money will change hands, and she’ll walk away.
