“You’re engaged to Rita.” Her name is like barbed wire on my tongue.
He cradles my face with one hand. “I never wanted Rita. Besides, that deal is dead in the water now.”
“And I’m not your woman,” I say, grasping at anything to stop this runaway train between us.
His hips grind up into me, pressing against my core, and I can’t stop the gasp of pleasure it elicits. I feel him grow hard beneath me, and my resolve begins to weaken as lust takes over. Damn him.
“Liar,” he whispers, grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me down so our lips hover scant millimeters apart.
His warm puffs of breath fan over my lips. It’s now a test of wills to see who gives in first. My tongue darts out, already tasting him.
Never taking our eyes off one another, I erase the remaining space between us. “I don’t fuck someone I can’t trust,” I say against his sensual mouth, and because I’m a glutton for punishment, I bite his lower lip and gently suck on it before letting it go.
“Then I guess I’m going to have to work on regaining your trust, sweetrosa,” he replies, and I get a wicked thrill at his declaration.
When I hear someone coming, I ease off his lap and stand up. My clothes are all wrinkled, and I try to quickly straighten them back into place. Liam appears and he must notice the flush of arousal tinging my skin pink because I sure as hell feel it.
“Mr. Levine would like for you to join him for dinner.”
Rafe moves to stand beside me and trails a possessive hand down my back, a gesture Liam watches with barely concealed displeasure.
“Knock it off,” I warn Rafe, and the handsome bastard smirks at me. Replying to Liam, I say, “Let him know I’ll be there shortly. I’d like to get cleaned up first.”
When he doesn’t leave, I glare at him. There were a few more things I wanted to talk to Rafe about, but I’m not going to do it in front of an audience.
Rafe said he wants to gain back my trust. Only time will tell if he truly means it. Too much bad has happened between us for me to take him at his word. Besides, I’ve got shit to do, the first being to have dinner with one of the most ruthless men in the world who happens to be my real dad.
Chapter 11
“What?” I snap at Liam.
I feel his eyes on me as we take the elevator up one floor to where Declan’s suite is located. I hate being confined in small spaces, which makes elevators one of my nemeses. I didn’t have time to think about it before when we rode it down from the rooftop because I was majorly distracted. However, now, it’s just me and Liam, and my guilt for being almost caught dry humping my ex who I mostly detest has me on edge and feeling a bit bitchy.
“I don’t trust him,” Liam states, his demeanor cold and rigid.
“Well, neither do I.”Not yet, I silently add.
Rafe has given me a lot to consider. At least I have some closure as to what happened and why he left me. Declan promised Rafe that he would help wipe his scum of a father and brother off the face of the earth. He and I are in complete agreement on that. Which makes Rafe an ally, of sorts.
“I also don’t trust you,” I state when we arrive, and the doors open.
Liam places himself directly in my path, preventing me from exiting the lift. He’s dressed in distressed jeans and a black Randy’s Custom Auto graphic tee that does wonderful things for his chest.
“Other than Mr. Levine, I’m probably the only one youcantrust.”
I pop a hand to my hip, a classic diva-girl move. “Says the man who held a gun on me, kidnapped me, and left me in the hands of two of the three stooges who strapped me to a fucking chair and had way too much fun beating the shit out of me.”
Liam’s face morphs into a mask of deadly rage. I’m sure if those two men were still alive, he would be bathing in their blood right now.
I make an unladylike grunt when Liam’s hand wraps around my throat and he forces me back inside the elevator. He reaches out and hits a button that keeps the doors open and the elevator stationary.
“If you think that one night in Geneva was the end between us, you couldn’t be more wrong,bella.” His body heat scorches me as he presses in closer.
This is the man I met who ravaged me in his hotel room. Not the gentle, tender one who took care of me and soothed me at the cabin. And God help me, this is the side of him I desire most as evidenced by how wet my panties are right now. The danger I feel as he grips my throat only amps up my arousal and reminds me too much of Jax and Keane. If ever there was a big-ass epiphany, I just had it. I’m attracted to violent, psychotic men.
“Let go.”
Liam complies, slowly removing his hand and moving it across the curve of my shoulder and down my arm. He curls his fingers around my hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing the back of my wrist. Controlled violence to sudden tenderness. It’s a confusing whiplash of emotion to experience.
