She still didn’t see any guards, other than the baby-faced boy stationed outside her bedroom. It could be that Killian was confident in his own abilities to ward off any would-be intruders, but she couldn’t reconcile that kind of carelessness with the man who had kidnapped her off the street just to prove a point about the precautions she’d neglected to take.
So for the time being, she would operate under the assumption the house was well guarded, both electronically and by humans. She just needed to figure out how.
Killian led her not to the dining room as she’d expected, but to his office. Unlike her father’s home office, which trended more modern, Killian’s inner sanctum whispered of old money like the rest of the house. A heavy wooden desk sat in the middle of the room and she slowed as she studied the piece.
Instead of four legs or even the columns of drawers one might expect, the dark wood of his desk was held up by four carved lions. Regal and commanding, just like the man hovering behind her.
“My great-grandfather had the piece commissioned after he claimed the docks in a bloody battle that cost our family nearly a dozen men.” He spoke softly, and the grief in his tone was palpable. The grief confused her. She would have expected pride, maybe even a bit of smugness. But this sadness over men he’d never met… it didn’t make any sense.
Moving around her, he settled behind the desk, running his hands over the gleaming wood. “The lion, my father told me, is a very important symbol in our family. ‘Deathless courage’. Which is rather ironic considering how many of us have died in the building of our empire, but there it is.”
“Then why do it?” As soon as the question slipped out, she wished she could take it back. She didn’t want to know him, didn’t want to feel this burning curiosity tugging at her.
But the question was asked, so there was no taking it back. And, to her surprise, Killian didn’t simply wave her off. He raised his head, those glittering emerald eyes locking with hers.
“We were never taught any other way.”
It was the truth, at least as far as she could tell. And her heart broke for the boy he’d once been, learning the violent ways of a world he’d been dragged into without any say.
He had a say now, though. That boy had grown into a man who could make his own decisions, forge his own path. And yet, he continued on the one his family had laid out for him. Was it weakness or greed or some disgusting combination of both that kept him chained to that desk?
Killian’s gaze shifted to something behind her, a small smile curving his lips. “Ah, there you are. I’m so glad you could make it.”
Whipping around, she froze in shock at the man standing in the doorway to Killian’s office, fury all but radiating from his pores.
“Dad?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Killian
He watched as father and daughter reunited, Aria rushing into Braden’s arms with a choking sob that tugged at Killian’s heart. Convinced as he was that he’d done the right thing, he still hated to see a woman cry.
Well, unless those tears were from a well-deserved spanking or because he’d pushed her past her limits in bed. Those tears he savored, tokens of a job well done in either case.
“Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Pulling back from his daughter, but still keeping her locked in his embrace, Braden ran his gaze over her. “Did he hurt you, Aria?”
Insult pricked at his chest. He supposed he couldn’t blame Braden for asking under the circumstances, but hearing his supposed best friend question his integrity on that front stung more than he cared to admit.
Aria shook her head. “No, no he didn’t hurt me.” A delightful pink blush stole across her cheeks, and he wondered if she was remembering being over his knee, stubbornly refusing to so much as whimper as he’d reddened her bare bottom.
If she was, she kept that information to herself, which amused him. Even now, kidnapped and held hostage by a literal mob boss, she was too embarrassed to admit she’d been spanked.
Adorable, really.
Rising from his chair, Killian rounded the table and gestured to the deep leather couch pressed up against the wall of his office. “Please, have a seat, both of you. Lunch should be here shortly.”
Fury burned hot in Braden’s pale eyes as he moved, shoving Aria behind him, his lip curling up in a snarl. “We’re leaving.”
“You’re welcome to try. But you won’t get very far.”
Some of the color leached from Braden’s cheeks. “You can’t keep us here, Killian.”
“I think you’ll find I absolutely could if I wanted to.” Settling in the plush armchair he preferred over the couch, he let the smile come, slow and easy. “There are more than a dozen guards stationed around my home. And while they currently have strict orders to ensure no harm comes to either you or your daughter, one word from me and that all changes. Try and take her from me, and I will give them that word.”
There were times in a negotiation where it was vital to push, hard, to force the person on the other side of the table to admit defeat. And then there were times when patience was indeed a virtue, when waiting someone out was the most effective strategy.
This moment was the latter, no matter what it cost him.
