Page 61 of Sins of Arrogance

No text came, but I need an ex­cuse to get out of here.

Star­ing down at the blank phone screen, I hear her get off the bed and pad across the room to the en suite.

I’m dressed in black cargo pants and t-shirt when she comes out of the bath­room.

“Your grand­fa­ther needs me,” I say, ris­ing and ad­just­ing my jacket like the mind-blow­ing al­most-sex was just a stop along the way to more im­por­tant busi­ness.

It’s a lie. There’s no call. No emer­gency.

The only thing press­ing is the re­al­iza­tion that I came harder with this un­touched vir­gin than I ever have with any of my lovers.

And I didn’t even fuck her.

This is the real prob­lem.

Be­cause I want to. If I stay in her vicin­ity for five more min­utes, I will. But I’m not will­ing to pay the price my lust would cost me.

Her grand­fa­ther’s trust.

My po­si­tion.

My sense of honor, as tar­nished as it might be.

I don’t speak again. I just walk out, shut­ting the bed­room door be­hind me with the click of a lock.

I tell my­self it’s a vic­tory.

But all I feel is weak.

When her grand­fa­ther texts at three in the morn­ing to tell me I’m needed on a prod­uct trans­fer in Bos­ton, I leave for the he­li­copter with­out a back­ward glance.

But I don’t take Brice and Conor. They’re my mates, the only two men on my crew in Dublin I brought with me. I trust them to keep Kara safe.

Chap­ter 17: Lines in the Sand

MICK

Present Day

Rory stops me out­side the apart­ment. “Hex needs to talk to you.”

Along with Bryce, Rory and Conor, Dr. Xi­mena Morales is one of the best re­cruits I ever made to our syn­di­cate.

If she needs to talk to me, it’s about the whis­per gun project. And if she called on a Sun­day, it’s ur­gent.

With a flash of re­gret that’s been hap­pen­ing more and more when I have to walk away from my fam­ily, I nod.

“I’ll be back in time to tuck you in for bed,” I prom­ise Fitz.

Kara’s eyes widen. We both know I don’t usu­ally get home un­til af­ter our son and she have gone to sleep.

I love wak­ing my wife with my mouth be­tween her legs. Not some­thing I need to think about be­fore talk­ing to the gun tech guru.

With a tiny shrug, Kara turns away to take our son in­side the apart­ment.

I don’t know what’s driv­ing me, but I grab her shoul­der and turn her back to­ward me.

Her mouth is open on a gasp when my lips cover hers. I kiss her un­til she’s press­ing into me, her body soft the way I like it.