Page 34 of Lethal Salvation

Gideon swung his big body up, planting his feet on the ground, as he swayed, his head in his hands, his hair tousled, giving him the look of a younger man, not the titan that he was in the boardroom.

“Where are we?”

“Safe.”

His body tensed and the next second he was lunging towards Hurricane. His legs gave way and, as he swung for Hurricane, her friend caught him and helped him stand.

“Steady on, buddy. You ain’t ready for a fight just yet. Let the drugs move out of your body and then you can take a swing at me, okay?”

“Motherfucker drugged me.”

His accusing eyes landed on her, and she fought the flinch and the look of betrayal in his eyes. “We had no choice. We can’t let you know where we are for your safety and ours.”

“You could’ve just said that.”

Duchess rested her hands on his chest as she felt Hurricane leave the room.

“I know and we should have. I’m sorry.”

A grunt was his only reply before he let his body sink back onto the bed, his legs too weak to hold him up. Duchess sat beside him silently, wondering what she could say. This was a messed-up situation to be sure.

His hand covered hers and he twined their fingers together before pulling their joined hands to his lips. His warm breath feathered over her skin causing goosebumps to break out all over her body. “Don’t shut me out. I know you need to keep your secrets to be safe and I want that, but just talk to me. I like you, Duchess, and I want to get to know you better. Not as my PA or as a secret agent spy or whatever the hell you call yourself, but you, the person who loves tattoos of flowers and fights for the underdog.”

“I want that too, but is now the right time?”

“Probably not, but what I’m learning is that life doesn’t always give us the things we want when we want them, but she does give us the things we need. Let’s seize the day and see what happens?”

He’d dropped their hands to his lap and turned his body into hers. His gaze was earnest and pleading and she knew this wasn’t a man who begged for anything, especially not someone’s time or attention. He was making himself vulnerable to her and she needed to decide if she was brave enough to do the same.

“What if I’m not enough? What if you hurt me?”

He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’ll never knowingly hurt you, Nadia. I’d never take a gift like that and treat it with anything other than the utmost care and respect.”

She wanted to believe him, but fear held her silent, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

Gideon sighed and dropped a kiss on her temple. “It’s okay, I can be patient. I’ll wait. I just ask that you give it a chance and not shut me or the chance of something between us down.”

Duchess nodded. “I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

He tipped her chin back with his finger and lightly kissed her lips. It wasn’t dark and demanding like his previous kisses, it was light and tender and absolutely devastating to her resolve. Tears pricked her eyelids with the emotion that one kiss could evoke.

Could she be brave? She wanted to be and maybe that was enough for now.

Chapter 10

It took a lot to rattle him, but the last twenty-four hours had shaken him to his core. Everything had changed. He’d changed, and it wasn’t just the effects of the drugs Hurricane had shot into his system. He glared at the man from his place on the couch, and the guy just smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

On some level, Gideon understood why they’d done it, but it only amplified how out of control his life was and how much of an outsider he was in this tight-knit group. It wasn’t a feeling he liked, especially where Nadia was concerned. It had felt like just the two of them in this dance at the office but it was clear now she had a world he wasn’t a part of and he didn’t like it.

His gaze was drawn to her, where she was leaning over behind Bás who was looking at something on a laptop.

“She likes you.”

Gideon glanced up as Titan came to sit beside him. They hadn’t really spoken but he got the sense he was well-liked in the group from the interactions he’d witnessed. His attention was pulled back to Nadia as she laughed at something and then looked toward him. As if she too needed to keep checking he was safe. He saw the heat in her gaze, the way her eyes would drink him in like a thirsty person in the desert.

“I like her too.” He had no intention of giving his innermost thoughts away, but he knew these people were looking out for her and, although grudgingly, he respected that.