Page 15 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

Which gives me time to figure a way out of this.

They need to understand that this is not surrender.

Lucian Hawthorne and Caleb Whatever-his-last-name-is have no idea what they’ve unleashed.

Chapter Six

Lucian

“Feed should be ready,” Caleb says.

I grin.

The penthouse hums with the low, steady pulse of the city thirty-eight floors below us.

Sleek lines define every inch of this space we claimed years ago—dark walnut paneling that absorbs light rather than reflects it, leather sofas the color of midnight arranged in precise, masculine angles. No clutter, no fuss, just clean surfaces and technology woven so seamlessly into the walls that the monitors blend like art until we wake them.

Caleb stands beside me, his shoulder brushing mine in that familiar way that says we are aligned without needing words.

“Ready?” he asks.

I nod. I need this. Need it.

He thumbs the remote that pulls up the private feed from Sophie’s apartment.

The image flickers to life on the center screen. Her modest living room is empty, the secondhand sofa with its colorful throw pillows exactly as we left it when we walked out an hour ago.

My pulse kicks once, hard.

She is not in frame. The kitchenette sits quiet, and the small dining nook is untouched.

A flicker of panic races through me.

She should be here, visible, safe under our watch. Then the faint sound of running water drifts through the hidden speakers, soft and steady, and my shoulders ease. The bathroom. Of course. No camera there. We drew that line ourselves, even in the long years of watching from the shadows. Some privacy remains hers until she is fully ours.

Caleb’s phone that’s on the low console table vibrates. I glance at the screen—Ms. Inamorata. She’s head of ops for Hawkeye Security and the right-hand person to the man himself.

He answers on speaker. “Inamorata. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Mr. Pierce.” Her tone is crisp, efficient, the kind of professional calm that has kept her at the top of her field. “The team finished at Ms. Langford’s office twenty minutes ago. New locks were installed, a full camera array is online, and all motion sensors are calibrated. We swept for anything that might have been left behind by her father’s associates. The place is clean, but once your marriage is announced, you know she’ll be a target.” She pauses. “As you requested, she’s being treated as priority one.”

Caleb and I exchange glances as satisfaction rolls through me.

“Good. Double the perimeter at the penthouse entrance starting tomorrow. She’ll be moving in here as soon as we can arrange.”

“Of course. We have eyes on both locations.”

This is Caleb operating at his best—making threats disappear before they form. Sophie should have always been protected like this.

After ending the call, Caleb glances at me. “He should have kept bastards like us away from her.”

I nod. How perfectly he’s read me.

Movement on her apartment screen captures my attention.

The sight of her beautiful, slender body wrapped in a thick white robe hits me low in the gut, and a slow, heavy throb spreads outward until my fingers flex at my sides.

Part of me aches to tug on her belt and part the lapels as her body is revealed in all its sensual glory.