Page 31 of King of Temptation

“It’s nice to see you too, Daddy.”

Some of the color drained from his face, giving her another thrill as he jerked his head up, his eyes scanning the room around them. “Don’t call me that. Not here.”

“Why?” Delighted to have the upper hand with him for once, she reached across the table to pluck his drink—an old-fashioned, she was pretty sure—from in front of him, keeping her gaze locked on his face as she sipped. “Worried your date will overhear?”

“Yes, actually.”

The simple, sharp response was like a dagger to the heart. And she realized, then, that she’d been harboring some hope that she’d been wrong, that she’d jumped to some wildly incorrect conclusion.

But she’d been right, and it took every bit of self-control she possessed not to give into the tears burning in her throat. “Where is she? I’d love to meet her. Give her a heads-up about the kind of man she’s gotten involved with.”

When his gaze returned to hers, it burned hot enough to set the alcohol in her hand ablaze. “If you knew anything about the kind of man I actually am, you wouldn’t be here. Go home, menace.”

Bringing the drink to her lips again, she smiled at him over the rim. “No.”

“Goddammit, Mari⁠—”

“Well, well, who is this delightful little morsel?”

Jerking her head up, she nearly fumbled her whiskey as she realized, with growing horror, that Brody’s date for the evening wasn’t some sweet, young girl.

It wasn’t, in fact, a girl at all, but rather Salvatore DeLuca, second in command of the Italian mafia.

Fuck.

Chapter 11

Brody

Fuck.

He was going to kill her.

As soon as he saved her from the Italians, of course.

With his palm physically itching to spank some damn sense into her, he sent his ‘date’ a welcoming smile. “Salvatore. I hope you don’t mind if we have some company. Apparently, someone couldn’t stand for us to be apart for even one evening.”

It was a gamble, pretending Goldie was his. One that could potentially paint a target on her back the size of Texas.

But she’d already painted that target herself simply by being here. If Brody couldn’t offer up an acceptable explanation for her presence, Salvatore was just as likely to decide she was a threat and have her taken out before she even made it home. And they were on shaky enough ground with the Italians as it was, given the DeLucas had tried to assassinate not only Killian but Reagan as well, and in retaliation Killian had financially dismantled most of their empire.

Which was the whole reason for this meeting in the first place. The Feds were denying any involvement in the freezing of their accounts, and the O’Rourke tech team had so far been unable to trace the source of the hack.

Leaving only a few remaining suspects. And since Killian had fucked with the Italians’ money, it made sense they would fuck with his right back. It was Brody’s job to feel them out, see if he could get Salvatore to admit, either directly or indirectly, that they’d been the ones behind the attack.

So he leaned into the only plausible explanation, sliding sideways on the bench and beckoning her to join him. “Come here, babygirl.”

Goldie’s brows rose at the endearment, but she didn’t contradict him, which was good for her on multiple levels. He already had plans to make sitting rather difficult for her as soon as he got her the fuck out of here, and he’d be all too happy to continue adding to her punishment if she wanted to defy him.

Flashing Salvatore a smile, she rose from the other bench and made to slide past him to Brody’s side of the table. Salvatore, however, didn’t move out of her way. Stomach churning, Brody watched as he captured Goldie’s free hand in his, lifting her knuckles to his lips.

“A pleasure to meet you, Ms…?”

“Mine,” Brody growled, the word bursting free before he’d even registered the desire to say it.

Goldie and Salvatore both looked at him with nearly identical expressions of surprise. In for a penny, in for a fucking pound.

Reaching for Goldie, he tugged on her hand, and Salvatore was smart enough to move out of the way as Brody pulled her down beside him, his gaze never leaving the other man’s face. “You don’t need to know her name, only that she’s mine.”