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“You’ve seen the guest room.” I gesture toward the closed door beside it. “That’s the master bedroom. Mine.”

Her gaze flicks to the door before returning to me. For one strange second, neither of us says anything. Something shifts in the air between us, subtle but unmistakable, and I immediately regret drawing attention to the fact that my bedroom is only a few steps from hers.

I clear my throat. “My office is across the hall.” I glance at her and smile as if I wasn’t about to fuck her against the wall seconds ago. “My office gets the most use after my gym, unless I’m using the one at work. You’ll have most of the place to yourself.”

She follows me inside. There’s a desk, a computer, a few files, and a framed photograph sitting on one of the shelves. She notices it immediately. I follow her gaze. The picture was taken years ago with my old unit.

A group of younger men standing together, tired and filthy, pretending we weren’t exhausted because Dan had somehow managed to convince us to pose for a photo. Dan is standing near the center. I’m beside him.

Cora walks closer. “That’s my dad.”

“Yeah.”

She picks up the frame. “You look younger.”

“I was.”

She studies the photograph for another second. Then her fingers tighten around the frame. The shift in her expression is immediate. Fear. It wipes away the tension and warmth from a few minutes earlier. She sets the picture back down.

“Roman…” Her voice is quiet when she turns toward me. “Are we going to find him?”

My body goes tense. The question nearly knocks the air from my lungs. Cora is standing in front of me with tears gathering in her eyes, and suddenly I remember that this isn’t just an investigation to her. This is her father. The only family she has.

I walk toward her. “Yeah.”

Her lips tremble. “You don’t know that.”

“Maybe. But I do know that I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we do.”

She looks down. A tear slips down her cheek. My chest tightens in pain. I reach for her before I can think about it and pull her against me. She relaxes into me almost instantly, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist as she buries her face against my chest.

I stand there, holding her as her body shakes with the force of her tears. I’m at a loss. The sound of her tears cripples me.

“Stop crying, princess,” I say, my voice rough. “I’ll find your dad, and I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Gradually, her tears subside to soft hiccups until they stop completely. Cora lifts her face from my chest and stares up at me. In the ensuing silence, the tension between us sparks to life, and my cock hardens.

My heart thuds hard, and my blood simmers with unspoken want as I stare into her shimmering blue eyes. Her wet lashes flutter as she blinks, and I see an answering heat slowly enter her gaze.

My thumb brushes the last tear from her cheek before it can fall from her chin, as if I can’t bear to see her cry.. I watch those blue eyes grow darker with an intense desire with every passing second. The hunger inside me grows stronger as she slowly, cautiously, licks her lips.

And that does it. My hard-won control breaks, and every excuse I’ve drummed up evaporates as I give in to the irresistible pull between us.

Something tells me my princess might get overwhelmed if I give her everything I want to, so I take her lips slowly, kissing her deeply but carefully. Every instinct tells me to take more, faster and harder, but I wrestle my hunger under control.

The kiss is nothing like I expect. It’s immediate and consuming, like the attraction simmering between us finally has free rein. I tangle my tongue with hers, leading and guiding her tentative response while savoring the connection and the heat it ignites.

Then reality slams into me. Dan. The reason she’s here. I break the kiss, breathing hard. Cora stares at me, chest heaving. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes wide. I can see the same shock I feel written all over her face.

She takes a step back as I reach for her, but she shakes her head.

“Cora…” I begin.

“I need to go.”

She turns and hurries out of the office. Seconds later, I hear the guest bedroom door close. I stand there alone. My mouth still remembers the taste of her, and my cock is hard as a rock. All I can think about is that I just kissed Dan Ryke’s daughter.

I drag a hand over my face. “Fuck.”