Page 125 of Royally Tempted

“I wish I fucking was.”

“Ari,” Luke addressed me. “We know who it is. It’s fuckingMark.”

My eyes went wide in horror. Mark, as in Sasha’s shitty ex boyfriend who’d ended up shooting his way into Steel and Stone Holdings to try and rob the place after she’d hooked up with Luke and Jordan. He’d wound up winging Jordan with a bullet before Sasha had shot him herself. Last I’d heard though, he was in jail for averylong time.”

“There was breakout — we heard about it, but until it was too late.”

The emotion was raw and bitter in Luke’s voice, the same bitter rage I could feel inside my own chest. When I looked around the plane cabin, I saw the tightness in the faces of my three guys.

“He has demands, Ari.”

I couldn’t respond. All I could think about was that asshole Mark getting his hands on my friend.

My friend and her unbornbaby.

“Listen,” Jordan growled. “We’re suspects right now, and they’re fucking keeping us at the hotel right now. But if we give them what we know and tell them it’s Mark behind this, youknowthey’re going to fuck it up. We can’t chance this, not with Sasha and sure as shit not with our kid.”

The cabin started to spin around me, and Sean took over as Hunter helped me sit. “What the fuck do these clowns want, guys? Cash?”

“That’d be easy, man,” Luke muttered. “He wants revenge.”

I listened in stunned silence as Luke filled Hunter, Damien, and Sean in on what had happened that time back at their offices with Mark trying to rob the place.

“He fucking called, us, Arianna,” Jordan said, his voice tight. “He wants revenge, he wants to hurt us, and he’s going to do it by hurting her.”

“Thatnotgoing to happen, guys,” Damien growled with steel in his voice. “It’snot.” He took a deep breath. “What do you know about me and Hunter and Sean?”

There was a moment of silence before Jordan spoke up. “We did our homework,” he said evenly. “Marines, huh?”

“Hoorah,” Hunter muttered under his breath.

“Look, we can’t ask you guys to—”

“Ask whatever you need,” Sean said fiercely, his eyes locked on me.

“Mark’s got her at our lodge, in upstate New York. He’s got a lot of guys with him.”

“We’re on our way,” Hunter said, before moving to the front of the plane to knock on the door to the pilot’s area.

“Guys, could we talk to Arianna for a minute?”

Sean nodded, took me off speaker, and handed me the phone.”

“I’m here,” I said quietly.

“Are you okay?”

My breath hitched as I shook my head, trying to blink back the tears. “AmIokay? Jesus, Luke, I feel like I should be askingyouthat.”

“We’re fine, just…”

“We’re scared, Ari,” Jordan said quietly. “Look, the guys you’re with.” He paused. “Do you trust them?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t even think before the word came out, but it was true — utterly and completely.

“No hesitation,” Jordan mused. “I like it.”

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