Page 173 of Bishop

Time to get back to work.

I suck in a breath and unlock the stall door to walk for the basins. I’m two feet from my destination when a bulking shadow enters my periphery. My adrenaline spikes. I react on instinct with a striking elbow, but a hand clamps around my mouth, the man dragging me back against his hard chest.

I’m about to drop my weight to the floor, hoping I’ll catch him off-guard with the escape tactic when I shoot a frantic glance at the mirror, the familiar scent of my attacker hitting me at the same time as the sight of him.

“I told you I’d find you,” Bishop snarls in my ear, his breath against my skin instantly filling the hollowness inside me.

I gasp, pushing from his hold to swing around and face him, my relief dying a quick death when I see those deep blue eyes attempting to scorch me to ash. “How?”

“My men are worth every dollar I pay them,” he sneers. “Has Geppet touched you?”

I shake my head, more denying the overtly protective question than answering it.

“But something’s wrong.” His gaze searches mine. “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing. I can handle it.”

“Belladonna,” he warns. “I don’t think you understand how close I am to becoming a man you don’t want to get acquainted with. I suggest you tell me what he’s done to upset you before I storm out there, blow your cover, and find out for myself.” His volatility is so thick and rich it enters my lungs with each inhale.

But if I tell him what’s going on he’ll kill Geppet. And if he kills Geppet I may never find my daughter.

“It’s just about Tilly.” I shake my head to clear the building fog. “He said he knows where she is.”

His eyes narrow. “Why would that upset you?”

“It doesn’t. I’m overwhelmed. Relieved and apprehensive at the same time. He wants to go someplace quiet to talk. To—”

“No,” he barks. “No secondary locations. No getting in his car. You’re not doing any of that shit.”

“He has the information I need, Bishop.”

“Good. Then I can follow him home and get it for you.”

“He won’t go back to his house. He knows someone is watching him.”

His jaw flexes with animosity. “How would he know that?”

“Because I needed to earn his trust.”

He steps closer. I’m sure the proximity is meant to be threatening, but all I want to do is sink into his arms. “And did you?”

“Somewhat. Enough to work with at the very least.”

He doesn’t respond. Not with anything other than a flaring of his nostrils.

“I told you I can handle this,” I add. “You’ve got a plane to catch.”

“That flight has already departed, belladonna.” He leans closer, his words murmured over my lips. “Unfortunately for you, me leaving is no longer an option. So now we also have to deal with the consequences of Lorenzo’s ultimatum.”

My skin prickles, a sheen of goose bumps skittering up my arms. “What consequences?”

“You, me, and matrimony. You’re mine now, belladonna. To protect and worship as I see fit.”

A laugh slips past my lips but he doesn’t mimic my humor. If anything, his intensity increases as if I’ve doused the flames in lighter fluid.

He stalks closer to me, his hips bumping mine, his thighs pushing me backward until I stumble into the vanity.

“And let me make something clear,” he growls in my face, “I will never allow my woman to place herself in danger.”

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