Page 50 of Forbidden Heroes

“He chased an elusive unicorn,” I offer.

“Right. The wealth he had was never enough to satisfy him. He wanted more the more he amassed. One thing led to another and he became an arms dealer, and I was brought up at the knee of a man who had more respect for money than he did human life. You have to know I almost walked down that same path.”

“But you didn’t,” I remind him gently. “What happened that changed that for you?”

“In a word, revenge. A deal my father was coordinating within Europe went south. The guys on the other end thought he was double-crossing them, and they didn’t think it worth asking for my father to explain. So they sought revenge for a perceived slight against them. I came to find out years later, they were right. My father sold them out to their enemy for a higher profit.”

He paused to take a swallow of his whiskey, and I catch a glimmer of his haunted past deep in his eyes. I’m tempted to interrupt but don’t. He needs to talk and I want him to know I am here for him.

“We were driving through the Alps the winter after my nineteenth birthday. I was taking a year off after graduating to work with my father, learning the ropes before I was to come stateside and start college. I wanted to be an archeologist, of all things, and my parents thought I should have options before I went down a path of ‘no real meaning.’ My father’s words more or less. He made me a deal. Take a year, learn the family business and if I didn’t like it, I could follow my initial plan. Sounded easy at the time.”

I almost stood and walked to him, but I force myself to stay where I am at and listen.

“We were only an hour away from the villa we were staying at over the holidays when the brakes went out on our SUV. Cop reports show they were tampered with and went out when he tried to slow down going around a steep curve. The car must have rolled ten times before we stopped. Smoke, shattered glass and ringing in my ears are all I remember at first. And then I see the fire and my mother pinned under the weight of crushed metal. I tried to help her, but the fire was too out of control.”

He places his tumbler on the mantel and inch by inch rolls back the cuffs of his sleeves to reveal tattoos up both arms. He turns his arms and in that small movement is when I see what is hidden beneath the ink.

Puckered burn marks.

I gasp and this time I don’t hesitate. I stand and walk over to him. “It’s a miracle you survived.” I wrap my arms around him, wanting to share in his burden. “I am so sorry about your mom, Gideon. So sorry. What happened to your father?” I pull back and look into his eyes.

“He died alongside my mother.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Don’t feel sorry for him. Karma is a mirror, and the death his arms deals wrought on this earth and to innocent people earned him his fiery death ten times over. So don’t you dare feel sorry for that piece of shit.”

Gideon leads us back to the couch and pulls me to sit on his lap. From where I’m nestled in his arms, he looks every bit part of Russian Bratva with the shadow along his jaw and the weight of death sitting on his shoulders.

“Well he did one good thing at least. He continued on with Blackthorne University and made sure nothing happened to it. You can’t tell me no good has come from that? It did bring us together.” I lean in and press a soft kiss to his lips.

“This is true, sweetness. But don’t be fooled. Those were for selfish reasons too. He had to launder most of the money he earned from his deals and no one ever expected a school. My father was a wise man and knew how to turn blood money clean through investments. I’ve tried getting rid of it for the past decade and it keeps fucking multiplying.”

“Is that where all those pictures were taken?” I point to the ones I saw when he first led me through his door.

He nods. “I’ve established schools in Africa, clean water plants in South America and donated to every charity working to improve living conditions in every country and village my father’s dealings have caused upheaval. It can’t erase it, but maybe it can help the people in some way. Honestly, I can’t give the money away fast enough. It seems the more I give the more keeps coming back to me.”

I wipe a tear that fell unexpectedly.

“Why are you crying, sweetness? I am sorry. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

I smile. “Oh my sweet professor. You are a man with a heart of gold, Gideon Blackthorne, and don’t you ever think anything else, that’s an order.”

“If you say so. Right now, I feel like a depraved pervert for wanting you and not giving a shit who it might offend or bother.”

“You know, it makes sense now. Our first night I thought maybe you didn’t want to really touch me or thought I was dirty, given I had no idea you knew who I was. You did buy me, after all.”

“Like I said… I’m a bastard for taking you the way I did. But what makes sense to you now?”

“Why you never roll your sleeves up. Why you jerked away from me when I touched your arm that day in your class when my mom called, and why you left your clothes on when you first took me in your private suite.”

Gideon gently sits me to the side with a kiss to my forehead and moves to the bar for another finger’s worth of whiskey.

I follow close behind and place my fingers on the first button. My face reddens because I know he can refuse me at any second and just might given his history. “May I see you? I promise to be gentle.”

He thumbs my cheek, and the fire I see in his eyes has me wet and soaking my panties through. “God, you fucking kill me with those eyes, woman. What is it about you that has me willing to slay dragons and spill blood in your honor and defense?”

I blush even deeper at the meaning of his words. He is openly admitting I am the definition of his weakness.

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