Page 41 of Lord of Debauchery

“I’m not sure we have time,” I told him.

“Is she your permanent guest?” Declan asked. He had a drink in his hand, guzzling it down like everyone else. It would seem everyone was turning this into a goddamn social hour. All I wanted was to take another shower and try to regroup until the morning. Sure, that wasn’t typical behavior for me but at this point, nothing seemed atypical.

“She’s a guest as long as she’s in danger. And don’t go getting any ideas, brother of mine. She’s off limits.” I pointed my finger at him and my other younger brother. “That goes for the both of you.”

“Oh,” Sean growled. “Big he-man claims the little lady.”

“Who can handle herself,” Declan added.

As I looked at him, he shrugged. “I hear things.”

Uh-huh. It was likely Jeff had spilled the beans about her rather unusual traits.

“Just do your jobs and keep going on the insurance claim. Keep digging about the brand. I want additional soldiers surrounding our other businesses. If this joker wants to play a game, then fuck him.”

“I have a call out to someone who might be able to shed some light on what we’re dealing with.” Pops slapped me on the back.

Usually, I didn’t take his assistance kindly, but I was too damn tired to care at this point. Maybe we needed all the help we could get. “Fine. We’ll regroup tomorrow. I plan on going hunting. You didn’t hear anything from our sources either?”

“There is buzz but not enough to warrant a full interrogation just yet.”

“That’s not good enough, Pops. We killed twenty men who were happy to die for the cause. And no, they weren’t any single nationality. None had any identification. The vehicles they used, if not torched, gave nothing but they were right there in our faces, as if laughing at us. I need to know why, and I don’t give a shit who I need to rattle to find out. I will. So you can warn your informants or not. I really don’t give a shit. I will do what’s necessary to keep this regime afloat. My way. Now, since that woman did save my life at one point today and I dragged her away from her entire world, I think I’ll go ensure she’s not going to have a goddamn panic attack. We are done here.”

I wasn’t usually so aggressive, but it had been a shit of a last few days, and the last thing I would tolerate was being second guessed by a member of my own family.

As I threw open the door to the outside, I allowed my mind to try to process just what the hell I was going to do with her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who could be kept in the dark for long nor would she take kindly to being held a prisoner just like she’d accused me of doing.

I took my drink with me, even refilling it at the outside bar. It was obvious someone had told my housekeeper to open up everything in the house. Perhaps they believed I was here for the long haul given my arrival with a guest. At this point, I couldn’t be certain we’d be safe here.

Leaning over the railing, I studied her for a full two minutes. Kenya was sitting on the sand with her legs crossed, staring out at the ocean as if she’d find the answers she was seeking.

Her quietness was as unnerving as when she tossed her attitude and hatred toward me. Then again, my possessiveness was something it would seem she wasn’t used to. Or perhaps whoever the asshole was back in New York, the one I knew had soured her on men was the real reason behind her guarded, jaded actions.

One thing was for certain.

She was hiding something other than details about her illustrious military career, and my gut told me that something was going to come back and bite her.

“Just who are you, little fighter?”

As I walked down the stairs, not bothering to remove my shoes, I had a feeling our being brought together was a sick twist of fate, the kind of thing that would ultimately destroy us.

Yet we were drawn to each other in an inexplicable way.

And God help me, I wanted her.

It was quite possible nothing would stop me from keeping her.

Not even the lovely lady herself.

She slowly turned her head and the connection was instant, white-hot and crackling my skin. Yet I also felt her anger and uncertainty even from being fifty yards away.

“We might have something on the brand,” Jeff said from behind me.

“It can wait.”

“I think you want to see this.”

Hissing, I turned around, glaring at my lieutenant. “Fine, but after, I want everyone out of my house that doesn’t need to be here. Do I make myself clear?”

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