Page 75 of Brutal Ice

His hand rose and his fingers skimmed across the silk of her cheek. “Because I’ve never wanted anyone more.” His hand slid down, and his thumb brushed over her lower lip. “You’re mine, Violet.”

“Get out of my way, Royal.”

A bite filled those words. Determined bite. He could admire that.

He could also think her determination was a pain in his ass.

His hand fell, but he did not get out of her way. “There’s no way that you are gonna leave this house without me.”

“She’s scared.”

“She’s setting up a trap for you. I was just downstairs, accessing street cam footage from the night of your abduction. I’ve been searching through that footage for hours.” More like days because there had been so much footage to review. “I’ve been trying to figure out who might have been in that parking lot and seen you get taken. It was her. I found a street cam about four blocks over. Got a pic of her behind the wheel of her red Mustang. She was the only person from the theater that I could find near the site after your abduction. Everyone else left before that time period. I’ve looked at every bit of footage I could locate. It goes back to her.” Violet had to understand this. “Your best friend left you to die.”

The lower lip he’d just stroked…trembled.

His jaw hardened. “The detective didn’t tell her jack shit about me.” Another lie. One designed to destroy any trust that Violet might have in Royal. A lie designed to take you away. To put you far from my protection.

“How do you know that?” Violet asked. Her hair slid over her shoulder. “How do you know she didn’t talk to him?”

Easy. “Because Detective Curran Barlow is on my payroll, sweetheart. The man reports to me, so he wouldn’t sell my ass out.” No, something else was happening. Something far more sinister. “She’s luring you out in the middle of the night.”

“Simone was terrified.”

On that, they could agree. “It’s a trap.” Every instinct told him that truth. “I think he has her.”

She retreated a step.

“A three a.m. phone call?” Royal shook his head. “A desperate plea to meet in the middle of nowhere? To go without me? Come on, we both know this is a setup. You go alone, and you’re dead. Hell, she’s probably dead, too.” She may already be dead. He could have killed Simone the minute the phone call ended.

There was no stunned shock in Violet’s gaze.

His own eyes narrowed. “But…you suspected that already, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t believe her when she said you were a threat to me.”

His heart raced a little faster in his chest, but his pose didn’t alter.

“I didn’t believe her when she said that you were insane. I know you didn’t abduct me. But what she didn’t know—Simone didn’t know that you’d saved me. I kept that secret. I didn’t tell it to the cops. Not to my brothers. Not even to my best friend. It was our secret.”

Our secret.

“You wanted to use me as bait.” Violet squared her delicate shoulders. “This is our chance. We have to make it look like I’m going alone. Like I ditched you. But you’ll be there, won’t you? My backup.”

Your shadow, baby. Watching every single step you take.

“It could be Micah,” she said. Violet bit her lip. “He could have taken Simone. Forced her to make the call. They’ve been involved, but they try to hide their affair from most people.”

“He’s been screwing her, but the bastard wants to fuck you.”

She didn’t deny the words. She did raise her chin. “I have to go. Now.”

Yeah, they did. “I’m driving.”

“If he’s there, he can’t see you!”

“He won’t see me.” Royal was certain. “Trust me. Can you do that, Violet?”

Her hand lifted. Extended toward him. He looked down at her delicate palm.

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