Page 28 of Illicit Temptation

God, yes.

Only...

“No. We can’t. You’re my bodyguard now. Not my brother’s bestie hanging out in Vegas for a weekend. Or covering for Soren. This is for real now. You know better and I know better.” God, playing it safe sucks.

Trace steps back, startled at my firmness. “You’re right.”

That was too easy.

“Why did you take this assignment?” I ask with my arms folded, hiding how he makes me feel.

“Balor suggested it. Lachlan requested it. Do you think I’m telling either of those two no?”

He makes a good point.

“Okay.” I shake all the lust away. “Then it’s settled. We can’t...fool around. If my brothers find out you are fucking me while on duty as my bodyguard, they’ll—”

“Kill me.” His calm demeanor sends chills through me. Like he’d die happy just to be in my bed.

Wow.

“And you know about the trip to Dunbar coming up? I’m going. That means you’re going.”

“Where you go, I go, princess,” he purrs at me.

Even if it’s to hell, apparently. Which Dunbar Valley might as well be.

A knock on the office supply door startles me. I open it and see Larke smiling.

“I’m heading out, it’s after six.”

Six p.m.!

Frig my life, the day flew by. I’ll have no time to absorb Trace working for me, and with no appointments or events, or plans with Larke to go for drinks, looks like I’m going home.

And taking my 6’5” gorgeous, dirty-talking bodyguard with me.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Trace

Shea mentioning the trip to Dunbar Valley has the wheels in my mind turning sharply.

While Kieran heads the O’Rourke family in Astoria, his father has wrestled back control of Waterford. On a recent trip back to see my parents for their anniversary, I learned he now runs the supply lines in and out of Waterford. Routes that go through...Dunbar Valley.

I paid the retired patriarch, Fergus O’Rourke, my respects based on a lifetime of family loyalty. The man’s wife is sick, buthissavagery is strong. He misses being king.

If there’s someone’s permission or blessing I need to keep Shea as my wife, it’shim. Her brothers might have a plan with the Italian mafia, but Fergus is her father. His word should be final.

Until that trip happens, it takes months to get permission to visit someone in Dunbar, I’ll be dodging any possible attempt at a divorce by throwing sand in the gears of any scheme Shea comes up with.

Since she doesn’t have a driver, I make that my duty, just as I did for months with her brother Balor. I can see problems better from the road and take control of them head-on.

She owns a stunning white Escalade with classy walnut trim that when I get inside, I feel like I’m sitting in a spa chair of buttery soft leather. This beauty has every bell and whistle. Balor’s Rivian was sleek, but the electric engine tripped me up.

Call me old-fashioned, but I love the rumble of a powerful carburetor.

With Shea settled in the backseat, I twist around to clearup a few things. “Lachlan didn’t tell you I’d be replacing Soren?”

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