Page 50 of Illicit Temptation

“Problem?” A deep voice is followed by a wide-framed male who steps into the light from the darkened living room.

In two swift moves, I draw my gun and yank Shea behind me. Seeing my cousin there startles me for a different reason.

“Fucking, fuck. Griffin! Where did you bleedin’ come from and how did you get in here?”

He holds up his phone. “Shane unlocked the front door when I was standing on the porch for five minutes. We all have the gate code.”

“Youallhave the codes to my house?” Shea wrenches from my hold.

“Got them from Balor.” Griffin’s eyes widen taking in her dress and I want to rip his head off the way he looks at her.

He’s been living in Astoria the whole time and never made a move on her. Neither have his brothers. Yet, checking her out in that dress, his eyes bulge in a way I’d not seen before.

Which means it’sgotto go.

“Great. Just help yourselves to my life.” Shea grabs the sparkly bag from the console near the door and drops her phone inside. “Let’s go. We’re late.”

“How did you get here?” I ask Griffin.

“You were supposed to be at the helipad twenty minutes ago. I grabbed a cab. What’s the hold-up?”

I don’t have an answer, and I don’t care if I make us even later at this point. Only, Shea is already out the door, a white wool coat draped over her shoulders.

Shaking my head, I grab the keys to that Lexus, since it’s easier to park at the helipad.

At the car, Shea waits by the passenger door. Griffin goes to open it for her, but I nudge him aside. “I got it. You’re riding in the back, brat.”

With him out of earshot, I stroll to the other side of the car and lean into Shea’s ear. “I know you’re attending this gala at Kieran’s invitation. I suggest you stay close to your brothers so no man dares to go near you. That dress invites trouble.”

“Does it?”

“I’m a man. If I saw a woman wearing that...” My throat dries up when I realize I can’t finish that thought.

“That’syourproblem, not mine.” She whispers, “Besides, aren’t you a married man?”

“And I’m still figuring out if I should be mad at you for breaking your vows with that scumbag.”

She swallows, blushing.

Fuck, I want a feisty reaction. Those claws coming at me. Death stares. I don’t want to make her feel guilty. It was my fault she was alone for three years. My job kept us apart. Even if she thinks I would have agreed to a divorce had I stuck around.

“Tell me,” Shea breaks the silence against the winter waves in the distance. “If you saw a woman dressed like this, you’d do what?”

“Nothing.” I huff. “That’s why I couldn’t finish. Any other woman wearing that dress wouldn’t even register.”

“Mate, we have to go.” Griffin bangs on the roof of the car. “It’s fucking freezing.”

Yet, my body rages like a furnace turned up to one hundred and fifty degrees. A bead of sweat even trickles down my back.

“You heard my cousin,” I say to Shea and help her into the seat.

She gets in and I tuck her coat around her so it doesn’t catch on the door.

On the other side, I meet Griffin’s eyes. “Really, why the escort?”

“I have to talk to you aboutyou know who. Thought the bird was the best place.”

“In front of Shea?”

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