Page 12 of Cruel Ice

“Not that I’m saying you’re a criminal,” she hastened to add.Do not call a potential client a criminal.That was probably rule one in the PI handbook. If it wasn’t, it should be. “I’m just saying…perhaps some of your father’s old associates didn’t get the memo about you not being involved in what he and your grandfather may have?—”

“Neither of them were ever tied to the mob. Those are bullshit stories. Myths to make the family seem more powerful and threatening.”

She wasn’t looking at a myth. His words sounded like truth, but they sure felt like a lie at the same time.

“You think I’m in the mob?” Declan caught her chin in his hand. “You think I’m some monster, yet you saved my ass anyway?”

There was so much gold in the center of his eyes. Her breath caught, then released in a soft exclamation. “You finally admit I saved your ass?”

“I—”

“Declan!”A sharp exclamation that came from the—yep, still open—hospital door.

When Marley glanced that way instinctively, she found a nurse staring back at her. A pretty brunette with wide eyes. But the nurse wasn’t alone. A sharply dressed man in a too expensive suit with carefully styled, silver-streaked hair stood with the nurse. His eyes were on Declan. Surprise—and worry—filled his stare. “I saw the story on the news!” A sharp exclamation from the man as he bustled forward. “You’re on every channel. You and—” His gaze darted from Declan’s hand as it held Marley’s chin…to Marley. His suspicious stare locked on her face. “You and her,” the stranger finished as his gaze assessed her.

“Why is the patient out of the bed?” the nurse demanded.

“Because the patient fucking felt like getting out,” Declan threw back. “James,” he said, addressing the man who kept frowning at Marley. “I need clothes. Tell me that you brought my suit because I don’t know what the hell they did with my things.”

“They were taken into evidence,” Parker said. “Your abductors might have left trace materials behind.”

Declan was still holding her chin. Marley eased back. She didn’t like the way that the James guy was eyeing her.

“I need clothes, and then I need to get the hell out of here.” Curt words from Declan.

“The press is outside,” James warned him. “The feeding frenzy is in full effect. It’s not every day that Declan Flynn is abducted and then saved by—saved by?—”

“I’m a private investigator.” Marley straightened her shoulders. “I’m the woman who got Declan to safety.”

James opened his mouth. But no words came out.

“Oh, she’s not just a PI,” Declan drawled. “James Henry, meet my fiancée…Marley Jones.”

Chapter Three

“I don’t understandwhat’s happening here.” Marley sat with her delicate shoulders hunched and her hands twisting in her lap as the limo pulled away from the hospital.

“We’re getting away from the hospital and going back to my suite at the hotel.” Simple enough to understand. Declan ignored the faint headache that drummed behind his left eye. Getting out of that hospital had been a bitch. He’d had to wait hours for the doctor to arrive. There had been more blood work. More tests. And the annoying detective—the one who liked to touch Marley far too much—had lingered the whole time with his too watchful stare as he’d fired off question after question. And during all of those questions, the detective’s stare had drifted a bit too often to Marley.

Find your own PI, asshole.

Because as far as Declan was concerned, Marley was his.

“Yes.” Marley cleared her throat. “I get that we’re in a vehicle and heading for your hotel. Check. Not having a problem understanding that part.”

He would not smile. He shouldn’t even want to smile, not after the shit that had gone down the previous night. But there was something about Marley Jones…

She didn’t leave me in that basement. She came back for me.Even when he’d told her to get the hell away. She’d come back.

Marley might not get it but…that didn’t happen his world. When danger came calling, people tended to flee. No one had tried to protect him before.

Certainly not some gorgeous, sensual, five-foot-sixangel with curves that begged to be touched, dark hair with streaks of red hidden in its depths, and dark, chocolate eyes that stared straightthroughhim. Her skin looked like silk, and all he wanted to do was reach out and touch her. To see if it would be as soft as it appeared.

I touched her in the hospital room. She was so soft. I need to touch her again.Only instead of touching her, his hands fisted.

“What Idon’tunderstand is why you insisted I come along with you.” Her head tilted as she studied him. Locks of her hair slid over her shoulder. “I thought you didn’t need me.”

Oh, I need you.In ways that he had never expected. “You’re the one who keeps saying that you saved me.”

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