Page 69 of Stolen Vows

As I process his words, my stomach drops. Is it possible Barry deliberately sent me with limited funds, or did he honestly not know what a rare plant would go for?

Defeat hits my chest, weighing it down. My effort was wasted before any of this even began.

“How do you know all this?” I ask. “And why couldn’t you have just said that last night instead of?—”

“Instead of making you come in front of an audience?”

He grins, stepping around the bed and stalking toward me. I move back, trapping myself against the glass wall, and he plants a palm on one side of my head while his other dives into my hair. He lifts it, bringing a handful to his nose and inhaling deeply.

“When faced with a choice between your pleasure and anything else, I’m afraid I’m always going to choose the former.”

My face heats. “That doesn’t answer my other question.”

“But I already have, Stella. Did you think this was all a coincidence? That you left my condo back then on awhim, with the help of my employee, and it just worked out?” He drops my hair, leaning to press his forehead to mine. “I let you leave once. I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity a second time.”

“That’s a shitty excuse?—”

“It isn’t one. I’m not asking you to forgivethisbehavior. I’d be upset if you did, in fact.”

His free hand glides against my jaw, and he kisses me slowly until my head feels dizzy. When he pulls back, looking into his eyes feels like standing at the center of a hurricane.

Anxiety pours through my veins, immobilizing me.

When I don’t make a move to run, he continues. “I’m just giving you an explanation because you deserve one. Rationale has no home in my mind when it comes to you, so most of my decisions are not well thought out or even particularly good. I act because that is what you move in me. So be angry. Hate me for marrying you, for rejecting you, and for tricking you. Hate me for spending all my time watching instead of joining. As long as you do itwithme. I prefer your wrath over your absence.”

It soundsalotlike a confession, or an admission, or even a silent plea. My pulse throbs in my neck, and for a second, I focus solely on that because I’m not quite sure what to make of everything he’s said.

I’m not given any time to either, because the elevator chimes before I can speak, signaling someone’s sudden arrival at the top of the tower.

26

LEO

Stella tenses against me, her head veering toward the elevator as it reaches our floor. “Are you expecting someone?”

“Frankie.” It takes every ounce of willpower in my being to pull away from her, but I don’t want to keep her trapped when another person is in the room. It’d make her look weak, and that isn’t something I desire. “I texted him earlier and asked him to bring the orchid here.”

Her deep brown eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms, studying me. “You just don’t want me near the play party.”

I smirk, rubbing the back of my neck. “That is true. Though I think you should be the one worried about joining.”

“Why? I could handle it. I walk three miles every morning. I’m in excellent shape.”

“Oh, I’m well acquainted with yourshape, wife.” I toss her a wink, which she rolls her eyes at, pushing past me on her way to the elevator. I follow, letting my gaze drop, memorizing the outline of her glorious ass in that white lace dress. “However, the theme is hunter and prey. Are you sure that’s something you’d like to navigate with me around?”

She pauses, twisting around as I approach. Wicked amusement pulls at her features, drawing the corner of her mouth up. When she reaches for me, she grabs the tail of my tie with both hands, yanking me close—tightening the knot at my throat.

I’m getting whiplash from her ever-changing emotions, and I don’t even care. I suppose it’s the very least I deserve after reinserting myself into her life with no warning.

“Maybe you can be the prey,” she says, her voice low and unbelievably sexy.

My cock twitches. “You want to hunt me down?”

Her grip on the knot sharpens, interrupting my air supply a bit. “At this point, I think it’s only fair if I get to do some stalking as well.”

Across from us, the elevator chimes again, and the doors automatically slide open. No one comes out, though, and my eyebrows immediately draw inward. Stella makes a move to turn, but I grab her shoulders, directing her behind me.

“What’s going on?” she asks, hooking a finger through one of my belt loops.

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