Page 50 of Ireland

“No. Don’t.” Pointing a finger at him, she ordered, “Stay right there. You waited until I knew your name to fuck me, but your agenda was okay to keep hidden? Was screwing me part of your revenge? Are you going to throw that in my father’s face?”

Anger tightened his mouth. “You fucked me believing I’d take the hit for your father’s colossal mismanagement. Are you having regrets now? Was saving Vidal a condition to having sex with you?”

She pressed a hand between her breasts, massaging the sudden pain that pierced her. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“It doesn’t feel good when someone you care about insults your character, does it?”

The door to the second bedroom flew open, and Jules ran headlong into the room. Skidding to a halt, he looked at Ireland, then his brother, eyes widening as he took in their appearances.

He whistled. “You’d best get dressed,beau-frère. I’ve been keeping her daddy waiting around on you, but then he got tiredof her not answering his calls and looked up where she is on some app he’s got. He was marching toward the hotel when I saw him last. I had to sprint through that madness out there to get here first.”

Ireland was already darting for her shoes.

“Wait a damned minute,cher,” Ronan snapped. “We’re not done talking.”

She slung her duffel over her shoulder. “I heard what you had to say.”

“Maudit, you’re too old to run when your daddy doesn’t like your choices!”

Thrusting her arm through the handles of her Birkin, she skirted Jules with a nod of greeting and farewell and hurried toward the door with shoes in hand. “He’s not the one I’m running from, asshat.”

She sensed Ronan lunging for her without seeing it. When his hand caught her biceps, she shifted to the side, tucked her elbow close, and spun, sending him stumbling back with a palm strike to the abdomen. Then she was out the door.

The ding of the service elevator set her running down the hall in the opposite direction, toward the guest elevators she’d ridden up in. She heard Ronan’s door open as she turned the corner and braced herself to hear him shout her name. Instead, she heard her father.

“McCaffrey! Is my daughter in there?”

Ireland stabbed at the elevator button, then dug into her purse for her phone. She texted her mom.

I’m buying you out.

Then she texted her dad as she stepped into the elevator.

Hey, I’m at the offices. When you get back, let’s work out our battle plan.

Eva heard the knock at her door and glanced over to find her husband entering her office. As she always did, she paused, arrested by the sight of him—the way Gideon moved with powerfully seductive self-assurance, how he looked in his bespoke three-piece suits, the rakish fall of dark hair framing a face so stunning every thought in her brain scattered. And those eyes, a piercing aqua blue, saw through all her protective layers to the woman she was inside.

Her lips curved in delight and welcome, even as she felt a sharp pang of guilt for her earlier thoughtless words. He responded to her joy at seeing him, his sensual mouth lifting in a warm smile.

“Hello, ace,” she murmured, rocking back in her desk chair. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

“Am I now?”

“Always.” She stood and ordered the office AI to opaque the glass walls separating her office from the sea of cubicles. “Come here.”

His smile widened. “You know we have a meeting in five.”

“We’ll be there on time. I just need a minute.” When he reached her, she urged him around so her desk was behind him. “Now, half-sit on the edge so you’re not so dashingly tall, please.”

He gave her a quizzical look but complied.

“Now spread your legs,” she said, “so I can step between them.”

Moving into the space he created for her, Eva draped her arms around his neck and pressed herself into him, humming approval when his arms encircled her. She rested her cheek against his lapel and closed her eyes, savoring his warmth and scent. His hands stroked up and down her back, gentling her. The tension in her shoulders eased, and she sighed heavily. An instant later, she felt the same transformation in him, his muscular body relaxing into their embrace.

“Hmm.” He nuzzled the crown of her head. “I needed this.”

She offered her mouth to him, and he took it. His lips sealed over hers, and he kissed her with all the tender passion in his soul.

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