Page 54 of Unlawful Seduction

“Everything in this house is my business.” She forced me to pry her fingers open, hissing the entire time. A key. What the hell? “Where did you get that?”

She acted smug, as if the last thing she was going to do was confess. I gripped her jaw with the same hand, even dropping my head slowly until our lips were almost touching.

“You don’t scare me, Beckett.”

“Perhaps you should think otherwise. Where did the key come from?”

When she lifted her arm, pointing toward the door, I burst into laughter. I’d forgotten all about how many homeowners had a key placed over various doors throughout the house. The possibility hadn’t dawned on me.

“Clever girl. I should punish you.” I wanted nothing more than to drag her across my lap, ripping down the sweatpants and leaving marks across her bottom with a cane. I happened to own one, although it had been left here by the previous homeowners, something that had provided me with hours of amusement when I’d first moved to the oversized cabin.

A few other items had been left as well, but none so provocative as the cane.

“But you won’t.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious. She was right. I wouldn’t right now, but I’d reserve judgment for later. She’d been through enough in the last twenty-four hours to last a lifetime.

“Because you have some decency in you. I know you’ve done some bad things in your past, a period of your life you’re doing everything you can to run from. What you do now until you takeyour last breath is what will shape you and determine whether you end up in heaven or hell.”

“I’ve already signed the papers for a sweet condo in purgatory. I doubt the pearly gates will be open to me no matter if I repent or how often.”

The doctor didn’t try to pull away from my hold, but her eyes were blazing. The woman was challenging me to be a better man. It was too fucking late.

“Who are you running from?”

My laugh sounded bitter and devoid of any emotion. “I’m not running any longer, Doc.”

“That means you don’t care if you live or die.”

Her statement brought the truth into the forefront of my mind. “I wouldn’t give a shit except I have responsibilities.” Why had I allowed the words to spew from my mouth?

I’d further intrigued her, but she chose to leave the comment alone, finally jerking away from me. “See? I told you. You’re a decent man. I hope you realized I had nothing to do with either you or me getting attacked?” She was fiddling with her phone, her expression entirely different. The shift was all about the photograph I’d seen. I was positive of it.

The one with an unknown man, the two of them appearing very much in love. What struck me hard was the lingering jealousy I felt. It was obvious that man was no longer in the picture. Why should I care in the first place? She didn’t belong to me.

But my possessiveness, the need to dominate her was breaching the surface.

“You don’t understand what we’re dealing with. They don’t like loose ends.” I tried to rationalize with her, although I wasn’t certain either one of us was up for a basic conversation. We were far too interested in sparring.

I expected to see fear or apprehension crowding her expression as she began to fully understand the situation. There was neither, merely a return to the hardcore resolve I’d seen from early on.

“Then don’t allow those loose ends to be found. You’re the professional. You can keep us alive. Right?”

“I’m going to do my best.” It was like making a promise to her, one I feared I couldn’t keep. My mind was churning away with possibilities of how my position had been discovered. There was only one possibility and it made me sick to think that way.

“Do more than just your best. Make it happen.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

Her lower lip quivered, but only for a split second. “They won’t stop. Will they?”

“I’m beginning to wonder if you’re right.”

“Don’t let them win, Beckett. We both have lives.”

Exhaling, I nodded to her out of respect. I almost asked her why she even cared except right now, I was her lifeline and we both knew it. “Winning isn’t the object here.”

“Are you so certain?”

---