Page 36 of Deception & Desire

I should never have agreed to this. I should never have allowed her to put herself in danger, should never have asked her to go looking for more information.

I should have charged the fucking camera for her.

Now, there’s nothing I can do but wait. I think I might go insane.

I swipe up on my phone screen and dial Dante.

“I’ve lost eyes on her,” I bark as soon as he picks up. I hope that the strain in my voice is less apparent down the phone line.

It had been necessary to tell him about the marital arrangement with Mia, although from his subdued reaction, I’d say he already had an idea of what was going on. After all, he did sign the alliance papers.

“Shit,” Teo’s second responds instantly. “I’m not spotting any unusual movement. Rotation of staff has been consistent at this point, but I won’t know if there’s been any disruption to their shift pattern for another…three minutes and twenty seconds.”

“What if she doesn’t have three minutes?”

Dante shuffles on the other end of the line. “What did you last see?”

“Ivan. He’d found her somewhere she shouldn’t have been.”

“Do you think she can handle herself?”

The question dangles in the air between us. I don’t answer, not entirely trusting myself to say something rational.

“Leon. It’s your call. I can go in and get her out, but I need you to be positive that she can’t deal with this on her own.”

If it were anyone else, I’d give them a grace period. That would be the smart thing to do. To trust my men to make the right decisions and only jeopardize the mission as a last resort.

But Mia isn’t just some Prince’s Guild lackey. She’s mywife.

God, the word barely has any significance between us. I have no right to claim it. But right now, I can feel myself curlingaround the word protectively, possessively. I feel like some kind of dragon curling around a precious, sparkling gem.

That one. There, in the stunning black dress and the garter that is slightly too high up her perfect thigh. She’s mine. She’s in danger.

My wife, my wife, my wife.

I shake myself, trying to strangle the thought. “Tell me as soon as the rotation changes.”

It’s the right call. Just not an easy one.

Dante stays on the line while we wait in silence. My eyes never stray from that pulsing dot on my screen.

Then.

“Shift as normal, Leon. No disruption inside.”

The breath I was holding knocks through my ribs as I let it out. “Right.”

“Again, it’s your call, but…”

“Continue to monitor the situation as planned,” I say with a sigh.

“Copy that.” Dante doesn’t immediately hang up as expected. “She’s…a force to be reckoned with. She’ll be fine, Leon.”

I don’t take too much comfort from his words, but I swallow a scolding response all the same. “Update me if anything goes awry.”

I’min the kitchen when the front door opens. The very picture of calm and collected.

If you ignore the fact I’ve been tracking her little dot on my phone for hours now.

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