Page 24 of Taken By the Outlaw

I shoot him a warning glance, but there's no real heat behind it. He's earned the right to speak his mind. "Careful."

He shrugs, unintimidated. "Just an observation. She's good for you, Clark. Crew's noticed."

I turn my attention back to Emilia, watching as she tastes something from a spoon, nodding in approval. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means you're less of a miserable bastard since she's been here." He says it casually, but I hear the underlying seriousness. "More focused. More balanced."

I don't bother denying it. Mick knows me too well. "She's special."

"No shit." He leans against the wall beside me. "So what's the plan? Now that the diamonds are moved and the heat's died down."

The diamond exchange went through smoothly last night—three million in stones transferred to our buyer, cash now safely distributed among the crew with the club taking its substantial cut. The official justification for keeping Emilia—ensuring her silence about the heist—no longer applies.

"What makes you think there's a change of plans?" I ask, eyes still fixed on her as she reaches past Cruz for something, comfortable in her movements, in her place here.

"Because you're not an idiot," Mick replies bluntly. "She has a life out there. Family. Job. People who'll eventually come looking harder than a couple of texts can explain away."

He's right, of course. We've managed to keep her disappearance below law enforcement radar through carefully worded messages to her family, but that won't work forever. Eventually, someone will report her missing. Eventually, questions will be asked.

"I'm keeping her," I say simply.

Mick sighs. "Figured as much. You gonna give her a choice this time?"

The question hits harder than he probably intended. Have I given Emilia choices? I took her freedom, her virginity, her autonomy. I've kept her prisoner, threatened her, manipulated her. But I've also protected her, pleasured her, shown her parts of herself she never knew existed.

"She's already chosen," I say, thinking of her surrender in my arms, her whispered confession of belonging to me.

"If you say so." Mick pushes off from the wall. "Just remember—a caged bird might sing pretty, but it's never really yours."

He walks away, leaving me with thoughts I'd rather not examine too closely. Is that what I've done? Caged Emilia? Forced her to adapt, to survive, to please me because she has no alternative?

She chooses that moment to look up, her eyes finding mine across the room as if she sensed my scrutiny. Her face brightens, a smile curving her lips that's meant only for me. Something shifts in my chest—a warmth that spreads outward, both comfortable and terrifying in its intensity.

This isn't just possession anymore. It's not just obsession or lust or the thrill of claiming someone so pure. This is something I've spent my life avoiding, something I never thought I'd feel, something I'm not sure I deserve.

I'm falling in love with her.

The realization stops me cold. Love isn't part of my world, has never been part of my calculations. Love is vulnerability. Love is weakness. Love is giving someone the power to destroy you.

Yet here I am, watching a librarian chop vegetables in my kitchen, feeling like she's got her hand wrapped around my heart.

I push off from the doorframe, decision made. She glances up again as I approach, that smile widening, her eyes warming in a way that makes my blood heat.

"Need something?" she asks, her voice soft, intimate despite our audience.

"You," I reply, taking her hand. "Now."

Cruz and Dex exchange knowing looks but say nothing as I lead Emilia from the kitchen. She comes willingly, fingers laced with mine, a slight flush coloring her cheeks.

"What about dinner?" she asks as we move through the hallway toward our room.

"It can wait." I open the door, pulling her inside, shutting the world out. Then I just look at her, really look at her—the woman who's turned my life upside down in less than a week.

She tilts her head, confusion crossing her features. "Clark? Is everything okay?"

No. Nothing's okay. Everything's changed. I've changed, in ways I never thought possible.

"The diamonds are gone," I tell her, watching her face closely. "The job's done. The reason I gave for keeping you here no longer exists."

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