Page 16 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

ChapterSeven

Ruby

Goosebumps ripple over my skin as Adam removes my coat and flings it over the desk. I scrunch my eyes shut, waiting for the nick of the blade.

“How did you know he chipped me?” I ask, trying to deflect from the nerves fluttering in my stomach.

“I know Vinnie. He likes to know where his assets are at all times. Plus, he probably wanted to know where I’d bring you.”

“Is it activated yet?” I ask.

“He said an hour, yeah? So, any second now. May I?”

“Uh-huh,” I murmur and feel the blade slice into my skin. I hiss, but make no other movement. I am trusting this complete stranger with it, and I have no idea why. For some weird reason, I feel like I can trust him. He has been nothing but open about, well, everything, whereas Vinnie has been the exact opposite.

“Done,” Adam murmurs, almost seductively and then shocks the living daylights out of me by swiping his tongue over the cut he made.

“Jesus,” I mutter. “Don’t.”

“You said we’d be good together, Ruby,” he whispers, taking the tip of the blade and dragging it down my arm at the same time as I hear him drop the chip on the wooden floor and grind it under his heel.

“Please, don’t,” I mutter, turning around to see that his eyes are hooded with a desire that I can’t help but be attracted to.

But there’s looking, and then there’s doing.

“I’m spoken for. Five times over, so back up,” I say in a normal tone.

“Five times,” he splutters, but takes a step back. “Jesus. Room for one more?”

“Ha, you wish,” I mutter, my cheeks going hot. I don’t think my men would be too happy about that. Cillian was one thing, but Adam is a whole other bag.

Isn’t he?

Yes, yes, he is.

“So all of that in the club and the car was a ruse to get here,” he says, looking disappointed but not annoyed. “Why? Why did he send you here?”

“To get Tiff back. What happened there?”

He raises an eyebrow and flicks the blade back down before handing me the knife.

“She is his girlfriend. Or was, I guess. He wouldn’t let her go, practically kept her prisoner. She managed to escape and came to me. We go way back to school…” He shakes his head. “Everything I’ve told you has been the truth. What about you? Any of it?”

“I’ll help you take down Vinnie, and I’ll help you with the Solitaire thing. I’m not interested really, but I will do what I can if you want in. And I appreciate the honesty from you. I’m sorry I was being the opposite of truthful.”

“He’s got something on you?”

“You could say that. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be behind bars by now.”

“Hm. Not a good place to be. In his debt, I mean, not jail, that’s obvious,” he says with a smile.

“You don’t look like the big bad,” I blurt out. “What’s with that?”

He snickers and places his hand on his chest. “What can I say? Looks can be deceiving.”

“Tell me more.”

“That would be bragging,” he points out.

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