Page 33 of Seducing Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“And you think I would leave that information lying around on my computer?” he scoffs.

I cock my head to one side. “Well no, not when you put it like that.”

“Be honest. Is that all you were looking for?” Zac presses.

“Quid pro quo—if you want me to be honest, then you need to be.”

Zac steps closer, making me back into Archan even further. “You don’t have control here, Natia. Answer the question.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time for this bullshit, and I didn’t bring any crayons to explain it to you, Zac,” I whisper fiercely.

“Tell us what you’re hiding,” Archan murmurs in my ear; a shiver travels down my spine from his warm breath.

I’ve had enough of this shit. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but I make a conscious decision to stop being scared. He wants to play games? Fine, I’ll play. I step into Archan’s body, ignoring the intense sensations, wrap my hands around his neck, and tilt my head back to stare at his molten gold eyes, which widen in surprise.

Running my fingers through his hair, I pull his head down to me, leaving inches between our mouths. His lips part. “And if I say no?”

“There are ways of breaking you,” he whispers softly.

I laugh a little hysterically. “You’re welcome to try. There’s little you can do that hasn’t already been done to me.”

He smirks, not a pleasant look—one promising pain. “I have an active imagination, Natia, one that is well-versed in breaking people. We can do this the nice way, or not.”

I step back and lift my wrists out to him in mock surrender. “Let’s go.”

He stares at me, and I raise an eyebrow. “No? Then leave me the fuck alone.”

I push his hands off my waist. Using my considerable strength, I try to push through Barney and Zac, but they’re like marble statues.

I huff. “Excuse me, I need the restroom.”

Barney sips his beer and looks down at me. “I’m sure it can wait.”

“Nope, it really can’t,” I say sweetly. Then I use the age-old excuse sure to make every male, regardless of their origins, cringe. “I’m on my period. I need to go to the restroom. Now.”

Zac chuckles—the evil pig. “You’re a grown woman, Natia, not a teenager battling her way out of a difficult math class she can’t be bothered with. And we aren’t fresh-faced twenty-year-old men who blush at the sound of a woman’s private business.”

Correction on my part—it works on all males apart from these insensitive asses.

“You okay, Natia?” Harry says from behind me.

I glance over my shoulder at my knight behind the bar, equipped with a white cloth rather than a sword. “Yeah, Harry—thanks. I was just leaving. Who’s on security tonight?”

“Rob. You need him?” Harry replies as he scrutinizes the dangerous males surrounding me. I pass my eyes over Archan, Zac, Barney, and Nathan.

“Let her go. We don’t want to cause a scene,” Archan mutters.

“That’s okay, just tell him I said hi!” I shout over my shoulder as Zac and Barney separate.

As I’m walking away, Archan proclaims, “You can run, but I will find you. This conversation is not finished.” A crash of power steals my breath, and the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end: a warning.

I scan the bar for my guys, but they’re nowhere to be seen. I walk through the stock room and, needing a crowd as a diversion, pull the fire alarm before exiting out the rear of the building.

Chapter Twelve

Natia

Tauruses bury their anger until they have a big explosion of rage.

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