Page 171 of Tempting Little Thief

I lick my lips, speaking slowly. “Brought… Boston back?” My head snaps from her to him. “What do you mean, youbroughtBoston back?” I study him a moment as I try and make sense of some of this. “You knew all along he wasn’t on his way, but you wanted to draw him out. That’s what the yacht dinner was about, kill two birds with one stone. Give the Henshaws a little to hold on to and hope someone runs back to Enzo, mistaking me for her. When that didn’t get him here, you tried again by bringing Boston to the gala. That way, we would both be seen and there was no question one of us was her.” I shake my head again. “Dad, what the hell?! What’s the point of any of that if he knew she was here anyway?”

“He knew she was here, yes.” He nods. “Permission was granted from him, as reluctant as it might have been, and only because he had a business situation come up that called him away.”

“A business situation?” I snap, my eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”

“It doesn’t matter. The why is irrelevant.”

My breath comes in short puffs and all I can do is hope he keeps talking, but hope has been a real bitch to me lately, so I hold my breath instead.

He’s silent for a long time, and when he speaks again, his voice is void of emotion, his expression completely blank. “Something you must understand, Rocklin, is it was never my intention to marry Boston off to Enzo Fikile.”

I blink at him. “I don’t get it.”

“Your sister is not strong enough and she will not be taking over Revenaw dealings.” He speaks as if she’s not right here.

She’s tucked into herself, not speaking, but sheishere.

And even though I’ve claimed otherwise myself, she is strong. Her strength is just … different.

My eyes cut her way quickly, but I focus on him. “Why are we talking about this now when we have a separate issue to deal with? And what does her not taking over, which we openly discussed years ago, have to do with merging our families and growing our reach, doubling our strength in allies with the Fikile empire?”

“It leaves an opening.”

A humorless laugh leaves me; this conversation is a whole lot of info, yetnoinfo at all. “What opening? Stop talking in senseless riddles and tell me what’s going on! Whatopening?!”

“The one at your side.”

I suck in a sharp breath, distress shooting through me like it was injected into my veins.

“Who was that on the phone, Dad?” I ask, but he acts as if I haven’t spoken.

He watches me closely, and then he says, “Enzo is the boss in his world. If he marries Boston, he becomes the king of ours.”

No, he doesn’t.

No, he does not.

Does he?

Beads of sweat build along my neck and I’m frozen in place, unable to move.

My father leans into my space, bringing us eye to eye. “A king requires a queen.”

I knew I wasn’t the queen, but I didn’t know I was the pawn until it was too late …

The pawn for the queen …

I cannot leave you in this world unprotected …

When the time comes, you will do as you must …

The Henshaw threat, our family being watched, and this mysterious secret that hangs over us. My dad feels he’s being backed into a corner and he thinks he’s found the perfect way out.

“Dad … who was on the phone?”

“When he comes for her, he will have to come to me. When he comes to me … I will give him you instead.”

What.

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