Page 110 of Diamond Angel

“Ilarion is…different.”

He does a double-take. “And you know this…how?” he questions. “According to Celine, you haven’t been around for years.”

“I just do, okay?” I say defensively. “Ilarion may be a mob boss, but he’s not the kind of man who would hurt Celine just because she fell for someone else.”

Ashton’s frown is undeniably pitying. “You’re underestimating his brutality.”

“You don’t know him like I do. I understand you need to hate him, but—"

“There is no ‘but,’ Taylor.” Ashton’s right hand balls into a fist. “It is what it is. And as much as I hate to admit it, the truth is, I can’t protect her the way that he can. The proof is in the pudding, as they say.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The attempts on Celine’s life stopped right after she moved back in with Ilarion. At least that’s what she told me. I met her about two years after it all happened.”

“It sounds like he’s just looking out for her.”

What am I doing?

What am I saying?

Who am I defending, and why?

He shrugs. “I wouldn’t know. She refuses to discuss her marriage with me. Anyway, I should go. Probably best you forget everything I just told you.”

“Forgotten,” I say at once.

Ashton nods gratefully. “I’m glad you’re here, Taylor,” he remarks just before he turns back into the foyer. “She’s always seemed so lonely. It’ll be good for her to have someone she can talk to.”

There’s only one problem with that: she doesn’t talk to me. And it’s looking a lot like she doesn’t talk to anyone else, either.

It’s almost like everything I did to make sure she would be happy has backfired.Badly.

It’s almost as if Ilarion was right.

44

ILARION

I’m barely listening to Dima’s briefing when I happen to look out my window.

Outside, Taylor is pacing back and forth with the savage gait of a caged animal. She’s got a whole expanse of garden laid before her, but she keeps crossing the same four feet of space.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

She’s wearing denim shorts that put her slender legs on display and a soft white blouse with loose sleeves billowing around her arms. Every time she turns, I see a tantalizing inch of her taut, flat belly.

Fuck, does that do something to me. Considering how long it’s been since I’ve been inside a woman, I’m surprised that I don’t come in my fucking pants just watching her.

“Yo, man, are you even listening to me?”

Her hair is loose, flying wildly around her head, veiling her features from view. At one point, her arm rises as though she’s having a passionate conversation with someone. Except there’s no one around, as far as I can see.

“Ilarion!”

It’s only when Dima’s hand slices through my field of vision that I wrench my gaze back to him. But now, he’s examining the view outside my window. “Ah,” he says the moment he sees Taylor pacing. “Well, that makes sense. What’s going on out there?”

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