Page 14 of Dark Desire

“Um.” She paused, glancing toward the hallway.

“I'm not going to hurt you, Riley. Shut the God damn door.”

She pulled it closed and took the seat across from me. Her face reddened with embarrassment as she turned her head and looked away. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“Just what? Think I called you in here because I want to fuck you?” She gasped, her eyes finding mine. I expect to see anger in them, but what I find has my cock straining against my pants. “You’d be right, Riley, but that’s not why I called you in here now. As you know, Megan is still missing. With the risk of something happening to you, I have someone protecting you until we find him. Care to tell me who you were meeting with yesterday?”

“What?” Riley pushed back and stood. “How dare you? What I do on my own time is my business.”

“Yes. You’re right." My gaze travels the length of her body. "But this man kidnapped my brother. He tried to take my sister. If you are here, you’re a target. I was doing what I thought was best." The urge to reach across the desk and pull her across the surface is startling. "You didn’t answer my question. Who were you meeting with?”

She throws her hands up into the air and paced nervously. “This is ridiculous.”

“Just answer the fucking question.” I growl in anger.

“Why? I’m just an employee. It has nothing to do with you or your family.”

“You’re a target, whether you want to be. I need to know if that man you were with is a threat.” Moving around my desk quickly, I back her against the wall. “Riley, you can deny it—but you’re hiding something. I’ve given you space and left you alone, but I meant what I said the other day. If you’re keeping something from me, you will not like the consequence.”

“Look.” Her head tilts, so she's looking me in the eye as she speaks. “I won’t lie to you. This job is important to me, but my private life is just that—private.”

Pressing my palms to the wall, I cage her in, closing the gap between us. “Why are you being so stubborn? You know I can find out who he was, with or without your honesty.”

Her brows knit together as her head shakes in disbelief. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m a powerful man, Riley. Secrets never stay that way forever.”

Riley cocked her head, mulling over my words. “This is nuts.”

Without thinking, I brush my knuckles down her jaw. “I want to trust you. No. I need to trust you.”

Her breath hitches and her eyes dilated as she held my gaze. “Why is that so important to you?”

“Family is everything to me, Riley. Trust is something sacred to me, and I want to share that with you. But I can’t if you continue to hide things from me. It’s dangerous for both of us.”

“He was an old friend of my father’s.” She clutched her stomach as she turned her head away. “My mom told him I was here working, and he just wanted to check in with me.”

“See. Was that so hard?” I take a step back and pause. An uncontrollable urge to take what I want barrels through my system and press my palm against her face. "Riley." Her name comes out as a growl before I slam my mouth over hers.

She stiffens at first, but the moment my tongue brushes against her lip, she lets a moan slip and opens for me. There's something familiar about the way our mouths move in tandem, but before I can question it further, Riley rips her lips from mine and darts under my arm.

“I should get back to work.”

Grabbing her arm before she succeeds in getting out of the office, I halt her steps. “Trust, Riley, is earned. You’d do best to remember that.”

She wretched her arm from my grasp and disappeared down the hall. Leaving me with a thousand questions and a raging hard-on. Despite the kiss clouding my thoughts, I know Riley lied to my face about who she was seeing. And I needed to know why.

Grabbing my phone, I sat down and called Alec. If anyone could find her secret, it was him.

“Alec, I need a favor.”

“What’s up, Boss?” He is always quick to help us with our requests. Alec is an important part of the family dynamic and I'm forever grateful he came home to us in one piece. Even if he came back different, Alec will always be our cousin.

“My new manager is hiding something. I need to know what it is. I know you did a background on her, but something’s missing.”

He mumbles something I don't quite hear. "What did you say?"

He sighs. "Nothing… sorry. I’ll make some calls and see what I can dig up.”

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