Page 18 of Heart of Stone (Dark Billionaires)

Hopefully not a literal one. Warren had far too much to say to the man.

“I can’t be around her, Rhys.”

“Do you think I abandoned Aldous like this after his suicide attempt?”

Glaring at his screen, Warren straightened his spine. “It’s not even remotely the same thing.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, his sharp stubble digging into his palm. “I knew her when she was a child, Rhys. I feel…” Warren placed his cards on the table, glancing out of the window towards the koi pond in his garden. “Whenever I look at her, I feel like a predator.”

Rhys crossed his arms. “We’ve met predators; you aren’t one. You’re an adult male attracted to an adult female. There’s nothing predatory there.”

“I did things that I shouldn’t have done.” Things that tastedfantastic.

“Let her be the judge of that.” Buzzing came through Warren’s headphones as Rhys’s phone began to ring. “She’s been asking after you for days. I can see the hurt on her face. Come back. Stop being a fucking coward.”

With that, Rhys ended the call, leaving Warren alone in his living room.

Indecision warred within him. He looked out of the window again—past the koi pond, down the path where Kate had nearly been strangled.

God, the image of her doe eyes, hurt and abandoned…

Swearing under his breath, he closed his laptop

An hour later, he stepped into Rhys’s flat. His heart pounded with the knowledge that Kate lurked in here somewhere. He searched through each room, practising the speech he’d been preparing on the drive over.

He found her where he’d left her; in his old bedroom. The sweet, hypnotising tones of her scent hit him.

Kate lay on the bed, her legs stretched out in front of her, her nose deep in a book. She paused when she caught sight of Warren, her gaze hardening whilst a rosy blush reached her cheeks. “What do you want?”

“To take you out to dinner.” The words left him before he could think them over.

“Why?” she croaked, instantly suspicious. The bruises around her throat had faded over the last few days, he was pleased to see. Her voice was better too.

Warren exhaled a huff, his chest sinking. “Because I’m an arsehole.”

“You are. You left me,” she said hatefully, but Warren could see the insecurity lurking beneath the surface. “You said you wouldn’t.”

“I know. You deserve more than a drunken fumble.”

She closed the book and placed it on the bed next to her. “Why did you leave?”

“Because I’m a fucking idiot.” Warren let his thoughts out. They erupted from him like a shockwave. “Because I feel like a predator whenever I look at you,” he shrugged, slowly approaching the bed and taking a seat. “I never expected to see you again, let alone…” His eyes trailed down to her lips, his heart beating faster.Let alone feel like this around you.“Come to dinner. Please.”

She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. “What about the attempt on your life?”

“We’ll have security, and Brax has been questioning your father about Graves’s whereabouts.”

“Questioning… You mean torturing?” she whispered.

“I mean doing whatever is necessary to ensure your safety. If he needsincentivising, then yes.”

Kate fell silent, twisting her hands in the bedsheets.

“He isn’t an innocent, kitten. You saw the photos. He’s the furthest fucking thing from it.”

“I know.” With a deep breath, she nodded. “Fine. I’ll come.”

Warren couldn’t help the dirty grin that stretched across his face. “Yes, you will.”

“Warren, this isn’t going out to dinner. It’s renting out an entire restaurant.” Kate glanced around her in the restaurant’s private dining room. The walls were inlaid with refrigerated wine racks, displayed to advantage around the single table at which they sat.

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