Page 72 of Savage Temptation

I was in love with a damn hitman. An enforcer, as he had put it, and the only thing I could think about was the way his lips fit perfectly in mine. The way the heat of his body balanced out the ice in my heart. The way his demons could take my soul to Hell, and I wouldn’t mind the one-way ticket, as long as it was a double.

Him and me.

Me and him.

The rest of it all be damned.

I can’t be in my right mind. A sane person wouldn’t accept this.

Two weeks had passed and he still hadn’t spoken about it, or us. He respected me enough not to push.

I was too wrapped up in labeling myself for not minding who or what he was that I had shut everyone out. And yet nothing I told myself soothed me.

Me: I know.

I texted Alison. Nothing beyond those two words came out, and I was hitting send before I had time to think this through again. I needed to talk to someone who understood. But no one besides her ever could.

She had texted me a few times during the last two weeks, checking in and making sure I was okay. I hadn’t found it in me to reply because I didn’t know exactly how to. My brain was eating away at my conscience, or was it the other way around?

Either way, I had no truthful answer to such a simple question. Soon, my phone buzzed with her reply.

Alison: I know you do. Liam told me. Are you ready to talk about it?

I stared at the screen for a while, debating what I would say, ask, scream. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to verbalize my doubts or concerns, mainly because not even I knew what those were. Maybe Alison could shine a light on all this. After all, she was smack in the center of it all. She would know how to stop it from haunting my conscience.

Me: I think I am. Can we meet for lunch?

Alison: Of course. I’ll wait for you in the lobby at 1.

I exhaled deeply before glancing up at that stupid door, finding it open today, Liam’s eyes boring into me. His lips quirked in a small smile as soon as I caught him staring, and it was enough to melt my soul and blend it with my heart.

I tore away, focusing on the pile of paperwork in front of me, but before I could erase him from my mind, his scent was hitting my senses like a train wreck. Liam was standing in front of my desk, hands buried in his slacks, his hair a disheveled mess, calling for my fingers to tame it back into place.

He wore that dire expression that turned my resolve into a pile of sand, green eyes slashing at my will like sharp knives. I tried to turn down the pace of my racing heart by painting his hands in crimson, splattering his shiny shoes with blood and his white shirt with sin.

Nothing. Not even the faintest of fears ran through my body. My pulse steady in its gallop as it always was when Liam was close.

Again, not fear, something else that pulled at the strings in my chest like a helpless puppet in the hands of its master. Him, the thief of hearts who had mine caged for life, standing right in front of me.

My breath hitched in my chest as my hands gripped the armrests of my chair. Liam’s gaze hardened as he noticed, his eyes averting from mine in reprieve.

“Umm…” Liam cleared his throat, his eyes still stuck on the desk between us, “Our monthly meeting with Verten was canceled. They’ll be hosting their annual fundraiser this weekend. It’s in LA. We’ve both been invited. I understand there’s a faint possibility you might even consider going, but let me know if you do.”

Yes was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t budge. Liam stood there for a couple of seconds, waiting for an answer as he intently watched my white-knuckled grip before turning those eyes to my face. They followed the lump I swallowed, my lips still sealed with my reticence.

Somehow it felt my answer was about a lot more than just this trip, and before talking to Alison, I wasn’t ready to take that plunge just yet.

A sharp exhale left Liam’s nose as he turned his back to me and walked back to his office, shutting the door behind him.

Whatever he read in my reaction hurt him, I saw it in his eyes. That look gutted me, but I needed my ducks to be in a neat row before I could move on.

I ran down and paced the lobby until Alison arrived, mentally going through what I thought our conversation would go like, drawing a blank as soon as I saw her coming out of the elevator.

We walked in silence to a nearby diner, taking a seat in the most secluded booth available.

“Spit it out.” Alison said, breaking the ice with a sledgehammer.

“I… How?” That was the only thing that came out.

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