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“Ari?” Ahts I opened my eyes and turned my head to eye him curiously “I wouldn’t leave you here if I didn’t think it was safe Not for a heartbeat”

The corner of my mouth lifted So, I’d won over the stoic And he probably felt as uilt as Dane that he hadn’t protected me from Vale’s devious plot

“I know I’ry, destroyed … he wouldn’t take it out on me I knew that to the depths of my soul

I unbuckled and slid fro breaths Then I said, “Thanks, Amano”

“Dane’s not all right with this, either,” he finally admitted

I nodded “I’m not sure we ever will be” I moved past him and walked the stone path

Dane had propped his shoulder against the doorframe while I’d debated my course of action He watched me approach, an unreadable expression on his devilishly handsome face

My heart wrenched Everything about hinet-and-steel effect that had drawnI drank in his tall, sculpted form, hypnotized by every inch of him

Yet a hint of caution trickled downThat he wasn’t your everyday, ordinary erous world He was soht to keep it

I couldn’t dispute that he deserved to be able to fight for what he’d built What he’d earned After all, I’d been appalled for him when I’d learned the extricated investors noanted to capitalize on all of Dane’s hard work His dream

But there were some extremes I couldn’t accept, couldn’t live with

Perhaps that hy I was here To find out if I held enough power over him to draw a line in the sand and demand he not cross it Ever

Risky business, definitely

My pulse raced at the sight of him, but my stomach churned at the prospect of what I wanted And the very real possibility that this ht be the last time I saw him

I could barely breathe by the ti in the Escalade Things snapped and sizzled inside me, a combination of apprehension and sheer excite just two feet away