“No, he’s really not. Come on.”
Julia turned and pushed the door into the private dining room open.
Danny and two of his guys sat at a large, circular table with only one other seat. She knew Danny meant to squeeze her out, that they didn’t want her here, but until someone put a gun to her head they were going to have to play ball with her as they had been since her late-husband’s death.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, boys.” Julia slid into the empty seat, giving Vito no other option than to remain standing at her back like some sort of guard dog. If he was lucky, she’d throw him a treat even.
“Julia, didn’t know you were joining us.” Danny sat back, his gaze flicking up to Vito and back.
“I managed to squeeze it in. Now, excuse me if I skip the formalities and get down to it. We have a honeymoon to plan.” To Seattle, where Julia could do something about Taylor. If Ciro could find her and apply the right pressure, they could make this whole thing work.
Vito pulled the tablet out of Julia’s satchel and presented it to her. At least he had manners to make up for having to look at him right now.
She launched into an explanation of the newly thrown together sheets. The root information was all correct, but how she got there was a lot of magic and number crunching. She breezed through profit margins, cost cutting efforts and the manpower needed to get her there. Danny and the rest listened without question or comment.
“And that’s about it.” She finished with a wave of her hand.
“This is all very interesting.” Danny peered at the tablet. Despite his words, Danny didn’t seem convinced by her presentation. Why? Because she lacked a prick? “What about Taylor? Have you found her?”
“Uh, no.” Julia peered up at Vito. “You haven’t heard from her, have you, darling?”
“No, not in weeks,” he said, just like they’d practiced.
“I’m very interested in speaking with her.” Danny pushed to his feet. “Vito, a word?”
“Yes, sir.”
Julia pushed to her feet, taking easy, measured breaths. They were still going to shut her out. After all the evidence that she was the one running things, they still wanted Vito’s input over hers.
God damn it.
She glared at Vito’s broad shoulders.
“I’ll drop your husband back by your house, Julia. Wouldn’t want you to have to wait on us.”
“That’s very kind of you,” she managed to say with a smile.
She stood there, watching her future walk away from her.
Julia hefted one of the water glasses, tossing it at the wall. It shattered into a million pieces.
She’d given her life to the family, to making a profit and a place for herself. She would not be overshadowed by two people who didn’t even want this place at the table.
Let them talk to Vito all they wanted. He didn’t have the balls to run the business like she did, and Taylor would burn them all to the ground if she were given half a chance.
They were officially at drastic measures.
Ian might have slept through the afternoon, evening and night if it weren’t for his stomach. The light piercing the curtains was dim, and there was more activity out on the walk. Late afternoon? People coming home? That would mean they’d slept—what? Six hours?
Taylor lay facing him, one hand tucked under her cheek, her dark hair spread out over the pillows. At some point, one of them must have snagged the extra blanket across the foot of the bed. She had it clutched to her chest. Every so often, her lips moved as if she were speaking.
What did she dream about?
Hopefully, not nightmares. He couldn’t begin to imagine the horrors she’d lived through, even if she was simply on the fringes.
The kind of strength it took to come through all that evil and still be, at her core, a good person, was remarkable. By all rights, Taylor should have grown up to be what her environment sculpted her to be. Instead, she was true to her nature, not her nurture.
He loved her.
It was a weird thing to be in love with someone. He hadn’t realized he was on the journey to begin with. He’d simply blinked, and it was love.
She was his type, to a point. He liked confident women who didn’t need him. Taylor had confidence in spades and never failed to inform him how un-needed he was. And yet...he kept coming back. Again and again.
He wanted her to...not need him. He wanted to watch her back. Support her. She wasn’t the kind of woman to need saving. She’d resent that a whole hell of a lot. He wanted...to walk beside her. To steady her. To be there to reload her gun, if it came to that.
Did she know how to shoot?
That was a question he’d need to ask her, later. If things came to that, if danger knocked on the wrong door, he wanted to make sure both of them were prepared to defend themselves.
Maybe that was it.
She was a partner. If he was walking toward something big and bad, he’d want her by his side, not behind him or in front of him. Shoulder to shoulder, in step, hand in hand. Together.
Life was such a funny thing.
He’d always been opposed to relationships. He was the first one to point out why something wouldn’t work, and now, here he was, ready to go up against one of the world’s oldest crime organizations to prove just how in it he was. For her.
Taylor.
And it didn’t shake him one bit. It was as if it was always going to be her. As though everything from Chloe falling for the wrong man, coming to the States, Ian following his twin, landing in Seattle, getting hired by Aegis, all if it was leading him to this moment with this woman.
Why fight it?
Why worry about how he got here?
They had bigger fish to catch before he could worry about what came next. Keeping Taylor alive was all that mattered.
Her brow creased and she shook her head, lips still moving. A lock of hair swept over her forehead to lie across her face.
Whatever dream she was having, it wasn’t a good one.
“Taylor? Hey.” Ian reached over, tucking the hair behind her ear.
She sucked in a breath and swatted his hand away before her eyes were even open.
“It’s just me.” He held up his palm.
Taylor blinked at him and then the room.
“You were dreamin’.” He laid his hand against her waist, stroking her side.
“Dreaming. Right.” She rubbed at her face. “What time is it?”
“Don’t know. Late afternoon?”
“I didn’t mean to sleep that long.”
“Got a hot date?” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes and shoved more of the pillow under her head.
“What were you dreamin’ about?” He draped his arm over her waist, tugging her a little closer.
“Nothing.”
He didn’t call her on it. They both knew she’d been reliving some dark chapter, but she didn’t want to share that with him. Or maybe she didn’t want to burden him more. Whatever her reasons, he hoped he could wear her down.
“It wasn’t...any one time. It was sort of like...my personal highlights, or maybe low points? I was arguing with my dad. Not, George-dad. Dad-dad. Though, I guess he’s not really my dad either.”
“It takes more than a well-timed ejaculation to make someone a father.”
“What?” Taylor sputtered a laugh.
“Just somethin’ I tell Chloe.”
“A well-timed ejaculation. I’ll have to remember that one.” A smile curled her lips, chasing the shadows from her eyes. “How is your sister?”
“Good, last I talked to her.”
“She probably misses having you around.”
“Like she misses a boil on her ass.”
“Whatever.”
“You can’t get rid of me by talkin’ about my twin.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You’ve been tryin’ to get rid of me since we ran into each other in the kitchen.”
; “Not true. I just...you have a life. You should get back to it at some point.” She stared at his chest, smoothing out wrinkles in his shirt that just popped back up somewhere else.
“This is my life. You’re part of it now.”
“You shouldn’t be part of this though. You have people who love you to think about.”
He took her hand in his, lifting it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles to keep from saying what he wanted.
“I’m right where I need to be,” he said instead.
“Someone has tried to kill me twice in the last two days. What if they come back? What if they kill you instead? I don’t know if I can live with that.”
“An’ I don’t think I could walk away now.” He studied her downturned face, the way the waning light glinted blue off her hair. “I’ve always believed in doin’ the right thing. Sometimes it gets me into trouble, but I never regret doin’ it.”
“So, am I the right thing this time?” She peered up at him, her lips pressed together in a thin line.
“I believe that you’re an innocent in this. At worst, a victim of circumstance, and yet you’ve taken all the shit thrown your way and done somethin’ about it. Not everyone’s that strong. I admire that about you.”
He ran the back of his fingers along her cheek and jaw. She stared at his chest once more. The fear had slipped into her gaze again. Was that for him? Or her?
What was the right thing to do here?
18.
Ian had feelings for Taylor. He was pretty damn sure she felt something for him, too. If she didn’t, why was she so concerned about getting him away from her? She was the kind of person who’d go to the ends of the earth to protect those she cared about. Look at what she’d done already.
Telling her he was falling in love with her was a bad idea.
Taylor was the type to run from emotions. It was one of the reasons she’d slipped out on him as soon as he’d passed out that night after the bar. He’d seen the depth of her fear, and she’d distracted him with her body. This time around, he wasn’t drunk off his ass, and he wouldn’t let her get away again. She saw herself as some sort of solitary fortress, always alone. He’d have to tread carefully with her. He was beginning to see her as part of his life beyond this mess.
Delilah would love her.
Chloe would get on well with her. They’d be like sisters, giving him hell.
And Stacey was here.
It was a recipe for a reason to put down roots, right here.
“Taylor?”
“Hm?”
“Look at me?” He pulled her closer still, until their legs bumped and their upper bodies pressed against each other.
She met his gaze, wariness etched into her brow, the crease between her eyes.
“We’re goin’ to get through this. Trust me. Tali will go over the files. Owen will come take your statement. You can trust him. After that, we can get in touch with someone in the FBI that’ll fight for you. You’re goin’ to bring the house down on your stepmum.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Many hands make light work.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because it’s the right thin’ to do, an’ I want to keep you safe. I care about you, Taylor.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“But I do.”
Her lips turned down and she picked at a bit of lint on the comforter under them. She didn’t like hearing the truth that someone cared for her. Why? Because they wound up dead or leaving her when things got tough? Well, he was made of stronger stuff. He wasn’t just anyone. He was Ian fucking Kelly and he’d spent his life hunting down the bad guys, be it for the UN, his country or an individual paying the right price. He wasn’t scared and he knew how to get the job done the right way.
“If you’re worried about me, don’t.” He tugged on her hair. “I can handle myself.”
“I know, but...” She sighed and rubbed her face.
“But you want to—what? Keep me safe? I think you take on too much of the burden, Taylor. You don’t want people to care about you, but you’re willin’ to shoulder the weight of the world to keep others from gettin’ hurt. You do the right thing even when it’s not in your best interest.”
“Isn’t that the pot, calling the kettle black?” She studied his face, her expression unreadable.
“Maybe.”
“If I asked you to leave, to stay away from me, would you?”
“No.”
“You know Julia’s going to send someone else after me?”
“That seems like the obvious move, yeah.”
“They might kill you.”
“They won’t kill me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but I refuse to run from things that might happen. Besides, Chloe knows good and well that what I do is dangerous. There’s no guarantee I’ll come back from any job. Just last year, I did a gig for a friend. Real dangerous shit. We all nearly died, but that’s part of a day’s work.”
“What are you? The Irish Superman?”
“Maybe.”
Taylor chuckled and patted his chest. He covered her hand with his, flattening it over his heart. He couldn’t deny that when she smiled or laughed it did something to his insides.
“I want to take you for a proper pint when this is over. Just one. Two, and who knows what you’ll do.”
“Oh, God.” She turned her face into the pillow. Remembering a rather eventful episode in the bathroom, maybe?
He pulled her to him, pressing their bodies together and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He wanted a dozen lazy days spent in bed, just talking and making love. No death or doom hanging over their heads. Just them. Like this. Easy. Comfortable. Free. When this was over, he’d do everything in his power to make that happen. But first, Tali needed time to audit the files, and Taylor had to make a statement to the police, then the feds, which would take more time as her story was verified and researched.
Time.
He needed to make use of it, in a way that would further his cause with Taylor.
Ian nuzzled her cheek, finding her skin under all that midnight hair. He kissed her jaw then her chin.
Taylor turned her face up. He pushed her hair off her face. He didn’t need the light to see her, he’d committed every mole, smile line and freckle to memory.
“Please, leave?” she whispered.
“No.” He didn’t have to think about that answer one bit. They were so close, he could get lost in the inky darkness of her eyes. “Why would I do somethin’ like that?”
“Because...”
“That’s not a reason, Taylor. It’s one thing to be worried about people, but pushin’ them away like you do? It helps no one.”
“I don’t push people away.”
“Sure you do. Right now, you’re holdin’ on to me as you ask me to leave.”
Taylor pulled her arm back to her chest.
“It’s just...everyone leaves,” she whispered. “You think you know how bad it can get, but it’s worse. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“And you don’t really know me, if you think I’m scared of a few tough guys.”
“It’s more than a few. You don’t know my stepmother. She’s cruel. Crazy.”
“I’m willin’ to bet I’ve met her kind before.” He stroked her back. “Let’s make a bet.”
“What?” Taylor blinked at him, her expression hard to read in the near darkness.
“If, after all this is said and done, I’m still around, you’ll agree to spend a whole weekend naked in bed with me.” He grinned. He didn’t have to see her to know she was rolling her eyes. “If I lose, I swear to you I’ll sign a contract to be Stacey’s personal protector until she turns eighteen.”
“What? Why?”
“Because if I fail you, and you’re gone, someone will need to look after her.”
“I try not to think about that.”
“Now you won’t have t
o.”
Taylor rolled toward him, burying her face against his chest. Yeah, maybe bringing Stacey into it was a low blow, but he knew what it was like to have a small, innocent life dependent on him. Knowing Taylor was Stacey’s half-sister changed things. It made her choices clearer.
Ian kissed the top of Taylor’s head and stroked his hand over her hair. Wild and curly like this, it sprang from his fingers, coiling around her head in a cloud.
Taylor tilted her face up, staring at him in the fading light of day.
What did she see when she looked at him? Did she feel anything?
He did.
Fear.
He could lose her. She could slip out when he was in the bathroom. There were easily a dozen ways she could leave him behind. It was entirely possible he was off his rocker, seeing love where there was none.
Taylor stretched toward him, pressing her mouth to his. Her lips worked against his, her tongue teasing. He cupped the back of her head, losing himself in her, the eagerness of her kiss.
It wasn’t just him, was it?
She nipped his lip, then eased the sharp sting with her tongue.
Thought ceased as the blood left his head, going lower.
Every damn time she kissed him, it was as if the world stopped and nothing else mattered, except experiencing the feel of her mouth, the taste of her lips. He’d never kissed another woman like her, one who poured everything, all of herself, into one act. It was in the way her mouth moved against his, how she held onto him, the press of their bodies.
That first night, he hadn’t just been buzzed from a few too many pints, it’d been because of her. He’d been high off the way they were together.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him down to deepen the kiss. Her body undulated against his. He gripped her hip, sliding his palm around to cup her ass. Damn, they needed fewer clothes. He could feel the heat of her through his jeans and boxers. It was all too easy to recall just how she fit him.
Taylor pulled on his hair and rolled, taking him with her unless he wanted to lose a handful of hair.
He straddled her thighs, bracing his weight on his forearms. She hooked her knee over his hip, bringing him down closer, grinding against him.
Damn, but there was something to be said for a woman who knew what she wanted.
Alpha Prince (Twisted Royals, #1) Page 17
