She opens her eyes and turns her head slowly toward me. “That was you? You saved me?”
“Yes, I saved you… and the baby. I knew the moment you walked out of that clinic in a daze that you were carrying my child. I can’t tell you how happy that made me.”
Her lips tremble as her eyebrows squeeze together. “My child will never know his grandfather because of you. Does that make you happy?”
I shake my head, trying not to allow my emotions to get the best of me. “Alex, please hear me out.”
“Only if you loosen my restraints. I’m very uncomfortable.”
“You know I cannot do that.”
She turns her gaze toward the ceiling and lets out a long sigh as tears stream down her temples. “Please, Daimon. Please let me go. I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll listen to your side of the story. Please don’t make me talk to you like this. It’s humiliating.”
My stomach clenches at the sight of her pleading, but it’s just a gut reaction. I’m not stupid. I know Alex is putting on a show for me. She’s a great actress. I learned that the hard way at the masquerade ball. And I’m an excellent student. I have no desire to learn that lesson twice.
I reach toward her face and this time she allows me to touch her. I brush the tears from her skin with the back of my fingers and she nuzzles her cheek against my hand. Part of me knows she’s pretending, but another part of me knows she’s craved my touch. I saw her touching herself and imagining it was my hands on her; my cock inside her.
Pulling my hand back, I try to ignore the hurt expression in her eyes. “Alex, listen to me. Your mother and father were extorting the princess.” She rolls her eyes and turns away, realizing I’m not giving into her wily attempts to persuade me. I ignore her show of frustration and continue. “Your biological mother, Princess Amica, gave birth to you at their estate in Beverly Hills with the help of a midwife.” When Alex hears the word midwife, she perks up a little. She can see where this is going. “Amica did not want you when she became aware of your condition. She asked the midwife, Lisa Carmichael, to drop you off at a hospital where you would be safe.”
“You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to lie to you, Alex. Remember, I was sent to kill you. You are only alive because of me. I would not have kept you alive if you had not worked your way under my skin.” She closes her eyes as I stroke her cheek. “If you had not become a part of me, I wouldn’t be here, laying everything on the line for you.”
I trace the curve of her face down over her jaw and to her neck. She draws in a sharp breath as my fingertips move over her collar bone and down to the center of her chest. She probably doesn’t even realize how her back is arched upward, seeking my touch.
I lift my fingers from her chest and lay my hand on her cheek, then I lean forward and kiss her forehead. Her body relaxes and I sit up, gently laying my hand on her abdomen. I imagine my child can feel the warmth of my hand as I finish telling my side of the story.
“I was sent to get rid of you. The princess did not wish to be extorted any longer. She didn’t want the prospect of her dirty secret being made public by your parents. She could kill your parents or she could make you disappear. Taking into consideration your father’s military background, you were the easier target.”
Alex narrows her eyes at me. “When were you hired?”
“In January.”
“Four months ago?”
“Yes. I was given explicit instructions not to investigate your parents or your history. I was supposed to investigate your daily routine to determine the best way to get to you. But something didn’t feel right.”
I run my hand over her abdomen and up to her ribs. Her back arches slightly toward my touch, wanting more. Stopping just short of her breast, I can feel her holding her breath.
“Please stop,” she whispers breathlessly.
“I’ll never stop.” I move my hand up, cupping her breast through the fabric of her camisole. “Not until you’re mine. Not until you’ve forgiven me.”
I squeeze her breast and her hips curl upward. She wants to be fucked. I let go of her succulent flesh and move my hand down to her abdomen so I can continue.
“I knew I would not be able to get to you with your father watching every move you made. So I made a plan to confine your parents in the very basement where they had kept you. But I miscalculated your father’s strength and agility. I should not have tried to restrain him on my own. He fought with me in the basement until he got away and escaped in my Mercedes.
“I knew the only way to lure him out of hiding was to threaten you. As expected, when I began following you on Hope Street, he pulled up next to me and attempted to shoot me. But I shot him first, with a tranquilizer gun. I got into the car and immediately drove your father through the gas station and around the corner to a second location where his body was switched with that of a sexual predator my buddies and I had been investigating. His life had no value to anyone. He was an easy kill. I drove his body back to the gas station and called it in to the police department.”
“And my father? What did you do to him?”
I swallow hard. “Unfortunately, your father woke from the tranquilizer before I had a chance to restrain him in the basement. He fought once again and I had to shoot him in self-defense.”
“You’re lying!”
“I have no reason to lie to you, Alex!” I shout, losing my patience. “You know what else I did? I engineered the attack on Hope Street where you were stabbed.”
Her jaw clenches with anger, but her eyes are locked on me. “What? What are you talking about?”
“I needed to gain your trust so I could get close to you. You trusted no one. But I had a strong feeling you would put your trust in me. I took a chance and orchestrated the attack so I could offer you my help. And it worked.”
“Why? Just to get close to me? To kill me?”
“To get to know you.” I look her in the eye and her gaze softens. “I told you before. I needed to know why the princess wanted you dead. It was the moment I traced the curve of your lips that I realized you could be related to the princess. That’s why I left your apartment in a hurry. I stole some hair from your hairbrush on the way out and you didn’t hear from me for over a week as I had it tested against a sample I procured from the princess. They were a match. And that’s when I knew I couldn’t kill you. Because you posed no threat to anyone except the princess’s reputation.”
“I… I don’t know what to believe.”
I lean forward and kiss the tears as they slide down her temple. “Please, chérie. I would never lie to you. I love you.”
I pull my head back to look her in the eye. She opens her mouth to respond when she’s interrupted by the distinct sound of two muffled gunshots.
Chapter Two Daimon
“Stay here,” I whisper to Alex and she glares at me.
“Not funny!”
I leave her securely tied to the bed as I head toward the back door, which leads onto Alex’s overgrown backyard. I pull aside the curtain covering the window in the door and glimpse Crow standing in the knee-high weeds, his gun pointed toward the neighbor’s backyard.
I yank the door open and I’m not surprised to see Alex’s next door neighbors, Ignacio and Noemia, lying dead in their garden. “You idiot!” I shout at Crow. “I can’t leave you alone for one fucking hour!”
“They were getting nosy!” Crow shouts, his nostrils flaring and his dark skin gleaming in the moonlight. “They knew something was going on. They asked me where Alex was!”
“You should have told them she was inside the house. They would have accepted that. You didn’t have to kill them!”
“How about a little fucking gratitude? I just drugged that fucking bounty hunter for you! And how about you tell me what the fuck you’re planning to do with her?”