Page 28 of King of Temptation

She turned on her heel to stomp away, but then he called her name and despite the anger, the hurt pulsing through her veins with every beat of her bruised and battered heart, she stopped. “What?”

“I’m sorry.”

Of all the things he could have said to her just then, she didn’t think anything would have shocked her more than those two simple words. Slowly, she turned back to face him. “What are you sorry for, exactly?”

“Abandoning you. Aria read me the riot act yesterday and I realized she was right. I’m not sorry for spanking you, because you were warned what would happen if you kept stalking me and my family. But I am sorry that I couldn’t be there for you after, the way you deserved.”

Some of the anger ebbed, though the hurt still lingered. “You said ‘couldn’t’ be there. Like something was preventing you from showing up the way you should have. What do you mean?”

An emotion that looked almost like grief flickered in his dark eyes. “I’m never going to be what you need, Goldie. So the sooner you accept that and keep your distance, the better.”

“I swear to god you’re the fucking king of mixed signals. You want me to stay away, but here you are, crashing my morning coffee date and making sexy innuendos and insisting on walking me home. It’s not fair.”

She’d wanted to sound defiant. Furious. Indignant.

But her voice caught on that last sentence and to her horror, tears filled her eyes. Tears that weren’t at all helped by the regret she could see all over his face.

“You’re right. It’s not fair, and I’m sorry for that too. Which is why it’s best for everyone if you stay away from anyone with the last name of O’Rourke.”

She should. Not just because they were dangerous criminals, but because Brody O’Rourke in particular was proving to be very dangerous for her heart.

But god she was so fucking sick of being the good girl. Of always making the right decisions, never wanting to make waves.

“Or what?”

His eyes narrowed, and her stomach fluttered at the warning in that piercing gaze. “Don’t test me, menace.”

“Or what?” she repeated, ignoring the pounding of her own heart as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

“You already know what happens to naughty girls who don’t do as they’re told. And if I have to show you again, I can promise this time it won’t end with you screaming for Daddy while you come all over my hand.”

Stepping back, he jerked his head toward her apartment building. “Go home, menace. And keep your adventures in your books where they belong.”

Chapter 10

Brody

The memory of Goldie’s wounded expression, the way her voice had tripped when she’d told him it wasn’t fair for him to keep sending her mixed signals, stayed with him all the way to Killian’s.

Because she was right. It wasn’t fair, and he should have stuck with his original plan to keep an eye on her from a distance instead of letting Aria convince him he needed to check in with her. Everything was going just fine before his cousin’s wife had gotten involved.

Right. Keep telling yourself that, O’Rourke.

Between that and the issue with his credit card, his mood continued to darken as he drove, and by the time he parked his car at the bottom of the stairs leading up to Killian’s front door, it was positively black.

And finding Killian’s office occupied not only by the man himself, but Reagan and Aria as well, did nothing to alleviate the dark cloud over his head.

“We need to talk. Alone.”

Reagan, regal as ever, raised a dark brow in a perfect imitation of her brother. “Anything you need to say to Killian can be said to me and Aria.”

Twisting around, Aria jerked her chin up in defiance. “Exactly. And you—oh! Did you go to Rev and Roll?”

“Yes. Killian mentioned you wanted to try the other Purgatory Rolls.”

Eyes lighting with greed, she took the box from him and opened it. “Oh, man, these look delicious. Hmm, chocolate or lemon first?”

Chuckling at his wife’s exuberance, Killian reached beneath his desk for the button Brody knew would summon one of his many quiet, efficient staff members. “Why don’t I have someone come get the box and cut you off a small slice of each so you can try them all?”