Page 42 of King of Temptation

“The kind that hopefully leads to the arrest of the bastard who did this to you.”

“It’s not like that.” She’d wanted the words to come out strong, bold. Instead they were little more than a whisper.

“Then tell me what it’s like.” Leaning forward, her father laid his hands on the table, palms up. A silent plea for her to give in, to confess everything. “Let me help you, sweetheart. Please.”

Dragging in as deep a breath as she was able, she gathered her courage and lifted her gaze to his. Eyes so much like hers it was sometimes downright eerie looked back at her, full of love and worry. “Okay. But you have to promise not to flip out on me.”

The corners of his mouth dipped down into a frown. “Why would I flip out?”

“Because this really was my fault. I–I was doing some research for my next book and I sort of got mixed up with some not very nice people.”

She watched as the wheels turned. And her stomach gave a sharp jolt as she watched them click into place. “Marigold. For the love of all that is holy, please tell me you didn’t go poking around in mafia business.”

“Not on purpose. At least, not at first.” As she talked, the words came faster, pouring out of her in a rush. “I met someone at my last signing who happens to have some ties to a local family. And I realized I had an opportunity to make my work more realistic so I started following them around town, trying to see⁠—”

“You’ve been stalking the mob?” In all her life, she’d never seen her father look so furious.

Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, she nodded slowly. “Kind of. Yes. A little. But I was super careful!”

“For fuck’s sake, Marigold!” Once again he was on his feet, pacing the cramped kitchen, a muscle in his jaw jumping as he walked. “Have you lost your goddamned mind? You put your life in danger for what? A fucking hobby?”

Old, familiar wounds ripped open at his words. “It’s not a hobby. It’s my career, Dad.”

“No. Being a cop is a career. Being an accountant is a career. Playing pretend all day with the people you’ve made up in your head isn’t a career, Marigold. Jesus.” Stopping, he raked his hands through his hair, which she couldn’t help but notice was starting to thin at the top. “I thought you’d grow out of it. Figured someday you’d wake up and realize it was time to be a fucking adult and get a real job. If I’d known you’d pull something as stupid as this, I would have put my foot down about your career choices a long fucking time ago.”

Shock froze the very breath in her lungs as she stared up at her father. He’d never been supportive of her career but he’d never been so cruel either.

“I’m not stupid.” More whispered words, when all she wanted was to stand up and scream. To cry and rage and force him to listen.

But he’d already made it clear he had no interest in hearing a word she had to say.

Story of her goddamn life.

“I’m going to bed.” Pushing to her feet, she pulled the blanket she still wore more tightly around her shoulders. “I’m more sorry than I can say that you got dragged into this, Dad. This is my mess, and I’ll do whatever it takes to clean it up. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Marigold—”

Ignoring him, she turned and strode from the kitchen. And by some miracle made it all the way up the stairs to her childhood bedroom before she let the tears come.

Chapter 15

Brody

“I’m sorry. I must have blacked out for a second. Did you just say you called the cops on yourself?”

Rolling his eyes at Killian’s snark, Brody sipped at his whiskey. “Yes. But I have it under control.”

“They rolled in with a full SWAT team, Brody.” From her spot beside him in the other visitor’s chair, Reagan frowned. “That doesn’t sound like you have anything under control to me.”

Temper sparked, but he managed to swallow it back. Fighting with his cousins wouldn’t accomplish anything other than pissing each other off, and he needed everyone calm and steady if they were going to get through this in one piece. “I’ll admit I didn’t anticipate her father reacting quite so strongly.”

To his right, Aria snorted out an indelicate laugh. “My father was prepared to take on the entire Irish mafia when he thought Killian was keeping me here against my will. He managed to talk my retired uncles into having our home raided. Did you really think an active police Sergeant was going to do anything less to save his daughter?”

Annoyed more at himself than his cousins now, Brody shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Look, it was a messy plan, but I had to do something. She wasn’t taking my warnings seriously. Hopefully now that her father is involved, he can keep her in line.”

“You could have just kidnapped her,” Aria supplied cheerfully. “Worked out well for us.”

From behind his desk, Killian grinned. “My brilliant wife.”