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“Lucien will be fine,” I said. “I’m not concerned with myself. I just…I fucked this girl’s life up and now I don’t know how to fix it.”
He turned to retrieve his coffee and sat down at the breakfast bar. “Have you considered just telling her how you feel?”
“You haven’t met her. She’s got barbs.”
He laughed. “She’s got you wrapped around her little finger.”
I scowled. Was he right? My mind drifted back to the necklace and how quickly I’d decided seeing it on her body was worth the price tag. But even that paled in comparison to how fucking scared I’d been when she’d been drugged and taken.
“I don’t do this,” I said. “I don’t date.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “You can, you’re a good man, Duran. Just because your father wasn’t, doesn’t mean you’ll be the same. If you think you feel something real, take a chance on it.”
My throat was dry. I hated that he’d hit the nail on the head.
“I don’t know how to,” I said.
“Start with the basics,” he suggested. “Maybe stop acting like she’s your enemy and see where that takes you. I have a feeling it’ll go pretty far. Oh, and you need to tell her father you have her.”
“I can’t do that,” I said.
“I have daughters and I’d be sick if one of them went missing,” he said. “Forbid him from telling anyone where she is, but please tell her father she’s safe. She’s his only child.”
“I’ll think about it.”
We didn’t talk about Iris after that. Instead, I told him about the problem I was having acquiring guns, not in detail, and he listened. After a while, he went back upstairs to check on Iris. I lingered in the kitchen, my mind running a hundred miles an hour.
Had I fucked this up beyond repair?
Or could we take it back to the night we met? What if she hadn’t looked at my computer? What if I hadn’t acted rashly and kidnapped her?
I knew what I’d have done. I’d have fed her breakfast in bed and gone down on her until she was limp. She’d have moved into my room for the duration of her stay. We’d fuck and eat and swim in the ocean for the next week. I’d have postponed my trip to get the guns in favor of being horizontal with her all day and night.
I’d have gotten her number and called her the moment I got home.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IRIS
The window was open when I cracked my eyes. My hand felt stiff and I flexed it, a prickle going up my arm. My body was propped up on a pile of pillows and there was a knitted blanket over my lap. Fresh, ocean air swept in through the window and there was a tray of fruit and a cup of iced tea on the bedside table.
I looked down, noticing I was wearing one of Duran’s t-shirts. There was an IV taped to the back of my hand.
Everything came flooding back and my empty stomach churned. Flashes of the dim lounge, gunshots, and him pushing his fingers into my throat flooded my brain.
I needed to get up, I needed some ice water and fresh air.
Down the hall, I heard a door slide open and footsteps rang out across the stone floor. They moved closer and the door opened, revealing Duran and a graying man with a kind face, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
“You’re awake,” he said. “Good. How’re you feeling?”
“Um…fine,” I said, realizing slowly that I did actually feel fine. I’d expected a headache after the drugs had worn off, but other than being parched, I was alright.
“Excellent,” the man said, drawing up to the edge of the bed. “I’m Dr. Howell. We’ve had you on fluids to help ease your hangover.”
I glanced past him and met Duran’s gaze from the door. He wore his usual clothes and his expression was guarded, black eyes narrowed. There was a grimness to his jaw I hadn’t seen before except in the room where he’d shot down half a dozen men.
Our eyes locked and the air in the room felt thick. My stomach fluttered as he took me in, lids heavy and mouth parted. The air buzzed with a hint of electricity.
