CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

My entire body was in shock.

He parked the Kawasaki and guided me through the back entrance into the hotel. His hand was firm on my lower spine as we moved down the hall in silence. I kept my head down and my hair over my face, praying no one saw us.

We made it safely to the second floor. I turned to head to my room, but his hand shot out and gripped my upper arm.

“No, you don’t.” His voice was hard. “You’re staying with me until this is over.”

He threaded his tattooed fingers through mine, pulling me along with him. I wiped my face again, and my hand came away smeared with mascara. God, I was a mess.

“Until what is over?” I whispered.

“I have to make this right,” he said. “Merrick told me that any fallout of us sleeping together was my responsibility, so I’m handling it. Then, I’m handling you.”

“I didn’t mean—”

He turned on me, pausing to dig his key card out. “I know, but it happened, and now it has to be dealt with.”

He turned his back to swipe the card, hand still threaded through mine. My eyes trailed over him as I tried to absorb everything.

I’d misjudged him at first. I’d thought he was a player, that he wasn’t serious. But now, I realized that Caden was deadly serious about his responsibilities in a way that not even I was for Johansen Enterprises.

The door swung open to reveal a room decorated just like mine. He pushed it shut, drawing the lock down.

We were alone. My heart thumped.

“I have about twenty hours to get to Wyoming and fix this,” he said, “before your father notices I don’t show up for dinner tomorrow. Can I trust you to stay in this room? Or should I handcuff you to the headboard?”

His tone shifted, going darker.

I took a step back. “I can stay put.”

He cocked his head. “Can you? Because I like the thought of you cuffed to the headboard.”

I nodded hard, but between my thighs, my pussy tingled. It was still wet from when he’d fucked me on the concrete. I glanced down, noticing the streaks where I’d dripped through the dust stuck to my skin.

“I won’t move from this room,” I said.

“Go sit,” he said, jerking his head.

I crawled onto the bed and wrapped my arms around my knees. He started undressing to his boxer briefs and unzipped a black bag sitting in the corner. Inside, I could see a jumble of dark items. Something about his demeanor changed as he took out his uniform and pulled it on.

Fatigues, a t-shirt, boots. He strapped a canvas belt around his waist and pushed two pistols into the holsters.

He moved confidently, like an assassin. My head spun.

This was who I was in love with.

The Welsh Brenin’s son.

A broken man with blood on his hands.

A soldier made of steel.

He straightened, grabbing the bag and turning to me. “I’ll make sure you’re safe. Do not speak to anyone until I come to you, understood?”

Shivering, I nodded. “I won’t leave the room.”

He looked down at me through those heavy eyes. It hit me how much things had changed in such a short time. Not long ago, I was laying eyes on him for the first time. I was at war with myself, caught between wanting him and resenting him.

Now, the war was over, and my heart had won.

“Caden,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”

He moved forward, boots heavy on the ground. His hand closed gently over my jaw, holding my face up so he could look down into it.

“I know,” he said. “This isn’t your fault.”

“It…isn’t?” My lungs were tight.

He shook his head. “My father told me you would be hurt, caught between the city’s most powerful men. He warned me something like this would happen.”

“He warned me too,” I whispered.

His fingers were warm and gentle. I resisted the urge to push my face into his palm and close my eyes.

“My father is a good man,” he said finally. “Your father…that remains to be seen when he finds out what you’ve done. But know that I will keep you safe.”

My eyes overflowed. Hot tears etched down my jaw and neck, soaking his fingers.

“I know,” I hiccupped. “That’s what you do.”

He nodded. “That’s what I do, and I’ll never stop doing it for you.”

He bent and kissed me, long and slow, my tears staining his mouth. Then, he pulled back and grabbed his helmet from the end of the bed. Without looking back, he left the room and locked it behind him.

I lay still, listening as the clip of his boots disappeared until I was alone.