“It changes your life. It puts you in far more danger than you’ve ever been in, and I fucking hate that.” His jaw clenched in frustration. “You are tied to all of this now. Every single stain and bloody action, every death, all of it is tied to you now as well. The guys have made the choice to be part of this, to help me, but you’ve always been part of it, princess, even if you weren’t aware. Now that the media has caught wind, though, we can’t—nor would I want to—deny it. You are going to become a target, though, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do besides make sure you have the tightest security known to man, andthatis the part I am worried about changing something between us. I don’t want you to realize that I have put you in this corner. That I haven’t given you an option. I’m worried it is going to make you hate me.”
I paused as I thought through the implications. I’m guessing that’s why Dermot warned us to be careful at the club event this weekend. I didn’t know a lot about this stuff, obviously because I referencedThe Godfather… but I was guessing privacy and secrets are a thing? “And here I was insecure about why you wouldn’t want pictures of us together out in the media. You were just worried about the ramifications of that much attention into our lives and how dangerous that could be? Honestly, that’s pretty sweet.”
What? It was!I mean, yes, the man just admitted to being a criminal. A legitimate one. But he also had been worried about the type of attention it could attract for us and what danger that could put me in. The concept made me smile because the man was protective to a fault, I would give him that. What he didn’t realize, and something I planned to assure him of, is that I would never blame him for the position I found myself in. Half because I truly didn’t think it was his fault, but also because I wanted to be here, with him, no matter what that meant.
My fingers strung through his hair as I pressed our foreheads together.
“King,” I soothed, “first of all, it sounds like this wasn’t fully your fault. Sure, now that we are together it makes it more drastic, but I am going to assume that I always would have been considered part of this because of our families’ closeness. Do my parents know about your dad?”
“Yeah, your dad and the other parents know,” he grunted.
“So I would have been in trouble by association,” I pointed out.
“You’re letting me off easy,” he groaned.
“No.” I rolled my forehead against his. “Plus, there is nothing you could do to make me hate you, King. Well, if you cheated on me, that would be—”
“I would never cheat on you,” he hissed, looking offended. I smiled, loving his reaction. His eyes softened and he shook his head. “Dahlia, I’ve killed. More than once. I’ve done a lot of really bad shit, and it’s only going to get worse.”
“Do you regret any of it?” I asked softly.
“No,” he bit out. “Which probably makes me sound horrible.”
“Why did you kill?” I bit down on my lip, wondering why I wasn’t more upset about this. Was I compartmentalizing? Or was it more that I wasn’t surprised because I’d instinctively known how violent he could be? Why didn’t that scare me? I clearly had a few screws loose.
His jaw tightened. “Because they were threatening everything we’d built.”
“So you were defending your family,” I rationalized.
He barked out a laugh and sighed. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“You are being far too understanding considering I just told you I’m a killer.” He inhaled sharply, looking like he didn’t want to say what came out of his mouth next. “I know you deserve way better than this, princess. You deserve someone who isn’t putting your life in danger and has a normal fucking job—”
“Hey!” I poked his chest. “Stop it. What the heck, King? You don’t get to tell me what I do and don’t deserve. I want you. I love you. So unless you don’t want me—”
“Of course I want you,” he growled, “but because of me, you are always going to have to worry.” His nose traced my cheekbone as my skin flushed with heat, making me feel the opposite of worried.
“Because of you, I am always going to wake up happy,” I admitted softly. “I know you are always going to keep me safe. I’ve always known that. Christ, King, I have been in love with you since we were little. There is nothing that could change that. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but the Ross family is what it is. I know what type of man you are, and as the woman that loves you, I accept the other stuff. It probably sounds pathetic, but there isn’t much you can do, King, that would push me away from you.”
His sharp inhale had me pulling back as he offered me a hard look. “There is nothing pathetic about you, Dahlia. You’re fucking perfect.”
He groaned, his fingers wrapping around my throat as I let my head fall back, wanting his lips on me. When they brushed mine in a claiming kiss, a shiver worked its way over me and caused me to tremble slightly. I think he had meant it to be a short kiss, but when he tried to pull away, my fingers tangled harder in his golden hair and I held him against me, deepening the kiss.
A low growl vibrated through his chest as I was suddenly turned, now pressed against the hard wood desk as he stepped into my space. A moan left my mouth at how hard he was against me, and I felt any of the soft vulnerability from moments ago slip away as my skin broke out into a heated flush. King’s kiss grew more possessive, and my blood began pumping loud enough in my ears that all I could do was hang on for the ride.
“Dahlia…” His low, vibrating rumble of my name had my toes curling as I pulled back, breathing roughly as his grip on my hip hardened. I moaned softly and nipped his bottom lip, causing him to tighten his other hand on my throat. This side of King was one I absolutely loved. The dominance and the darkness that seemed to envelop me felt like velvet against my skin.
“No biting,” he growled, tracing my jaw with his lips as he tiled my neck back further. My knees nearly broke when he bit down on my pulse, sending an electric jolt through my entire body.
“You’re one to talk,” I whimpered, my nipples tightening against the fabric of the dress I wore, the heat between my legs growing as I tried to shift my thighs together. Immediately King had me on the desk, stepping between my legs and forcing them apart as his fingers slid up my thighs.
“Keep talking like that and I’ll put something else in your mouth,” he threatened, pressing his lips against mine as his fingers brushed over my lace panties. The delicate material practically ripped under his fingers as he twisted it roughly.
“I like that idea,” I admitted breathlessly as he nipped my pulse again.
“Fuck,” he snarled. “I need to taste you again, princess. It’s been too long.”