Page 3 (1/2)

When she heard the door click shut, the maskedHe gathered her in his ar on him, and then he put a hand on the back of her head to hold her close

He said absolutely nothing, but his hold tightened, and the war inside of her

The tears she’d fought broke free The pain of a year, spilling out The loss of her dreaer’s arms

Only when her tears dried did he shift and cup her face inti And then he gently kissed her, aliven him She became just as lost as she’d been before Taken to a place where her heart could nearly believe all men weren’t bad

When he finally broke the kiss, he lifted her until he set her on her feet She felt the heat of her blush rush over her cheeks, now reminded she was naked and not nearly as brave as she’d portrayed earlier tonight He grabbed the black silk robe froentle look in his eyes, he fastened the robe and said, “I’ll give you a moment Then I expect to hear exactly who you are and what the hell gaht”

Instead of lying, since she was never very good at that, she simply nodded Naked, with the full condoeous cock, she watched hi her full attention How easy it would be to believe ood That she could trust them But men lied They destroyed lives She didn’t owe any ht she owed him her pain

Chapter 3

When Rhys returned hoh his veins After dressing at the end of the show, he’d returned to talk with the woman he learned from Archer was named Zoey Parker, only to discover that she’d snuck out and took off Rhys lived by strict rules It kept Phoenix safe He only slept with a woman once No star appeared multiple ti, except for the stars of the shoent through Archer’s grueling vetting process And finally, Rhys didn’t ask for any personal information about his stars He didn’t know the nas strictly professional Zoey had hi his ironclad rules, and that didn’t sit well

To rid himself of his mood, he showered off his frustration and prepared his house for poker night He lived on the Lower East Side, enjoying the energy of the neighborhood The trendy bars, nightclubs, and ave hie sweetheart, passed away frorown substantially since he bought the one-bedrooe to ray slate kitchen cabinets An up-and-co painter had created a woman’s face on the kitchen wall in black and white Her eyes had always looked haunted to Rhys He realized now that he’d seen those eyes earlier Zoey’s eyes were the saet them out of his head

The large room was furnished with a mustard-colored couch and chro, offering a gorgeous view of Manhattan, the city lights glowing as bright as ever To the right of that glass was a door leading to his rooftop patio, the original reason he’d bought the property Ten years ago, there were tiny trees and plants there Now his pool, hot tub, and sitting area could beat any park in New York City

When he reached for beers in the fridge, there was a knock on the door It opened a hter with the New York City Fire Departreen eyes that were both trusting and war for the Ironman Triathlon Kieran took one look at Rhys’ face and asked, “Who do I need to kill?”

Beers in hand, Rhys shut the fridge and snorted “You’re too good to kill anyone for me”

Beside Kieran, Hunt Walker, a horinned sheepishly “But I’m not How do you want theht-brown eyes held a slightly harder edge, like he’d seen things that would break rown ave the appearance that he was easy-going, and typically, he was

Kieran and Hunt were lifelong friends Rhys had h his sexual interludes at private parties during college, as with Archer, and the friendship stuck Brothers, not by blood but soht connection that re with Archer, both men often partook in the shows at Phoenix

“While I thank you for the offer to kill someone for me,” Rhys ht at the show”