Page 29 of Tempt

Higgins flicked his eyes to mine. “Darcy Higgins, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand.

I felt Theo’s eyes on me as I reached out to shake Higgins’ hand. Cold. Intense.Possessive. “Allison Riley.”

Higgins’ eyebrows shot up. “American. Interesting.” Then he looked back at Theo. “I’m glad to see you followed through for a change. You two looked good out there.”

I tucked my hand back under Theo’s arm and held on, wanting to disappear. They were talking about me, but I didn’t know the context. Was Higgins a friend or an enemy? I wanted to say friend. There was something familiar in the way they spoke to each other, and the accents… well, that was very interesting. But there was also so much tension, I really couldn’t say for sure.

Theo didn’t respond with words, only his stare. It was so damn cold it didn’t need words.

Higgins’ thrust his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels as if it didn’t bother him at all. “Well, believe it or not, I actually did this for a reason.”

The muscle in Theo’s arm ticked. “Is that so?”

Higgins’ eyes shifted to mine for a split second before locking back onto Theo’s. “There’s a problem and I need you to leave. Out of my door. Martin’s brought the car around.”

“Fuck,” Theo whispered. “Are you fucking kidding me? He’s here?”

Higgins nodded slowly. I didn’t know whohewas, but I got the impression it had something to do with Theo’s security issues… the tension in the room had just multiplied by a hundred. “He’s outside. I wouldn’t let him in, but he won’t stay quiet for long.” He smiled, but it was forced, probably to make me feel better. “He can’t do this forever.”

“Who?” I asked and immediately regretted it.

Theo swallowed. “No one. Don’t worry about it. We’re leaving.”

Higgins stepped to the side to let us out of the storage closet. Theo didn’t let me go. If anything, he held me tighter. I didn’t know if he was doing it to protect me, or hold himself together. Maybe it was both.

“Theo?”

He shook his head and when he looked down at me I saw a thousand emotions in his eyes. Mostly I saw regret, but pain, doubt, sadness, and determination were in there, too. “Don’t,” he whispered.

I nodded and tucked in closer to his side. He led me through a maze of hallways that he clearly knew fairly well, and to a side door. The night air was cool, damp, and eerily silent after the noise of the club. Martin waited along with two other cars and a handful of Theo’s security that I recognized from work. My heart rate kicked up a notch seeing the tension rolling off of all of them, but particularly Martin. He was always so calm and in control, but even he had a wary look in his eyes. It was clear he wanted out of there as much as Theo did.

I ducked into the car and slid to the center. Theo followed me in and we were on our way within moments. Martin glanced back in the mirror after we were a few blocks from the club. “We went unnoticed, sir.”

“But he knew I was there,” Theo replied through his teeth.

Martin shook his head and turned a sharp corner. “No. Hesuspectedyou might be there.”

Everything fell silent again and my level of discomfort skyrocketed. I didn’t know what to do or say. Should I touch Theo or leave him be? “I’m sorry,” I said when I couldn’t stand being quiet for another moment.

Theo blinked at me, then frowned. “Why are you sorry?”

“I feel like this is my fault.” We agreed to sex at his flat, not dancing. He’d warned me he had security issues…

He grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers between mine. “No. No…” he sighed as he studied my nails. “This is not your fault and I don’t want you to feel bad about any of this.” He pulled my hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of my hand. “It’s me who should be apologizing. I’m sorry about Higgins and I’m sorry we had to leave like that.”

I pulled my hand from his grasp and cupped his face, running my nails through his beard. “What’s going on, Theo?” I was happy to mind my own business before, but now I was knee deep in something I didn’t understand, and that was not okay.

He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand for a moment before sitting up straighter. “Some mistakes can’t be forgiven.”

Mistakes.My heart ached from the pain in his voice. Genuine pain and regret. The kind you spend a lifetime trying to fix. What had Theo done? He didn’t say anything else and I didn’t push him. I didn’t want him to close me off because I was asking too many questions. He wasn’t ready yet.

When we got back, I stood awkwardly in Theo’s foyer as Martin checked the flat. “It’s late…” I wanted to stay and make sure Theo was all right, but I was so tired.

Theo shrugged out of his blazer and tossed it over the chair. “Would you mind waiting a bit longer? I want to make sure everything has…settled down… before you go home.”

What’s settled down?I wanted to shake him, make him give me something to work with. My mind was making up a hundred scenarios from crazed ex-lover to corporate assassinations.

“Theo,” I tried again, but he cut me off.

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