Desired (Club Sin 3)

Leaning back in his seat, he exhaled slowly. Raw jealousy penetrated him now, knowing that she was married. Then the anger developed, for the simple reason that she hadn’t told him. Yet, all the same, he sympathized with her silence. Her past marriage wasn’t good. Maybe she worried if she opened the door it would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer.

She had told you she was coming out of a long relationship.

While he had heard part of the truth, this awareness also told him he hardly knew her. That bothered him far more than anything else. Rubbing his hands over his face, he pondered his next move. Fuck, he felt like shit for even finding out this information. He would’ve preferred to hear it from her mouth, not learn of her past this way.

However, his biggest concern: Rory’s in Vegas.

Kyler began to understand why Ella had seemed so troubled over the past days. Perhaps Rory had made contact. Heat flooded his body at the disturbing thought that quite possibly she’d been threatened.

While he was tempted to call her and get this sorted out, he knew better than to confront her. She hid this maybe out of embarrassment, or perhaps she wanted to fight this battle on her own. Bulldozing his way into her life wasn’t his way, nor was making a bad situation worse.

He craved protecting her. Nothing else mattered.

She might not want his help, but being proactive was never a bad thing. Dropping his hands, he picked up his personal cell phone on the desk and dialed Club Sin Dom Porter.

Porter answered on the second ring. “This is a surprise.”

“Need a favor,” Kyler said.

“Always. What’s up?”

“Look into someone for me.” Porter was a private investigator. In fact, one of the best in Las Vegas. Sometimes cops were tied up with thick red tape and endless paperwork, whereas PIs had more room to seek information. Kyler wouldn’t wait for Ella’s husband to do something that would warrant police intervention. Not on his fucking watch. “His name is Rory Snow.”

“Snow, hmm …” Porter said with hesitation. “Is that not the last name of your sweet little thing?”

“It’s her husband,” Kyler replied, scraping a hand over his tired eyes.

Porter coughed. “Did you say ‘husband’?”

“Yeah, sadly, I did.” Kyler dropped his hand. “This needs to stay between us, but I want you to find out more about him. He’s come to Vegas. I want to know where he’s staying.”

Porter paused. “Is he a problem?”

“That’s what I need to find out.”

Just after four o’clock, Ella hurried out of the elevator, waving at Thomas and approaching the front doors of the office. When she stepped outside, she scanned the area for Rory. Her heart thudded in her chest and a cold sweat washed over her skin.

She never spotted him on the street, but the sensation of being watched never faded. Maybe her threat of calling the police had finally gotten him to see sense. Or so she hoped.

As her gaze drifted along the road, she found Kyler’s truck waiting at the curb, and she smiled in relief. He’d called earlier to say he’d be picking her up after work, and her car would be safe left at the office overnight. She mused to herself, For not wanting a relationship, you sure seem to be in one. Though she discovered that each hour that passed, every moment she spent with him was unexpectedly welcomed.

The hot air tightened her lungs as she hurried to the truck. She couldn’t ignore the sense of normalcy overwhelming her. As if her past, pending divorce, the abuse had all disappeared, as if it never happened. Almost as if the fresh start she’d been searching for, she found.

Things are good, Ella. Enjoy it.

At the truck, she opened the passenger-side door. Kyler greeted her with his charming smile as she pulled herself up into the truck. “Where are we off to?”

“My parents’ house,” he replied in a flat voice.

She froze midway to doing up her seat belt. “We’re going to meet your family?”

“Yep.” He turned on his truck, glancing sideways at her with his grin intact. “Scared shitless?”

“Um …” She looked down to her yellow flowered print dress, pulling on the hem and wishing she had looked in the mirror.

His fingers twined with hers, drawing her focus. “Stop worrying. You’re beautiful, and they’re going to love you.”

She gulped. Meeting the family? Wasn’t that kind of a big step? Part of her liked the idea of him wanting to share his life with her. The other part wanted to get out of the truck and run.