Burned Hearts (Burned 3)

“Look,” I said. “I’ll admit it wasn’t the perfect solution. Kyle and I aren’t as seasoned as the rest of you, and our plans aren’t always the savviest. But I will find some way to make it up to Amano. I didn’t mean to upset him.”

“It’s a failure on his part, Ari,” Dane told me. “That’s how he sees it. Even if you were with Kyle and the FBI. Amano should have been informed of exactly what you were up to and he should have been able to ensure your safety. Whether that meant keeping you here or going with you, he still needed and deserved to know your intentions so that he could do his job.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” Dane challenged.

I nodded.

His cut-emerald irises softened. “Amano genuinely cares about you.”

“I know that as well.”

“Damn it,” Dane continued. “As much as it perplexes me, Amano thinks of Kyle as part of this family, too. His new protégé. You know that grinds.”

I fought the pull at one corner of my mouth. This was hardly the appropriate time to crack a smile. But I could tell Dane was trying to not be quite so stern, so harsh. Not that he’d let Kyle and me off scot-free. I knew Dane too well. Recognized that I’d better stay on my best behavior.

What I’d do about Amano I wasn’t so certain. I hated that I’d compromised his own integrity in his eyes. That he felt he’d somehow failed Dane. All of us.

I’d suspected Amano was angry with me but hadn’t considered that he’d also be irritated with himself for not keeping a closer eye on me and Kyle.

Amano shouldn’t have to keep a closer eye on us.

We weren’t exactly the reckless types. Just this once.

Well, and that other time with the switchbacks. Though that wasn’t totally our fault. Another Wayne Horton fucked-to-high-hell escapade. But he was no longer a problem for any of us.

“It won’t happen again,” I swore to Dane. “And I’ll speak with Amano.”

“Remember all that’s at stake, Ari.”

“Yes, of course. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to make either of you worry—or piss you off. It just felt like too good a setup to let slip by. And it was.”

Even he couldn’t dispute that.

Yet he did remind me in a tense tone, “This family doesn’t work without you.”

I sucked in a breath. Here came the power struggle again. “It doesn’t work without you, either.”

We stared at each other for endless moments. Finall

y, Dane nodded.

“Okay, then,” I added. Fury still oozed from him, but I surmised it had more to do with circumstance and that bigger picture he’d mentioned than what Kyle and I had done about Wayne Horton.

I set my glass on the mantel. Did the same with Dane’s. Then stretched on tiptoe to kiss him. A cautious gesture, to further gauge his mood. Whether I might be able to sway him from his angst. When I pulled away, he smirked. The sexy, bad-boy one that made my insides sizzle.

“Really?” he challenged as he crooked a brow. “Now you play it safe?”

“Just testing the waters. You can be very intimidating when you want to be. Which is like all the time.”

A heartbeat later he swept me into his arms and marched off to the bedroom.

Amsel wasn’t in his bassinet, so I figured Rosa had him nestled somewhere close to where she worked. Her current vice was sewing clothes for the baby. Given her creativity and skill set, I was on the verge of offering to help her financially launch her own clothing line, if that was what she wanted. I didn’t even bother shopping for Amsel, because he had several new outfits every week, thanks to Rosa.

Dane kicked the door shut behind us. He set me on my feet and then swiftly pinned me against the wall, his hard body pressed to mine. Gripping my wrists, he raised them above my head. His eyes blazed with heat, residual rage, and need. The heady combination made my blood sing, my body tremble.

“Understand that I can’t live without you.” His green irises were piercing, hypnotic.