Dair (The Wild Side #3)(10)

Even as I had the thought, I caught a glint in her eyes, a flash of genuine worry that righted the world back onto its axis and had me breathing easier.

Her understanding me was one of the few things about Iris that I’d always been certain of, and I’d have been crushed if even that were a lie.

Her concern told me it was not.

“You know I can’t do that,” I told her gently.

The concern turned to something akin to panic.  “He’s armed, and he has a terrible temper, and he hates you.  Also, he has backup.  Lots of it.  There’s no way you can take him on.  You understand that, don’t you?”

I took a very deep breath.  I’d never considered myself to be particularly brave.  In fact, I’d never much considered it at all, but I knew that I’d do whatever I needed to, regardless of the risk, to get Iris out of this mess.

“Please, Dair, please.  I’m begging you here.  Please, just do what he says.  I’d never be able to live with myself if you got hurt in all of this.”

“You and I have different priorities, but I think you know that.  I’m much more concerned about you not getting hurt.”

“There’s nothing you can do about what happens to me.  I wish you could see that. But dragging you into it, getting you hurt, that can be prevented.  You don’t have to get involved.”

That had my hackles rising.  “I don’t have to?  How about this: I am involved.  What did you think would happen?  You pursued me.  You gave yourself to me.  You made me care about you, and I can’t stand by while you’re in danger, held captive here for God only knows what reason, and do nothing!”

Her jaw was set stubbornly, her eyes growing blank in a way I was beginning to dread.

It set me off.

“It wasn’t a rhetorical question,” I raged.  “Answer me.  What did you think would happen?”

Her tone was expressionless when she answered, but for once, I felt like she was giving me the truth.  “I didn’t mean for it to get this far.  For us to get this far. I just wanted a bit of you, enough to keep me going, but I never thought it would turn into this.  Despite all of my better sense, I couldn’t keep away from you once I started.”

I focused on the strangest part of what she’d said, the piece that made no sense to me.  “A bit of me?  How did you ever even notice me, let alone decide to come after me as aggressively as you did.”

She shook her head, the corner of her mouth raising a bit into a wry smile.  “You’ll never get it.  You don’t see yourself clearly, not at all.  I do.  You were just too appealing for me to resist, in so many ways.”

“So that’s it, you spotted me at the gym and decided I was just too hot to resist?  Does this happen often?”

She flushed.  “Don’t.  Don’t do that.  And I didn’t spot you at the gym.  Nothing was random about us.  I knew you’d be there and I sought you out.”

I blinked rapidly, hating that every answer she gave me that felt like it could be remotely close to the truth only made me feel like I knew less than I ever had.  “Care to explain any of that?”

She opened her mouth (as though she was actually going to answer!) when the loud sound of the bolt being thrown outside made her pause.

I barely had time to throw a sheet over the essentials before the door was opening, Heath taking a step inside.

He started cursing when he set eyes on us.  “What the f**k?  I’m closing this door, and when I open it back up, she better be decent, and you better have your pants back on.  You have exactly three minutes.”

He stepped back, slamming the door hard.

We obeyed him, because I didn’t particularly want to deal with him without pants on, and I certainly didn’t want him seeing Iris naked.

In what I assumed was exactly three minutes later, the door opened again.

We were sitting on the edge of the bed, side by side, holding hands.

Heath glared.  “Dinner time.  On your knees, facing the wall, Masters.”

I obeyed, tensing when I heard a gun cocking behind me.

I heard Iris gasp and cry out, “Heath, please don’t—”

“I won’t hurt him unless he tries something stupid.” He told her, voice soothing.  It changed suddenly, going back to hostile.  “Hold still if you enjoy keeping your head on your shoulders, Masters.”

A long pause, then, back to his soothing voice, “Just go into the bathroom while we bring the food in.  You giving me that look is not helping the situation.”

A door slammed (the bathroom, I assumed).

For a few minutes there was no noise except for some rustling behind me, then the squeaking sound of what I assumed was some sort of a cart being wheeled in, chairs being moved, then, “All right, Masters, I’m coming back for this in exactly one hour.  When I knock on the door again, you’d better still have your f**king pants on.”

“Can I turn around now?” I asked him, my tone wry.

“Go ahead.”

I turned my head, taking in the situation with a few confused blinks.

A makeshift table for two had been set up for us on a meal cart, with a white tablecloth, and what even looked like decent food.