Page 33 of Decker

Savannah looked between the two of them, growing impatient with the way they were hesitating. She’d been upset yesterday but she wasn’t a delicate flower that couldn’t handle the truth. “And?” She rolled her hand to try and encourage them to speak, the testy tone of her voice making the corner of Mark’s lips tip up.

“They belong to the Cavendish crime family.”

Savannah looked at Alex for his reaction and saw him watching her. Savannah shook her head. “That means nothing to me.” She rubbed her temples, a headache beginning to form.

Mark leaned toward her and took her hand. “The Cavendish crime family is the biggest crime family in Europe. They own the Elysian Casino group, the Cavendish fashion house, and several other legitimate businesses but it’s their illegal dealings that have made them the billions they’re now worth.”

“I don’t understand, Mark. If you know this, why aren’t they locked up?”

He sucked in a breath through his nose and pursed his lips. “It’s not as simple as that and nobody has ever managed to get them into court for any charges to be brought.” He squeezed her hand and leaned in closer. “No witnesses ever live long enough to testify, and evidence always goes missing.”

A gasp escaped her as she realised the magnitude of what they were telling her and felt her tea roll in her belly as nausea and fear assailed her. “They killed Andy and I recorded it.”

Mark nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Her gaze went to him as the severity of what he was saying hit her. “Am I in danger?” Her knuckles were white as they gripped his hand and she made to let go, but he threaded his fingers through hers and held tight.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, doc.” Mark turned to Alex. “Can you give us a sec?”

Alex stood. “Sure.” Savannah watched as he slipped out the front door before her eyes moved back to the handsome man in front of her. He really was devastatingly beautiful and the air of dominance that surrounded him made her body tingle with the memory of his touch. How was it she was aroused by this man at this moment? Her world was crumbling around her, and all she wanted was to get Mark naked again and feel his touch on her skin.

His eyes fell to her lips and the room hummed with electricity. “You’re such a fucking distraction, Savannah. How is it, when I’m giving you this news, all I can think about is how you taste on my tongue when you climax, how you feel when your cunt clenches around my cock?”

Savannah drew in a breath at his dirty talk, words which would’ve made her cringe with shyness in the past but with him, there was only this pull between them. Deep down she knew that a connection like this didn’t last, that it burned bright and white-hot and then fizzled to nothing. Mark was the hottest sex of her life and she wanted to enjoy every second of it before he got bored and she only had memories. She just needed to remember to protect her heart in the process.

“I know the feeling.” The admission was out before she could stop it and she was rewarded with a sexy smirk.

Mark stood and walked to the kitchen and began to rinse his mug. “You can’t stay here. This house is no longer safe enough. You’ll stay with me until the men who are after you have been taken care of.”

There was so much to dissect in that one sentence she didn’t even know where to start. His dominating nature was sexy as hell mostly, but she wasn’t a weak wimp to be bossed around and have her decisions made for her. Neither was she a fool. She knew that Mark and Eidolon knew way more about this than they let on and her safety was at the forefront of his demand. She wasn’t that stupid girl who ran through a dark house with a serial killer chasing her. Eidolon were the experts in their field, and she respected that. If she was in danger, she at least wanted to be part of the discussion about what happened to her, even if she knew she’d do as he’d demanded.

Savannah stood, knowing she had to word this carefully but not prepared to back down. Her hand reached for his forearm as he straightened from loading her dishwasher. He turned and pulled her between his strong thighs as he leaned against the counter and she let him, the feel of his body against hers too good to step away from. Every hard ridge, and one particular hard length, frying her brain.

Swallowing, she pushed past her desire for him. “Mark, I understand I can’t stay here, I really do, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to stay with you, either.”

He frowned and she could see he was pissed off, felt the tension radiate through his body and wanted to soothe him. Her hand stroked over his biceps, and she loved his strength.

“What the hell does that mean?” He pulled from her hold, and she let him go.

“Just that with this thing between us, it might make things difficult. You said yourself we have rules, and they’re a good idea. I need to protect my heart from becoming involved with this.” She rolled her finger between them. “I can go and stay with my parents.”

Mark turned and the arrogance that she’d seen before was there. “Absolutely not, you’ll be putting a target on their backs.”

Savannah sighed wishing he could see what she was saying. “Fine, I can stay with Addie then.”

“And risk Payton?”

Shit, she hadn’t considered that and was still grasping the reality of the situation. “Fine, a hotel.”

Savannah sat down heavily in the kitchen chair and watched as Mark prowled toward her. He crouched and she remembered how he’d taken such good care of her last night and before that with the security and the paint on her door. He was a good man, just a little arrogant and a lot bossy.

“Do you think I can’t protect you?”

“What? No, of course not. I know you can, but I don’t want to complicate things.”

“Savannah, you will stay with me. I’ll keep you safe. We can continue exploring this attraction and amend the rules to suit our new situation.”

“How?”