Fallen Angel

"You are a mouthy little thing," he said, his voice cold and rather emotionless. It sent a cold chill running along my spine. "If you can't be respectful when you speak to me, I'd be happy to teach you some manners."

"I don't need manners, I need my freedom." In the heat of the moment, I'd thought sending Rock away and agreeing to this farce of a marriage was the best and only choice I had. But from the moment Agent Reed left my suite, Ronin had transformed.

First, he'd insisted we move to his suite, and instead of following my instincts to say no, I'd let him lead me away from the safety of my own place to this—well, it felt suddenly like a prison.

"You traded your freedom for your life. It's as fair a bargain as you could get."

"I'm not marrying you right now." I told him again, not caring what he'd do to me. "We need to wait at least a few more days. I have too much riding on that show. A few more days shouldn't kill you."

Standing stock still, except for his eyes moving up and down my body, he unnerved me. I fought my need to squirm and nearly lost the battle when he finally picked up the two glasses of wine, carried them around the table, and handed me one of them.

"I will agree to postpone until after the show."

Thank God. Maybe he could be reasonable after all.

"On one condition."

My stomach sank. I had a hunch I wasn't going to just dislike that condition, I was going to hate it. "I'm not sleeping with—"

"Don't be crass, darling. I don't have to make bargains for sex. Besides, I prefer when my women beg, as you will, when the time is right. No. I want something entirely different from you." He took the seat next to mine and sipped his wine.

The notion of him toying with me crossed my mind. It seemed like Ronin always wanted to play some sort of game, and tonight would be no different. And I wasn't going to touch that comment about making his women beg no matter how much he baited me to react.

"What do you want then?" I asked, hoping I didn't regret asking. If I couldn't give him what he wanted…. Well, I had to give him what he wanted, didn't I? The condition of my show going off this week was more important than anything else, including my dignity.

"Answers."

Now that I did not see coming. "About what? I hate to tell you, but I probably don't know as much as you think I do. My life these days consists of work and more work." That had been true until I met Rock. Then my life had changed. Not that I needed to remind Ronin of that. He already knew too many of the intimate details about my love life.

"Trust me. You'll have these. And if not, then no fashion show. I'm a simple man, so I will make this as easy as possible."

I doubted he had a simple bone in his body, but I wasn't going to say that. He wanted manners, I'd give them to him. At least as long as I could. "Go on," I urged.

"Only two questions. First, how did you get your hands on those diamonds? You don't strike me as a thief, let alone one knowledgeable enough to get those. Did you pay someone for them?"

I smiled at that. Did it matter if he knew? I quickly decided that it did not. He'd watched me throw them at Rock and they were no longer mine.

"That would have been the smart thing to do, but then someone else would have known I had them, and I wasn't willing to go there." More lies I couldn't afford for him to figure out. My sister knew.

He leaned back in his chair, and eyed me warily. "Are you trying to tell me that you actually stole them yourself? I find that hard to believe. Let me remind you that this agreement between us only works if you are honest. Otherwise, we're done talking, and I'll make arrangements for us to leave now."

Panic seized me. I had no doubt Ronin would resort to kidnapping if that's what it took to get his way. "I am being honest. They were smuggled into the country on board Vincent Cabrini's plane on his last trip to Italy. My father and his father cooked up the whole damn plan. Once I knew that, it wasn't as hard as you'd think to gain access. Although that part I did pay for. Luckily, private planes are still given a lot of leeway at airports, despite tighter international security. After that, it was just a matter of search and seizure. There are only so many places to hide something like that and still be able to access it."

He set the wine glass down on the table and steepled his fingers in front of his face. "You expect me to believe it was really that easy? You waltzed onto a celebrity's private plane, searched it, found the diamonds, and then waltzed back off without a care in the world."

I lifted my brows and smirked at him. "It was definitely not that easy. Simple in plan yes, but it still took a lot of finesse, research, and timing before I could pull it off. I had to study schematics of that plane ahead of time, not only so I had ideas on where to look, but also because I wouldn't have a lot of time. Information is the key to an operation such as that. Then I had to locate the right people to bribe at the airport, and then get in and out of there without anyone seeing me."

"Then you were lucky."

"Probably. I took as many precautions as I could, but there were no guarantees. What good thing in life happens without at least a little luck?"

"You might be right." He pushed from the chair and paced across the room. "However, I still can't decide whether I should be impressed with your skills as a thief or your skills as an actress who is probably lying to me."

"I don't think I would make a good actress," I blurted, sprinting very close to the line of desperation. I needed him to believe me.

He turned towards me and grasped the back of one of the dining chairs before leaning forward and narrowing his eyes. "We shall see."

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Second and last question. And remember, if you lie, you forfeit. No more fashion show."

My stomach clenched when he hesitated.

"What really happened the night you left your father's house? Why were you exiled so completely from your family that he let you run wild and free these last five years unchecked?"

Oh shit. This was bad. Really bad.