"Law? If you're done here, we need you in the office."
She gasped and turned. Riley stood in the doorway. She hadn't heard him come in, but then she'd been the stupid girl kissing her abductor. And enjoying it. Not to mention wondering what it would be like to kiss him back. She'd missed her chance, and suddenly her lips ached at the loss.
She turned away, refusing to meet Riley's stare, and clutched Gigi close. She hadn't been able to press her body against Law's because Gigi had been in the way. What if she hadn't been holding the puppy to her chest? Would Law have pulled her close? Would she have felt his erection pressed against her belly? Or not because it was all an act.
She felt his big hands cover her shoulders. "I'll be back, Kinley. Be good. And Gigi, don't bite Riley again."
Her first reaction was to ask him to stay, but she bit it back. He was playing her again. He'd committed a criminal act. She shouldn't feel safe with him. He was simply a smart, gorgeous man who would use any weapon at his disposal to keep her compliant.
She had to remember that. Greg-the man who'd sworn to help both her charity and her father-was her future.
No matter what her heart wanted to believe.
* * * *
Riley locked the door behind him before rushing to catch up with his brother. "What the hell was that about?"
He'd stood there watching them together, his brother more tender than he'd ever seen with a woman. It was like watching a different human being altogether. Law was … fuck. He'd seemed almost happy.
His brother turned to him. "I was just talking to her. I returned her dog before Butch could eat it. We don't have to scare her into helping us. She'll be a much better ally if she's happy. I can make her trust me."
"I walked in on more than a friendly chat. You were kissing her."
A little smile tugged at Law's lips. "Yeah."
Riley felt his jaw drop. "You understand that you sound like a fucking prepubescent boy making out for the first time."
Law shrugged, looking almost euphoric. "Maybe that's how I feel. With her, it's like … everything is new."
"She is up to her neck in this shit, Law," he snarled. "You know that better than anyone."
"I know that she needs saving. Jansen is using her. I have proof that she isn't the one cashing those checks. You and Dominic think you were investigating her, but I found some surveillance photos of her when the first check was being cashed. Neither of you asked me before you accused her of stealing from her charity, but she was twelve fucking blocks away. Someone is forging her signature. I've got three guesses who it is, and the last two don't count."
If what Law said was true, then Riley had a pretty good guess who'd forged Kinley's signature, too. And if she was innocent … she would soon be devastated. Of course when she inevitably broke Law's heart, he would be the one devastated. Even if she'd never so much as spoken a cross word to anyone in her life, the girl came from money. She wasn't going to marry a whore's son, much less two of them, and take on a third husband for kicks. Her friends and family would be shocked. Their opinions would mean a lot to a girl like Kinley.
"Do yourself a fucking favor and don't kiss her again."
"Why shouldn't I? I'm not forcing her. I'm being gentle. If she tells me to stop, I will. But she didn't tell me to stop and she didn't move away."
"Dude, for starters, you kidnapped her. You've still got her under lock and key. Don't you get it? She's terrified of you."
Law paled a little. "You think so?"
His brother had lost his damn mind. "I know so. You outweigh her by at least a hundred pounds. Twenty bucks says that if you'd tried to lay her out, she would have let you because she doesn't want to piss off the badass. Think about this for two seconds. You're trying to … I don't know, ask her on a date. She's just trying to survive the day."
"I told her I wouldn't hurt her." Law seemed to stumble over the words.
"You also told her that you were Mike. Did you really vomit up all that shit about Mom?"
Riley had never told a soul, and now he felt a bit betrayed. He'd left their town and found new friends who didn't know that he was the son of the town whore. Friends who didn't know that his mother had died in a car accident with one of her johns.
Law shrugged like it was no big deal. "She's easy to talk to."
"It won't feel so easy when she stabs you in the back with that tale of woe and walks away from you. Think, man. A debutante and a prostitute's boy? Yeah, she's really going to show you off at all her fancy society parties. I mean, she might take Dominic because he's got some polish, but the whispers that we all share women are attached to him. People will talk. She won't be able to take it. And she'll break your fucking heart then. Don't say I didn't tell you so."