Chapter 204
Skyw looked up at him, her lips parting. She wasn’t shocked by the relationship, they had already stood together on balconies and in boardrooms, but she was stunned by the timing. He wasn’t just claiming her; he was wrapping her in his like Kevlar. In this moment of vulnerability, he was ensuring the world saw her not as a victim, but as a woman under the protection of the most dangerous man in the city.
Alistair didn’t look down. He used his body as a shield, guiding her through the press. His arm was a steel hand around her waist, his hands played wide over her hip, stablishing a claim so visible it would be printed on front pages across the globe by morning.
They reached the service elevator. The doors slid shut, cutting off the noise of the circus he had orchestrated. The silence in the metal box was sudden and ringing.
Skye leaned against the wall, her legs finally giving cat. Alistair caught her before she slid to the floor. He scooped her up effortlessly, cradling her against his chest.
“Why?” Skye whispered, her head resting on his shoulder. “Why did you tell them that?”
Alistair looked down at her. The rage in his ey had receded, replaced by something darker, heavier.
“Because I’m done hiding it,” he said.
The elevator dinged. They exited into the underground garage. His personal Maybach was waiting, engine running, the driver holding the hack door open.
Alistair deposited her gently onto the leather seat. He climbed in beside her the car pulled away, leaving the chaofthe hotel behind.
He reached into the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. He cracked the wal and handed it to her. His hand, sh noticed, was trembling slightly. Not from fear, but from the adrenaline of not killing Liam Kensington with his bare hands.
Sky took a sip, the cold water washing away the taste of ether. She looked at him. He was still shirtless, his skin marked with a fw scratch from where she had clawed at him in her panic before realizing who he was.
“You staged the press,” Skye said. It wasn’t a question. “You wanted Liam destroyed publicly.”
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“Money can fix a kidnapping charge,” Alistair said, leaning back against the seat, watching the city lights hlar past the tinted windows. “Lawyers can fix a ult. But public humiliation? Being dragged out in cuffs while another man claims his wife?
That less a stain money can’t scrub out.”
“And the girlfriend comment?” Skye asked. “Was that just part of the stain?”
Alistair turned to her. In the dim light of the car, his features were sharp, beautiful, and terrifying. He reached out, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw where Victor had brudhar
“No,” Alistair maid.
He led in, trapping her between his body and the soft leather of the seat. He didn’t touch her anywhere else, but his presence was overwhelming.
“Be my girlfriend, Skye,” he whispered. “For real. No more contracts. No more debts. Just you and me, burning the world down together.”
Skyw looked into his eyes. She saw the reflection of her own brokenness, and the fierce determination to put her back together. “You’re dangerous, Alistair Thorne,” she breathed.
“I have to be,” he replied, brushing his lips against her forehead. “Look at what I’m trying to keep.”