Chapter 8
Back at the house.
The moment Ryan walked in, Lyra came to greet him.
She wore a blue-to-white silk slip dress from Thea’s closet, the soft lighting showing off every curve as she played coy.
“Found this in your wife’s wardrobe. What do you think?”
Ryan’s eyes darkened.
Thea was known for being modest. He’d bought her this dress last year for his birthday-took forever to convince her to wear it.
When she finally did, Thea had blushed so
“Ryan.”
hard she couldn’t look at him. But damn, she’d driven him crazy.
Lyra pulled him into the master bedroom-his and Thea’s room.
Ryan frowned slightly as Lyra pressed against him, her hands sliding under his shirt.
“She’s not coming home tonight anyway. You’ve got all evening to tell me who looks better in this dress… or maybe…”
“You’d prefer me without it…”
Ryan’s throat tightened. He grabbed her waist and pushed her down onto the bed.
Thea hated strangers in their bedroom. He’d have the maids clean up beforehand-she’d never know.
Things heated up fast.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Ryan paused, his chest tightening for no reason.
Lyra hooked her arms around his neck, voice breathy. “Don’t answer it.”
But this time Ryan didn’t listen. He took the call.
His bodyguard’s panicked voice came through.
“Boss, your wife, she-”
Lyra snatched the phone away.
Ryan’s face darkened instantly. “Give me that!”
“Your guys are watching her. Worst case, she gets a little hurt. But if you run over there now, she’ll just pull worse shit next time.”
After saying that, tears filled Lyra’s eyes as she pressed his hand to her belly.
“We got lucky the baby’s okay this time. But what about next? Don’t forget-she tried to kill you too. What won’t she do?”
Ryan’s jaw clenched. After a moment, he grabbed his phone back.
“Take Thea to the hospital. When she admits she was wrong, I’ll come get her.”
“Yes, sir.”
He hung up. Lyra tried to get close again, but Ryan pushed her away.
“Not in the mood.”
Lyra’s smile froze. Ryan didn’t even look at her.
He lit a cigarette, the nicotine burning his throat, but it couldn’t calm the restlessness eating at him.
Anxiety crept up like vines around his chest.
Without thinking, he let the cigarette burn down to his fingers. Ryan snapped back to reality and crushed it in the ashtray.
Lyra was right. He’d left two bodyguards there. What could possibly happen to Thea?
She’d tried to poison him. If he wasn’t being generous, she couldn’t handle the consequences.
As long as she learned her lesson, maybe he could send Lyra somewhere else so Thea wouldn’t have to see her.
But things never went according to plan.
The fire at the abandoned warehouse spread with the wind, completely out of control.
“Are you insane?”
One bodyguard had just hung
up
when his partner grabbed him by the collar.
“We can’t even get her out! How the hell are we supposed to take her to a hospital?”
“Then what do we do? If she dies in there, you think we can walk away from this? You think the boss will let us live?”
Both men went quiet.
They’d waited exactly thirty minutes to open the door, but it was jammed shut from the inside.
Then the flammable materials exploded. If they hadn’t ducked for cover, they’d be dead or dying.
Sirens wailed around them as firefighters battled the blaze, but they both knew the truth.
Thea wasn’t coming out.
A phone buzzed. Text from Ryan.
[How’s Thea?]
Heat waves hit their faces as they looked at each other, both shivering despite the fire.
