Forbidden Allure

Chapter 2

s**t! What the hell! Kade couldn’t believe what was happening. He tightened his hold on the struggling intruder and dragged her out of the room as fast as he could, keeping an eye on Logan and hoping like hell the man didn’t wake up. Although, considering the amount of alcohol his boss had consumed like a fish, Kade had his doubts an earthquake would wake the man, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.

With the gun secured in his right hand and pointed at the intruder’s temple, and his left hand wrapped around the woman’s mouth, Kade didn’t stop moving until he was halfway down the hallway and then he threw the woman into the wall, and used his forearm to hold her there.

The thud of her body meeting the wall sounded like a bomb going off in the otherwise silent house, but Kade wasn’t too concerned. The house was empty except for him and Logan. The servants had long gone home, leaving the house empty, as per Logan’s instructions. That was why he had chosen tonight to do some sneaking around. It was the first opportunity he’d had after nearly six months on the job.

After six long months of waiting and watching and the very night he made a move, some woman sneaked into the house and nearly killed Logan. Damn it! Kade wasn’t sure if he had shitty luck or if the universe was just having a joke at his expense.

“Don’t move!” he growled at the woman who didn’t care to listen and fought his hold. Kade pushed her back into the wall hard enough to steal her breath and make her gasp. “I said, don’t f*****g move!”

She finally went still for a moment. Kade took the time to make sure the revolver wasn’t c****d and then he tucked it into his waistband. Then he turned the woman around and slammed her back into the wall.

Unlike Logan’s room and most of the house where the lights were off, the hallway had several spaced-out dim lights left on to ensure there wasn’t total darkness in case someone had to walk out during the night. That meant Kade had a good enough view of the woman’s face as soon as she was facing him and what he saw stole the air right out of his lungs, as though he had been hit in the gut by a raging bull.

“What the hell? Al-” Kade blinked and stopped himself just in time not to blurt out her name. He wasn’t looking at a woman, but a girl. And not just any girl, but Aleah Nkhata. He hadn’t seen her in over a year and never this close, but he knew it was her without a shadow of a doubt. He knew because he had spent hours watching her like a creep.

Right now, her eyes were wide with fear because, unlike him, she didn’t know Kade. But even with terror dominating her beautiful brown eyes, he could still see the spark of determination in them. Her long, curly hair was tied back in a ponytail and tucked into the back of the hoodie she had worn. Kade blinked again and took in the black hoodie, black jeans, and boots she wore. What the hell was she doing in the Poverly house after midnight dressed like an assassin?

“Who sent you?” he blurted out because that was the only thing he could think of. He couldn’t imagine that Aleah would have turned to a life of crime out of the blue. He knew her and this wasn’t the girl he had kept an eye on for years. Of course, he had taken a step back in the last year, but still. Sudden anger flooded his veins and Kade ground his teeth together. He was going to rip to pieces whoever had sent her to do something this stupid. “Answer me.”

He watched her throat work as she swallowed, her eyes darting around them as though she were looking for an escape route. Just to be sure she didn’t get any ideas, Kade moved in closer and used his taller and more muscular frame to cage her against the wall. But not enough to touch her. He couldn’t do that. He wasn’t sure his control would hold if he did.

“Uhm.” Aleah hesitated and licked her lips. Kade’s eyes involuntarily fixated on that small action and he tensed at how much it affected him. She looked around again before meeting his eyes. “No one sent me.”

“You expect me to believe you just decided to break into this house with a gun dressed like a killer?”

In a blink and to his surprise, something changed in her expression. Gone was most of the fear she’d had just seconds before, and in its place was anger and frustration. It pulsed from her in palpable waves.

“You don’t know me and I don’t have to convince you of anything,” she hissed. “But my back was pressed to the wall, and I made a decision.” As though just remembering that her back was at that very moment literally pressed to the wall, she huffed and waved a hand. “I meant figuratively speaking.”

“I know what you meant,” Kade snapped, his anger still building within him as now he wondered what had happened to her in the last short months that she would resolve to such an act. He couldn’t tell her he actually knew her. Not like this. So, he went for the million-dollar question. “And what exactly got your back against the wall to inspire breaking and entering?”

Aleah frowned up at him. He had about a foot of height on her, so she had to look up at him and, Kade had to admit, he liked it. Just as much as he liked the fragrance of her filling his nose. She smelled like fresh oranges and it made his mouth water with the urge to just lean down and taste her lips, wondering if her mouth would taste like the juicy fruit. But he held back. This wasn’t the time to lose focus, Kade reminded himself. He still had to figure out what she was doing in the Poverly house.

“Well?” he pressed when she didn’t speak.

Her glare intensified, but thankfully, that got her talking again. “Are you going to call the police?”

Kade’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want me to? Do you want to be dragged out of here in cuffs like a criminal? Is this some ploy to get some attention?” he couldn’t believe she would do such a thing, but the question still left his lips.

“Do I look stupid?” Aleah snapped.

He arched his brow. “Right now, it’s hard to tell. I did find you in Logan Poverly’s bedroom in the middle of the night with a loaded gun. What was the plan? Hold him at gunpoint until he gives you money?”

“No.” Her lip curled in anger. “I’m only here because I would rather commit murder than marry the man!”

Her words stole the air from his lungs like another hit to the gut from the invisible bull he could now sense fuming inside him. Kade took a step back and shook his head as though he needed to reboot in order to make sense of her words. “Marry?” he croaked out. “Logan?”

Aleah threw her arms wide in an obvious show of frustration. “That’s what my grandfather said.” Aleah shook her head and then looked up at the ceiling and drew a deep breath before adding. “Alright. I agree I should have probably given this a little thought before acting on it… But I…” She shrugged. “For a second, I thought I could get rid of the problem. Bang. It’s done. I go on with my life.”

Kade really wanted to get rid of the problem. Especially since that problem involved Logan getting married to Aleah. But unfortunately, Logan Poverly couldn’t be murdered on his watch. He was the man’s goddamn bodyguard, for heaven’s sake. If anything happened to the bastard, Kade would be held responsible. And he wouldn’t complete his mission. He still had answers to find in the Poverly house.

Grinding his teeth hard enough to make his jaw ache, he took a step toward her again. Kade grabbed her elbow and began walking her down the hallway and away from Logan’s room. “You can’t kill him,” he said, in case his actions were not already clear enough.

Aleah fought his hold, even though it was futile, and huffed at him. “Obviously, I can’t kill him now that you have seen my face.”

Kade shook his head, leading her down the stairs. “Me seeing your face is the least of your worries. You are not even wearing a pair of gloves. I bet your fingerprints are all over this house right now. If you went ahead and murdered the man, you would be picked up before the end of the day and that would be the end of your life. Do you really want to exchange a wedding ring for a prison number?”

“I don’t want to marry the man,” she gritted out through clenched teeth.

Kade stopped them in front of the back door, which he realized must have been her point of entry. He studied her face for a second. “No one can force you into marriage,” he said, even though he knew that was a lie. He had heard of Charles, her grandfather, and he knew Jacob, Logan’s father. The two old men both held the infuriating assumption that they could force anyone to do their bidding.

Apparently, Aleah knew it too. She scoffed. “Do you think I would be here if that was true?”

“Probably not,” he conceded. “But this isn’t the solution. Talk to your mother. She could help.”

Kade watched as Aleah shook her head and sighed in resignation. “I don’t even know why I am here discussing this with you. You don’t understand and you don’t care. It’s not your problem.”

She was wrong. Kade thought, but he bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from saying it. The pain was welcome but the coppery taste of blood, not so much. This was now his problem. But there was nothing he could do about it at this time of the night. He needed more information, and Aleah needed to get home.

Kade opened the door and gestured to his other hand. “Go home.”