Page 9 of Air of Seduction

“Thank you,” I whisper, taking in the calm and confident expression on his face. He seems to believe what he’s saying, even if I’m not sure I can.

“Did you get the address from Aidan?”

I open my mouth to answer him when I notice he’s looking in the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” Lucas answers. “Horton Road, just north of London Fields. I think we should park the car near the south end and walk from there, not to draw too much attention to ourselves. A big black SUV parking directly outside the door might tip them off if they’re not sleeping.”

Ronan nods. “Okay. Let’s do that.”

The next few minutes, we drive in silence, but I’m all too aware that he’s still holding my hand. He’s made no attempt to pull it out of my grip.

I’m thankful for the care he’s showing me. I needed some encouragement to get out of my own head, and he gave itwithout hesitation. Even though I get the feeling he wants to keep his distance. At least emotionally. This man is broken.

Again I feel this urge to help him. To make him happy. To restore him to his former self, which I think I saw a glimpse of at breakfast. But right now my focus has to be on Olivia.

The drive is smooth and without any detours. Ronan clearly knows London much better than I do, but then I don’t have a car and seldom go to places I don’t already know. Like most Londoners, I use the tube or the bus to get to wherever I need to go. Just the thought of driving myself in this city with all its narrow streets and people wandering into the road everywhere makes the hair at the back of my neck stand up.

Ronan throws me a glance and gives my hand a squeeze. “We’re almost there.”

I pull in a deep breath and give him a smile. “Good. I’m ready to do something instead of sitting here, waiting.”

“No rushing in there, though. You stay behind me at all times, no exceptions.” He gives my hand another squeeze but this time it’s more in warning than encouragement.

“I will.”

“We’ll bring up the rear,” Lucas adds from the back seat.

“And we’ll burn whoever tries to get to you.” Erica chuckles.

My brows pull together in a frown.Burn.Did they bring a flamethrower or something? I didn’t see them take anything. In fact, I haven’t seen any of them carry a weapon of any sort. But after what I observed Ronan do with his bare hands before dawn this morning, I guess they don’t need any. Unlike me, who probably couldn’t win against a vampire, even with a weapon.

“We’re here.” The car comes to a stop, and Ronan turns his head to give me a stern look. “I know I’ve already warned you, but just to be clear, if you do anything to put yourselfin unnecessary danger, I’ll carry you outside and tie you to a lamppost.”

My lips part on a shuddering exhale as something tingles low in my belly, and it has nothing to do with anger or apprehension. At any other time, I would happily let this man tie me up and do whatever he wants with me. But unfortunately, that’s not what he meant.

I don’t want my voice to betray his effect on me, so all I do is nod.

“Good.” He lets go of my hand, and I reluctantly release him.

After we exit the car, I walk next to Ronan up the street with Lucas and Erica in front. We stop outside a unit that looks exactly like all the others. There’s a tiny front yard separated from the sidewalk by a waist-high hedge, but there’s no gate barring the path to the door.

Lucas steps up to the door and does something that I can’t see. But less than thirty seconds later, he backs up a few steps and turns to nod at Ronan.

The blond man next to me saunters over to the door and puts his hand on it, and it swings open without a sound. Whatever Lucas did to unlock it, it worked like a charm.

Chapter 6

Ronan

I quickly scan what I can see of the interior of the house before I cross the threshold. It’s worn but tidy.

The narrow hall is partly filled up by the stairs going up to the second floor. The door at the end of the hall is open to what looks to be a kitchen bathed in natural light.

I take another step. The door to the front room is closed, but I doubt there’s a vampire hiding in there, since I could make out the interior of the room from outside through the thin curtains.

So, that leaves the upstairs, and if there is one, the basement.

I make my way to the door beneath the stairs and open it carefully. The space is filled with shelves of all kinds of junk, but there are no stairs going down to a basement. I squat and examine the floor but can’t find a trapdoor.