Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,82

her mind.

Give it to me, give me what I want, she heard him urge her. I’ll give you everything you’ve ever dreamed of. Your parents, they will love you again.

Oh God, he knew her deepest wish! And he was tempting her with it. He was trying to seduce her!

Leila fought against him, trying to expel him from her mind. She couldn’t succumb, no, she couldn’t allow it. Aiden trusted her to be strong. What he’d given her last night proved that. She couldn’t disappoint him.

With the last of her breath, she raised her knee and kicked him in the nuts.

He cursed violently, then behind him shouts rang out.

“Take that to hell!” Aiden cried triumphantly as a body made a loud thump on the floor.

Zoltan’s hand slid from her neck and caught in her necklace. The chain broke, tangling itself up in Zoltan’s fingers as he turned and tossed a glance over his shoulder.

Leila saw Aiden charging toward them, but before he reached them, Zoltan jumped out of the way and vaulted himself through the kitchen window as if he were a Chinese gymnast.

Horrified she touched her naked throat.

“Leila, are you all right?” Aiden pulled her into his arms, but she pushed against him instantly, cutting off the waves of pleasure that started pouring through her at his touch.

Behind him, Hamish appeared, a bloody gash on his chest, but otherwise unharmed.

“My necklace . . . Zoltan got my necklace,” she stammered. Her data, the last copy of her data was in the possession of the demon now. Devastation coiled her stomach into knots.

“Don’t worry about it. Demons love shiny objects to trade. It can be replaced,” Hamish calmed her.

She shook her head and lifted her eyes, tears brimming at their rim. “No. It can’t be. It can’t . . . ”

“Leila, my sweet, please, you’re in shock.” Aiden lifted his hand to reach for her hair but she shrunk back.

With fear in her heart, she shifted her gaze to him. “There’s a USB drive inside it.”

Aiden’s eyes widened, his body visibly tightening.

“It contains a copy of my research data. The last copy,” she confessed.

He didn’t say a single word, only stared at her, disbelief spreading in his eyes as realization sunk in.

“They don’t know what’s in it. Nobody knows. It’s hard to open if you don’t know how,” she stammered.

Aiden clenched his jaw, and a low hiss escaped him as he stared at her, disappointment in his gaze. “I trusted you.”

TWENTY-NINE

After burning the two demon bodies, they packed up and left the house, driving back to the portal. Aiden could barely look at Leila. He’d never been so disappointed in another person before. She’d lied to him all this time, all the while knowing what could happen. She’d deliberately kept the existence of the last copy of her research data hidden from him. Gods, she’d lied to his face. He’d been such a fool to trust her, to even admire her for the strength she’d shown when he’d thought she’d lost everything.

And to think that he’d made love to her and poured his power into her, his heart, his very soul. And she’d taken it all and tossed it to the dogs. As if it meant nothing to her.

He glanced at her as they entered the wine cellar. Her glow had dissipated. It was probably the one thing that had saved her and made her hold Zoltan off as long as she had. The demon Aiden had fought against had been stronger than others he’d encountered previously, and it had taken him longer to kill him than he’d expected. Hamish had had as much difficulty, and hadn’t been able to help Leila either.

But somehow Aiden could find no satisfaction in his latest kill, nor in the fact that Leila had fought so valiantly. Any other time he would have admired her for it. All he could focus on right now was that she’d betrayed him. He finally understood now how Hamish must have felt when he’d found out that his lover had deceived him about her feelings. How his heart must have shattered into a million pieces at the knowledge that he’d opened himself up to someone who didn’t deserve his trust.

As they stood in the portal now, he didn’t reach for Leila’s hand, but instead let Hamish guide her through the journey. He felt her shiver and recognized that her claustrophobia was encroaching on her again, but he couldn’t find it in him to pull her into his embrace. Too