Whoa. Okay, so this was happening. Hugs from this woman were few and far between.

Stunned, I stood awkwardly in her embrace. Then I remembered myself and squeezed her back.

She felt so small and delicate. I’d forgotten how skinny she’d become after my father died. But she wasn’t breakable. Not Caroline Constantine. She was the strongest woman I knew.

When she released me, she straightened her hair and turned to Magnus. “Keep her safe.”

His gaze seized mine. “With every breath in my body.”

Chapter Three

Tinsley

I had a lot of time to think during the car ride. Magnus spent the duration on the phone, arranging lodging, conferring with his head of security, and making plans.

Sitting in the backseat beside him, with my hand tucked inside his, I made plans of my own.

We had a long list of suspects. But maybe I could eliminate the most dangerous one.

Magnus didn’t know the Morellis. He’d never met them, never so much as had a phone call with the family.

But I knew them. I could work that angle.

With Elaine’s help. My sister trusted Lucian Morelli. She loved him. And I trusted her.

I could set up a dinner meeting and get some answers.

Magnus wouldn’t like it. His protectiveness often prevented him from seeing reason. No matter how many times I reminded him we were a team.

I found it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. And so much hotter.

The thought conjured memories of the year I spent with him at boarding school. When he was Father Magnus, in his white collar and time-honored black on black, delving out his filthy punishments. When I was his student, bent over his desk in a schoolgirl uniform, begging for forgiveness and pushing him to the brink of madness.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

I would happily repeat those words just to feel the burn of his open palm across my ass.

The muscles between my legs pulsed, gathering heat and shivering sparks along my limbs. My breaths quickened, and his gaze shifted, finding mine in the darkness.

“I’ll call you back.” He disconnected the call, pocketed the phone, and murmured my name like a command. “Tinsley.”

“Magnus.”

His hand crept to my knee, and his fingers tapped the inside of my leg. Tap-tap-tap.

I swallowed a whimper and flexed my hips, aching for him.

In the next breath, he reached for me and pulled me onto his lap. His palms glided along my thighs, pushing the gown to my hips as he arranged my legs to straddle him.

“What dirty thoughts just went through your head?” He trailed a finger down my throat.

“I was thinking about your collar. I miss it.”

“You miss the collar? Or the forbidden danger that came with it?”

“All of it. The sneaking around. The fear of getting caught. The thrill in bringing a holy man to his knees.”