by Cynthia Eden
He already knew that. Back at the cabin, when Roman had thought that Lacey might be dying, the man’s mask had ripped away. He’d broken in front of Dex.
“I didn’t exactly order Heather to knock me out and drag my ass up the mountain, either!” Roman raged. “She’s obviously working for someone else.”
“Exactly. You’re going to help me find that someone else. That’s why you’re not in that deep, dark hole…yet.”
Roman swallowed. “You’re going to send me in interrogation with Heather?”
“We’ll go in together. I want to know who is targeting my fiancée.”
“It’s not real. Stop calling her—”
“I should be clear. I have every intention of marrying Lacey Amari. I don’t know why you think it’s not real, but I assure you, she is mine.” He needed this message to be heard, understood, and taken to the grave. “I protect what’s mine. I guard it closely. And when someone tries to take what I value, I destroy the fool who made that mistake.”
A furrow appeared between Roman’s eyebrows. “You expect me to believe you care about Lacey? You’ve never cared about anyone in your life.”
“What I expect you to do is believe what I tell you. Someone hurts Lacey, I destroy that person. Simple enough.” A pause. “You hurt her in that suite. I let you speak to her because Lacey wanted the truth.”
“Truth freaking hurts, man.”
Dex lifted his hand and pushed the knife he carried—a weapon he’d had hidden until this moment—against the front of Roman’s shirt. Right over his heart.
Roman went absolutely still.
“Oh, do I have your attention now?” Dex asked silkily. “How wonderful.”
Roman didn’t even seem to be breathing.
“You wanted your sister. After your father died, you came to me. You begged for my help because her trail was ice cold. All you had was an old photograph. A twenty-year-old plus photograph. You didn’t even have a name. I told you I’d find your sister. I kept my word.” He pressed the tip of the blade into Roman’s shirt. Let it nick the skin. “Now you get to keep your word. Do you remember the offer you made to me?”
The flicker of his lashes said that Roman did.
“Good,” Dex praised. “So start keeping up your end of the deal. First thing you can do is go downstairs and stay with Larry until I join you. Remember Larry? I’m sure you do. When I come meet you, we’ll head in for a not-so-fun little chat with your bodyguard.” He slowly released the other man. Then Dex turned his back on him. A deliberate move.
“She didn’t know about me?” A rough, angry question. “Lacey had no idea that her brother was out there?”
His hand had already extended toward the suite’s door. Those cracks in the wood were a problem. He’d need to get a new door installed ASAP. “None.”
“You believe her? Or is Lacey lying?” Pain creaked in the words.
Dex couldn’t imagine what it had been like for Roman, growing up as he had. And he knew that Roman blamed his mother for leaving him to that hell. Part of Roman also blamed… “Don’t do it,” Dex warned him quietly as he looked back.
“Do what?” Roman’s chin jutted up.
“I see it in your eyes. The longing for a family. For someone to love you. To accept you, scars and all.”
“Screw you. I don’t need anyone to love—”
“You want her love, but you hate her at the same time, and that’s going to be a major problem. Because I can’t have your hate around her. Lacey is not to blame for anything that happened. She never had a choice. No, I don’t think she knew about you. Lacey values family. She values it one hell of a lot.” So much that he’d been able to use that against her. Fuck me. “If she’d known, Lacey would have been the one hunting you.”
Hope flared in Roman’s eyes, only to be quickly smothered away. “Always manipulating, aren’t you?”
“Not this time. Take my advice. Don’t mess this up. Don’t let that hate in you win. Do us both a favor, would you?”
Roman waited, as if he was actually curious to see what Dex would ask for in a favor.
Dex held his stare then said, “Don’t be your father’s son.” Without another word, he left Roman. He shut the door quietly behind him.
***
Roman didn’t move. His hands clenched and released, over and over again. His knuckles burned—mostly because he’d bruised and bloodied them when he’d tried so hard to get into the suite earlier.
He stared at the door. His sister was behind that door. A sister with his mother’s eyes. His mother’s cheeks. Her hair.
The mother who hadn’t wanted him.
The sister who…hadn’t known he ever existed?
When he’d thought that Lacey was dead on that mountain, that she was slipping away before he ever got to know her, he’d been terrified.
“Ahem.” A throat cleared behind him. He’d known the agents had returned.
He sucked in a breath, then turned and stormed by them. He had once made a deal with Dex, and, dammit, he’d keep that deal.
Or he’d die trying.
Knowing Dex as he did, death was a definite possibility.
Roman stomped into the elevator.
“Perfect timing,” Larry said with a grin.
Fuck. Of course, he was there. Tall, built like a friggin’ tank, with a gleaming, bald head.
“Dex wanted me to keep an eye on you. Said I should plan to be in this elevator because you’d be coming to me.”
Dex. Always playing ahead of everyone else. He’d known that Roman would demand to see Lacey. He’d had his guard dog Larry waiting in the wings. “Screw off, Larry.”
“You know, I still carry the scar from that knife wound you gave me.”
The elevator was descending.
Larry’s fist slammed toward his face.
Because…why the hell not?
“Payback,” Larry piped up happily. “Now, be good and don’t call me a guard dog again. Hurts my feelings.”
“Where the hell are you taking me?” Now his lip was bleeding even worse.
“Your girlfriend is waiting downstairs.”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he muttered. “She attacked me last night.”
Larry merely lifted a brow. “Do you ever think you might bring out the worst in people?”
All the damn time. “Screw off, Larry.”
Chapter Twelve
She had her bag packed. Her fingers curled around the handle of her rolling luggage, and Lacey stared straight ahead with determination clear to see on her face.
Uh, oh. Dex approached her slowly. “Are we going somewhere?”
“No.”
“Good.” He exhaled in relief. “Because, you know, when I saw the luggage, I immediately thought we were—”
“There is no we. I’m leaving. Me. Just me.”
Hard no, baby. Hard no.
“I’m getting out of this nightmare. I’m getting on a plane. I’m going home.” She pulled her luggage forward. The wheels rolled across the floor. Her chin stayed up, her spine remained perfectly straight, and the tension poured off her in waves.
Dex stepped to the side so that he didn’t block her path. With one hand, he motioned toward the door. “You are free to leave. You are certainly not my prisoner.”
A snort.
His eyes narrowed. Normally, he loved that cute sound. This time…okay, fine, I still think it’s oddly sexy but…she doesn’t believe me. He’d never intended for Lacey to be his prisoner. “You are absolutely free to get on a plane and head back to your old life. But, if you leave, then you won’t find out why Heather Madding tried to kill you.”
He saw her hesitate.
“I’ll find out, though,” he rushed to reassure her. “Don’t you worry about that. I am on the case. I’ll find out, and I’ll be sure to call you up and tell you what happened. So just go and wait for that call. Probably a good idea.” He nodded for emphasis.
“You’re playing me.�
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“What?” Dex put his hand to his chest. “I would never.”
Her head cocked to the side. “My morning has sucked.”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “I can see how it hasn’t been stellar.”
“You think?”
Dex exhaled and dropped his act. “What can I do?”
Her hair slid over her shoulder. “Why did you want me to play dead?”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“After I was shot on the mountain, you wanted me to keep my eyes closed. You didn’t want me to move. You wanted me to act as if I’d been shot in the chest. Why?”
“Because if you were dead, then no one else would try to hurt you. Or, rather, if whoever the hell hired Heather believed you were dead, then that would buy me time to hunt down the bastard.”
“You don’t think she was acting on her own.”
He laughed. Turned away and headed for the window. He stared out at the mountains and wondered just who waited beyond his sight. “Heather is more of a for-hire kind of person. I warned Roman about her once. Told him that I thought her loyalties would always be for sale, but he didn’t believe me. He should have listened.”
“You…hold on, were you and Roman friends?” Her voice was closer because she’d crept up behind him.
She’d come to him. Not gone for the door.
“I don’t have many people who truly fit the definition of friend.” An honest statement, for her. “But once upon a time, yes, I trusted him. He trusted me. That’s why when he learned he had a sister, Roman came to me for help in finding you.”
Silence. Then, voice halting, Lacey told him, “You know I’m furious with you for hiding my past from me. I want to scream at you and call you every single name I can think of—and I can think of lots of names. Like, a whole lot.”
Squaring his shoulders, he faced her. “Do it.”
She didn’t.
“Yell at me,” Dex urged. “Tell me what a bastard I am. Get it out.”
She’d let go of her luggage. With her eyes on him, she closed the last bit of distance between them. Her eyes were wide and deep. Her scent wrapped around him, and Dex wanted so badly to reach out and curl his hands around her shoulders. To pull her close and never, ever let go.
“Am I just some pawn to you?” Her question was husky. “That’s what Roman said I was. Am I only a pawn to be moved around while you play your chess game with some enemy in the dark?”
“A pawn?” He had to laugh at the ridiculous idea. “No. Baby, you’re the fucking queen.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“The most important piece. The most powerful one. The one I would protect at all costs.”
“And here I thought the queen protected the king,” she murmured back. “Actually, I thought she covered the asses of every other piece on the board.”
“She does. That’s why she’s the most powerful. Everyone wants the queen.” I will always want you. “I didn’t tell you the full truth for a lot of reasons. The main reason? I knew it would hurt.”
“How would you be hurt by—”
“You would be hurt. Not me. You.” But he’d discovered that her pain hurt him. Interesting. After years of being invulnerable, he’d found that his Achilles’ heel was a sexy brunette. “When I learned how much you loved your dad, Jason…when I learned how much you wanted to find the person responsible for your parents’ deaths, I knew the truth would hurt you. The more I got to know you, the more I hated to bring you pain. I always intended to tell you what happened to them. That wasn’t a lie. I was going to keep up my end of the deal. But I wanted to tell you in a way that would cause the least amount of pain.”
“You kinda failed there.” She looked away.
He didn’t. He kept staring at her because there was nothing else he wanted to see. Just her. “The second reason I didn’t tell you is because I don’t trust Roman.”
Her attention seemed to be on the mountains. “He obviously doesn’t trust you, either.”
“And the third reason is because I am working a classified case, and I know that’s not what you want to hear—”
Her gaze jerked angrily back to his.
“But it’s true. The case isn’t over. There are people I must bring down. Dangerous people. I need Roman’s cooperation in order to get that done. You’re the key to his cooperation, Lacey. If you stay with me, we can end this. Just a few more days, that’s all I’m asking.”
Her mouth opened.
Fearing an angry refusal, he rushed to add, “I know it’s asking a lot.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I need your help. But I will not make you stay. I’d never do that. Your choice. Walk out the door if you want and don’t look back.” But I’ll send a security detail to make sure you’re safe until I’m satisfied this mess is over. “Or stay with me and let’s take down the bastard who ordered the hit on you.”
She studied him in silence. He couldn’t see past the veil of her dark eyes. What was she thinking?
Just how much does she hate me?
And why did it matter so much that she did?
Because I liked it when Lacey smiled at me. Because the world felt less dark when we worked together, and I was finally starting to feel like someone understood me.
“I want a new deal.”
He blinked. Well, her response hadn’t been a straight up no so… “Name your terms. You want money? I can pay.” A lot. He had plenty of personal resources that he could put into play in order to—
“You’ll pay me with intel. With that limitless supply of knowledge you seem to access.” A brisk nod. “You’ll help me figure out why my mother—if Roman is my brother, if she was his mother—you’ll help me figure out why my mother left him and never told me about him. You’ll help me figure out how she could have lived a lie for so long with me and my dad, but still been going back to visit that—that other man. Gideon Valentino.”
“Done.” An immediate answer.
“I’m not finished with my demands.”
Didn’t she get it? He would agree to anything for her.
It took a moment for the full ramifications of that thought to sink in. Holy shit. I would do anything she wanted.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She squinted at him.
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve never seen me before.”
“I always see you.” I just didn’t always realize how important you would be to me. I will never make that mistake again. “Continue with the blackmail.”
“I—” She stopped. “I am not blackmailing you.”
“I don’t mind the dirty words. Keep going.”
“I am not blackmailing you.”
“You’re saying you’ll only help me if I agree to your terms. That’s fair. Turnabout and all that. I got you. No worries.”
“Dex…”
“You’re not crying any longer.”
She retreated a step.
“There were tears still gleaming in your eyes a few moments ago. Even one that trickled down right…here.” His fingers slid ever so gently over the curve of her cheek. Then lingered. “But the tears are gone now. I think fighting with me—blackmailing me—is good for you.”
Understanding flashed across her face. “A few moments ago, you wanted me to call you names.”
A shrug of one shoulder. “I deserve them.”
“Even now, you’re trying to distract me from feeling so hurt.”
“Is it working?” He loved touching her skin. His fingers slid down a little more.
Her hand flew up and curved around his wrist. “Yes. It is working. I don’t feel like my heart has been cut out any longer. I feel like I want to get out there and find out what the hell is going on.”
Because she was back in fighting form. His Lacey was a fighter. That was one of the things he loved most about her.
Loved? Wow. Hold the freaking phone…had he—
“Demand number two…you don�
�t try seducing me.”
He felt real alarm pulse through his body. “You don’t want to be with me anymore?” Hell, sure she didn’t. She was furious. Might even hate him. Not normally a problem because there were a whole line of folks who felt that way about him but—
“I don’t want to be manipulated, Dex. If having sex with me last night was just some way of—of getting back at Roman, then I—”
He locked his hands around her waist, lifted her up, pinned her to the nearby wall, and kissed her. His tongue thrust past her lips, tasted the sweetness that he absolutely craved with every fiber of his being, and for a time, he just took.
She kissed him right back. With an angry passion at first. As if she were mad about the fact that she wanted him. But then the kiss changed.
Her fingers sank into his hair. Her body pressed closer to his. A sweet and sexy moan slipped from her as her legs rose and curled around his hips. She tasted so good. His best dream. He thrust his tongue into her mouth. Licked. Savored.
Lust surged through his body. He wanted to take her. Right then. Right there. He—
His mouth pulled away from hers. It took all of his strength, but he made his head lift. “Be clear about this. When I have sex with you, Roman is the last thing on my mind.” Hell, no, he hadn’t been trying to get back at Roman.
“Dex—”
“I want you. Have since the first moment we met. You want the truth?” He kissed her again. A deep, drugging kiss. “I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you. Sex with you isn’t about manipulation. It’s kind of about survival.” Another kiss. “Last night, I needed to fuck you as much as I needed to breathe.” His hands were tight around her waist. “If you want to talk about seduction, all you have to do is crook that finger of yours at me, and you can consider me seduced.”
Her eyes stared into his. Her cheeks had flushed, and her lips were red and plump from his mouth.
“You can forget demand number two,” he rasped. He wanted her mouth again. Always. “Whenever you want me, say the word, and I’m yours.” I want you to be mine, Lacey. He bit that part back, barely. Because when he thought about Lacey being his, he wasn’t just talking about a hot time in bed.
He was talking about forever.