by Cynthia Eden
Time seemed to slow down. Dex tried to figure out his options.
Three steps ahead.
He was supposed to be three steps ahead. He’d always been so cocky. So confident. So sure he could manipulate and control everyone and everything.
But Lacey was in Jonathan’s arms. Jonathan was on the ledge. If he shot the bastard, Lacey would fall. If he didn’t shoot the bastard, Lacey would fall.
He’d wanted to protect her. By loving her, he’d put her at even greater risk. “She is my world,” he said simply. No lies. Only truth. “I want her back.”
“Then come and get her,” Jonathan taunted.
Then the bastard stepped off the edge of the roof.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“She is my world. I want her back.”
Lacey heard those wonderful, perfect words right before…
She felt movement. Jonathan—asshole bastard—was going to step off the roof. She knew it. Awareness had come back slowly for her. She’d heard distorted voices. Felt wind and snow blowing against her, then become aware of the tight grip on her body.
By listening to the conversation, she’d realized that Jonathan must have her near the edge of the roof.
And he was threatening to jump. To kill them both.
What can I do? Her body had been so heavy. She’d tried to move and jerk away from him, but all she’d managed was to wiggle a few fingers. All she’d managed—
“Then come and get her,” Jonathan said.
Oh, no. No. She knew he was jumping.
Her eyes flew open and she shoved her right hand into his throat, a fast, hard hit designed to close his air way.
He gasped, choked, and his hold on her eased as—
He fell. He was falling. She was falling. They were going over. Her hands flew out as she tried to find—
“Got you.”
A hard, powerful hand closed around her wrist. Her left wrist. Then her right. Her body was dangling over the side of the lodge, her feet kicking weakly because she didn’t have all of her strength back. When she looked down, she saw—
Jonathan.
No, no, she didn’t want to look down at his broken body. Her head whipped up.
Dex. Dex was there.
She wanted to look at him.
He was holding tightly to her left wrist. He’d caught her as she fell. And…
Roman was clinging to her right wrist.
“Pull up,” Lacey gasped out because both men seemed frozen. “Pull up now, please.”
They yanked her up. As soon as she was over that ledge, Lacey tore free of Roman and locked her arms around Dex. “I knew you were coming.”
His arms closed around her. His body was shaking, but she didn’t think it was from the cold.
“You went over,” he gasped out. “Baby, you were falling.”
She shook her head against him. “You caught me.”
“Ahem.” From Roman. “I helped, too. I hope we can all remember that.”
Dex’s hold tightened on her. “I fucking love you, Lacey.”
She felt her lips curving. She was freezing and terrified, but one thing was clear… “I love you, too, Dex.”
He jerked against her. Jolted as if electricity had hit him. He eased back. Tilted her chin up so that he could see her face.
More agents were spilling on the roof. She could see them all from the corner of her eye. They were watching. Waiting.
Dex was staring down at her as if he was having some kind of dream. Or nightmare. She wasn’t sure which one.
“You didn’t go over the edge. I-I didn’t lose you.”
“No, I didn’t.” Or, she had, but he’d brought her back.
“I didn’t lose my mind. This is real. You’re alive. You’re safe. You are safe with me?”
He was breaking her heart with the pain in his voice. She caught his head. Brought his mouth down to hers. She was freezing cold and there were snowflakes on her lips, but she kissed him. “I’m real.” Another kiss. “And I love you.”
His arms flew around her again. An unbreakable grip.
She held him back just as fiercely. Unbreakable. Damn straight they were.
***
“You probably want to get the hell out of here as fast as you can,” Roman murmured as he shifted nervously in the lodge’s suite.
Not the suite that Lacey and Dex had used before. Dex had gotten them moved to another location. She thought it might be the presidential suite or something. And, yes, Dex had assured her that they were getting the hell out of there ASAP. But first…
First, he’d arranged for her to talk privately with her brother.
Several hours had already passed since the madness on the roof. She had no idea what time it was. Didn’t care. The drugs were finally gone from her system, and she felt normal again.
Jonathan’s body had been taken away. Elizabeth was in custody. The case was over.
“I can’t believe he let you out of his sight,” Roman added. “I mean, with that death grip he had on you upstairs, I figured he’d be glued to your side.”
Death grip. “Let’s try to avoid the death references for the moment, shall we?” Because whenever she lowered her guard, the image of Jonathan’s twisted body hurtled through her mind. Lacey walked toward the fireplace and extended her shaking fingers toward the flames. “And Dex isn’t far away, I can promise you that.” Her head turned toward Roman. “That’s a new bruise under your eye.” She knew Larry had been stationed at the door of her current suite. Dex had already told her about how Roman had come to be on the roof in time for the takedown and rescue scene. “Guess you got a payback hit, hmm?”
Roman rubbed his hand over his jaw. “It was worth it. Getting up there to you—it would have been worth anything.” His hand fell. “Despite what you may believe, I’m not a total bastard. I’ve done plenty of things that I’m not proud of. But I’ve also done some good. I’ve—”
“I would like to get to know you. Dex told me that you were a person worth knowing.”
“He did? When?”
“Five minutes ago. Right before he asked if I wanted to see you or if I wanted to make you vanish from the face of the planet.” An absolute truth. So very Dex.
Roman blinked. “And you went for option A?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks for that.”
“You did grab my wrist on the roof.”
“I wasn’t going to let my sister die.”
Sister. She paced toward him. Studied him. “I’m guessing that isn’t your natural hair color?”
“Or my eye color. Contacts. Not my native accent, either. With the right tricks, I’ve been able to become dozens of different people. I’m a walking, talking chameleon.”
Her head tilted back.
“Our father was evil to his core. Our mom…she was right to leave him. To keep you away. I just…” He stopped.
But she knew what he’d been going to say.
I just wish she’d taken me with her.
Lacey didn’t know why her mom had made the decisions that she had. But she was sure she would learn more. And she’d use her family to help her with that discovery.
Her family…Eric Wilde. Ben Wilde. She wasn’t going to sneak around and use their resources. She’d tell them everything.
Her family…Dex. Dex was family. He held her heart. Their engagement had started out as only pretend, and they’d only been together for such a short time, but she couldn’t imagine her life without him. He would have her back. She knew it. He would also tear the world apart to find the intel that she needed. That was just her Dex.
Her family…Roman. Staring down at her with so much desperate hope and longing on his face. “You can come with me,” Lacey heard herself say.
He swallowed.
“Come into my world,” she invited him, and she meant the invitation. “Step away from the shadows. Leave whatever life you lived before—leave it behind. Everyone can have a fresh start. Including us.”
“I’ve got so many enemies out there. I brought Jonathan to you. I did this.” He shook his head. “You need to stay far, far away from me. I will just—”
“I thought you were a chameleon. That you could become anyone.” She wasn’t going to give up on him. “Become someone new. Come into my life.” It was time for him to leave the darkness behind. It clung to him so heavily.
“What will I do if I’m not working in the shadows? I’m not really cut out for much else.”
“Well, as to that…” She offered him a smile. “Turns out, you have more family than you probably know. We have a cousin who owns a protection business, and I bet he can find just the right job for you.”
“Provided your fiancé doesn’t throw me into one of his deep, dark holes somewhere.”
The door opened behind him. Dex strode inside.
“Speak of the devil,” Roman muttered.
“I gave you five whole minutes,” Dex snapped back. “Five minutes alone. I’ve been going out of my mind while I waited for you. Lacey was hanging over the edge of a freaking building tonight. Do you know what that does to a man’s self-control?” His gaze flew to Lacey. Warmed. He released a slow breath. “I just needed to see you again. If you want five more minutes, I can go back outside.”
“I’ll be damned.” Roman turned toward him. “That wasn’t some BS up on the roof. You weren’t just playing Jonathan in order to distract him so that I could get close.”
Dex stalked toward Lacey. “Is that what you thought I was doing?”
“It’s what I thought we were doing,” Roman replied. “We’ve played that game before. One distracts, the other acts. Especially when you put down your gun and offered him anything.” Disbelief and shock tinged his words. “You were dead serious, weren’t you?”
Dex stopped beside Lacey. “Dead serious.” He smiled at her. “I would do anything for you.”
Her heartbeat quickened.
Dex’s smile slipped as he angled his head to see Roman. “And I would do anything to protect her. So you try to pull any BS that hurts her, you stray from the line of the straight and narrow for even a second, you look sideways at her and—”
“You didn’t leave me with those bastards all those years ago, did you? You really did trade yourself for me?”
Dex didn’t reply.
Roman cleared his throat. Focused on Lacey once more. “You should marry him. I mean, for real. He’s a good man.”
“Did you strangle on those words?” Dex wanted to know. “Because they sounded a little painful.”
“He’ll protect you. He’ll fight for you. And even I can see that he loves you.” Roman backed away. “Dex, when you’re ready to deal, so am I. Any terms you want. I’ll give you all the information I have.” He hurried for the door.
“Deep down—like, way deep down—you’re a good man, too, Roman.” Dex reached for Lacey’s hand as he said those words.
Roman stilled.
“To be clear, though, I don’t just want information from you. I want my fucking friend back.”
Roman glanced over at him.
“I also want Lacey to have her brother. Don’t slip off and try to lose yourself in missions that turn deadly anymore. Try living a normal life here in the US.”
“Never been real good on normal.”
“I can help you,” Lacey said. This mattered. He mattered. She’d never forget how he’d looked when he was hanging over the side of the lodge, his eyes frantic as he and Dex hauled her back up. “You pulled me back from the edge. Now it’s my turn to help you.”
He stared at her a moment. Cleared his throat. “Technically, you were already over the edge.”
As crazy as it was, his comment made her want to smile. “I can see why you and Dex were once friends.”
His gaze slid to Dex. “We still are.”
They were?
“You treat my sister well, Dex, or I will kick your ass.” With that, Roman resumed his march for the door.
“Do I look scared?” Dex asked. He seemed curious. “Lacey, do I?”
She stared up at him. “No, love. You don’t.” In fact, the only time she’d ever seen him look scared…
Was when he was hanging over the edge of the roof, pulling me up.
The door clicked closed behind Roman.
Alone. With Dex.
He slowly exhaled, as if he’d been waiting for the chance to be alone with her. As she stared up at his face, Lacey saw his mask begin to slowly slip away. The cockiness vanished. The cool curve of his lips faded. The gleam in his eyes warmed even more.
And…
“God, I was fucking terrified.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. “I kept trying to get closer and closer to the ledge. I needed to get close enough to grab you. I just needed to grab you. And I was right there—” A shudder worked over the length of his body. “Right there when he stepped off the edge.”
Her arms wrapped around his waist. “You caught me. I didn’t fall.”
“I wasn’t letting go. I will never let go.”
She could feel the frantic beat of his heart. Or maybe that was her heart beating so wildly. Her head tipped back and she gazed up at him. “Neither will I.”
His gaze searched hers. “I need you.”
“I’m right here.”
“It’s…I’m shaking apart. I’m scared because I keep imagining that I didn’t get to you in time. I want to rip Jonathan apart. I want—”
“He’s dead,” she said softly. “And guess what I want?” She didn’t want rage and fear. “I want you.”
His eyelids flickered. “Baby, my control—”
“I don’t want control. Because I’m scared and angry, too. Because I want to feel the way that only you can make me feel.” She bit her lower lip. “How long until that private plane of yours is supposed to be here to get us?” She knew he’d made arrangements for it earlier.
He kissed her. His lips took hers, and his tongue thrust into her mouth, and she took that to mean…
They had enough time. Even if they didn’t, she was sure Dex would just make the plane wait.
He scooped her into his arms. She locked her legs around his hips even as her hands gripped his shoulders. The scene on the roof before had been a nightmare, but they’d survived. She’d been absolutely helpless. So weak on that roof.
The EMTs had checked her out after Dex had gotten her back downstairs. The drug had slowly passed from her system, and the doctor who’d arrived had given her the all-clear. But while the drug had been controlling her, she’d been so weak. A doll trapped in Jonathan’s arms.
She didn’t like being weak. That wasn’t who she was. She liked to fight. She liked to battle. She liked to kick ass just as much as Dex did.
But even as she’d come back to consciousness in Jonathan’s arms, she’d heard Dex’s voice and she’d known…
“I trusted you,” Lacey said against his mouth. Then she bit his lip because it was ever so bitable. “I knew you’d save me.”
His head lifted even as he walked forward and pinned her against the nearest wall. Her legs stayed locked around him. His hands were tight on her hips. “Baby…”
“Just like I’d save you.” She meant that with all her being. “I would do anything to save you.”
He kissed her again. A hot brush of his mouth over hers. “You did save me.”
No, she hadn’t. He’d been—
“You’ll probably never realize how much you’ve done for me. But believe me, Lacey, you saved me.”
Those words sounded almost as good as when he told her that he loved her. Oh, hell, they did sound that good. She kissed him again. Open-mouthed, deep, desperate.
They somehow managed to shove aside most of their clothing. A messy, jerking stripping. And he even got her to a bed. Then he was sliding those warm, strong hands of his all over her body. He was dipping his fingers between her legs. Making her arch up toward him. Making her breath catch and her hear
t race—“Dex.”
He looked up at her. Desire had turned his face savage.
Her fingers trailed over his chest. Down, down to his waist. To the thick cock that bobbed toward her.
She wanted to taste him. “Stretch out on the bed for me?”
His eyes narrowed. “Lacey, I will not last. I need you too much.”
“You don’t have to last. I want you. I want to taste you.”
His pupils seemed to swallow the gray of his eyes. He slid his fingers from her—one more stroke that had her gasping—and then he was stretching out on the bed. She straddled him. Caught his hands when they reached for her, and she pushed them back on either side of his head.
Her fingers trailed over his wrists. The faint scars there. He thought that she’d saved him? He was wrong. Dex had been saving the world long before she came along.
But from here on out, she’d be helping him with that job.
She pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. Then she made her way to his nipple. Sucking. Flicking with her tongue.
“Lacey.”
She took her time. Forget the plane. They deserved this.
Down, down, she slowly went. His cock shoved toward her, and she blew a soft, sensual breath over that heavy length.
His dick lifted even more, as if begging for her mouth.
And since her mouth wanted him…
She parted her lips and took him inside. She sucked and licked and tasted the faint saltiness on her tongue. Lacey loved the way he tasted. Loved the way he felt. She was getting more and more turned on with every stroke of her mouth over him and—
She was on her back. He was between her thighs. His cock pressed at the entrance to her body.
“No…condom…” His eyes blazed. “Give me a second…give me…”
“I’m on birth control. I’m clean.”
“So the fuck am I—I mean, shit, I’m not on birth control but—”
His ragged words pulled a laugh from her. She was on the hungry edge of desire, but she was able to laugh and it just felt great. He felt great. Right.