by Cynthia Eden
Tom blinked. “You’re not…here for a deal?”
“There won’t be any deals with you. You’re exactly where you belong—and exactly where you’ll stay…until you die.”
Tom’s smug look was long gone.
“How long do you think you have?” Victor mused. “Before a hit is taken out on you?”
Tom licked his lips. “I have a…lot of information…on Luther…on—”
“Luther’s prison is my next stop. I have to go break the news to him about his daughter. Tell me, how do you think he’ll react? To knowing that you ordered the kill?”
Tom’s breath hitched, coming faster and faster. “I wasn’t going to let her leave again. I got her back. Worked too hard. She wasn’t going to leave again. You knew the deal. You were supposed to walk away. She stayed. That was the arrangement. She stayed.”
Victor glanced around the small cell. “And now you’ll stay here. Have fun.” He turned on his heel and headed for the exit.
“Wait!”
He kept walking.
And Tom started laughing. “You…loved her, didn’t you? Sonofabitch…I see it now. You weren’t just using her. You’re so fucked up in the head because she’s gone. You’re broken. The big, bad agent. All lost because Zoe is gone.”
Victor looked back at him. “You loved her, too.”
That stopped Tom’s laughter.
“And you broke when she left you. That’s how you became this sick thing that I see now. You couldn’t handle life without her.”
“I was getting her back…”
“You became the same monster she’d always hated.” Victor’s lips curled in disgust. “Know this, though. At the end, Zoe loved me. Me. Despite everything, she still loved me.” He flexed his fingers. “And I will always love her.” He exhaled slowly. “Enjoy life behind bars. You deserve every bit of hell that you have coming.” Once more, he started walking toward the exit—and toward the uniformed guard who waited there.
“I want to make a deal!” Tom shouted.
Victor motioned for the guard to open the door.
“Did you hear me? I want a deal! I’ll talk! Give me a deal! Get me out of here!”
The guard opened the door.
“I want a deal!”
“Too fucking bad,” Victor said without looking back. “Because I already told you, I don’t deal with the devil. Not anymore.”
He left that cell. Marched outside and wasn’t particularly surprised to find two familiar cops waiting for him. Cain Blair and Michelle Lane. Michelle still had bruises on her body, leftover reminders of her time with Tom. Victor was sure that was she was itching for some alone time—and payback—with the guy.
Cain stared at him, pity in his eyes. Victor had been getting that look a lot lately. His heart ached every single time he saw it.
Cain strode toward him and offered Victor his hand. “I’m sorry it didn’t end…differently.”
Victor didn’t speak. He just nodded as he took the guy’s hand.
“I hear you’re opening a private firm. Good luck with that, man,” Cain told him quietly. “If there’s ever anything I can do for you, just say the word.”
The guy was a good cop. Solid. “Thank you.”
Cain stepped back. And Michelle…a tear slid down her cheek. “She was my friend,” she said, her voice husky. “Did she know that? Did she realize it? Zoe wasn’t just a case. She was always more to me. She cared about me.” Her breath hitched. “She was my friend.”
That ache in Victor’s chest grew worse as he stared into her tear-filled eyes.
“Tell me…” Michelle begged. “Please tell me that at the end…she knew. I don’t want her to have died, thinking—”
Victor swallowed. “She knew. She knew the truth about us both.” He hoped that Zoe had known when she was fighting to live and her blood was pumping out so quickly. “We loved her.”
Michelle nodded. Then she threw her arms around him, holding him tightly. “I’m so sorry that she’s gone.”
“Me, too.” He didn’t move within her embrace. He couldn’t. Pain held him in check. The pain in his heart—a heart that would never be the same after Zoe. “Me…too.”
***
Two days later…
Luther Bates.
Mob boss. Criminal mastermind. Prisoner.
Victor sat across the table from the famed killer, a cold knot heavy around his heart. He stared into Luther’s eyes…the eyes of Zoe’s father.
He hated the bastard.
“Is it true?” Luther asked him, tilting his head. “Is my Zoe dead?”
Victor stared back at him. After a long moment, he said, “Is it true…you once tried to kill my Zoe?”
Luther’s eyelids flickered.
Hold onto your control. Victor mentally counted to ten, then said, “Xavier Thomas Winters is the man who ordered the hit on Zoe. He’s the same man who wanted Zoe to come in this prison and slit your throat…the same way that you slit the throat of Zoe’s mother.” Beneath the table, his hands were tight fists. Zoe had been dealt so much pain in her life.
She’d deserved joy. She’d deserved freedom.
She’d gotten screwed by everyone. Used too much. Hurt too often.
I am sorry, Zoe.
“Did Zoe tell you about that?” Luther’s voice had gone low, ragged. Before Victor could respond, Luther leaned forward. He rested his cuffed hands on the table. “I try not to think about that day. She was going to leave me…going to take Zoe away. Never let me see my blood again.”
Like that would have been a bad thing.
“I’ve done plenty of dark things in my life. But Zoe…no matter what I did…no matter what I did to her, she stayed good.” Luther’s bound hands slammed onto the table top. “My one good thing.” He hit the table again, harder. “My one good thing.” Again, a hit hard enough to make the table top crack. “My. One. Good. Thing.”
The prison guard stepped forward, but Victor waved him away. “You should cooperate with the FBI now.”
Luther’s hands spread out over the cracked table.
“Cooperate with them,” Victor said. “A new agent, Lauren Ward, will be taking over your case. Tell her what she needs to know. You owe the FBI that much.”
Luther’s head snapped back. “A new agent? Where the hell are you going?”
“Someplace else. Someplace far the hell away.”
Luther’s gaze swept over his face. “You look like shit.”
“Huh. Yeah, I feel that way, too.” He forced his hands to unclench. Zoe’s face flashed in his mind’s eye. “She wasn’t just good. Zoe was perfect.” Too perfect for me, but I still wanted her.
“Heard you were there…at the end.”
Victor assessed Luther and said, “You hear a whole lot for a man living behind bars.”
“Tom Winters will pay for what he did.” A faint smile tilted Luther’s lips. “Perhaps he’s paying right now.”
Victor stiffened. Was the guy saying he’d already ordered Tom’s death?
“I disgust you,” Luther said, still with his head cocked as he studied Victor. “Yet you…loved her? My daughter?”
I will always love her. “Zoe was nothing like you.”
Luther’s gaze dropped to the table. “No,” his voice was soft. Sad. “She was like her mother.”
“The woman you killed, in front of Zoe. You sick fuck. Zoe deserved so much better. She should have been happy. She shouldn’t have been hunted. She should have been living her life any way she wanted. With a safe home. With a family that loved her. With everything she wanted.”
Luther wasn’t looking at him. “We both knew she’d never have that while she lived. My daughter couldn’t.”
The hair on the nape of Victor’s neck rose. “Your daughter is dead, and we are done. You will never be seeing me again.” He pushed to his feet and stared down at Luther Bates.
Slowly, Luther looked up at him. Were the guy’s eyes wet? No way. No damn way. Not this g
uy—the guy who’d made Zoe’s life hell. Luther was a psychopath. He didn’t—
“Thank you,” Luther whispered.
Victor didn’t say another word. He turned on his heel. Walked out of that prison. Kept walking until he was at his car. He never let his expression alter. He cranked the car, curled his hands around the steering wheel, and drove away.
Zoe…
***
Three days later…
Victor closed the suite door. He could hear the roar of the ocean. The waves were beating against the beach down below. The cold chill of Vegas was long gone. Hawaii was warm. Beautiful.
A perfect escape.
“I was wondering when you’d show up…”
He looked up—and into the most beautiful green eyes that he’d ever seen. Zoe stood in front of the open balcony doors. Her arms were at her sides, and a blue cast covered her right wrist. Her face was still too pale for his liking, but she was so gorgeous. The most perfect thing he’d ever seen.
And she was alive. Despite what so many others thought…Zoe had survived, and now she was free. He’d had to be so careful getting to her. He hadn’t been able to leave when she was flown out of Vegas—flown on Drake’s private plane with Drake’s own physician, a guy who’d been paid extremely well to forget Zoe’s existence.
Victor had tied up all the loose ends. Made sure that the world believed Zoe was gone.
After all, he knew how to make a person vanish. He’d done it before.
“Victor?” Zoe frowned at him. “Are you all right?”
He leaned back against the door. No, he wasn’t all right. Because she had nearly died, and he’d almost lost her. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here. You have a habit of running away.”
She laughed and that sweet sound made the ice melt from his heart. “Who runs from paradise?”
He wanted to run to her. To wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. But he’d screwed things so completely with her. He had to make amends. He would spend the rest of his life making everything perfect for her. “I’m sorry.”
Her expression was guarded. “For what, exactly?”
“Lying.” He took a tentative step toward her. “Keeping secrets.” Another step. “Not being good enough for you.” Because he knew that he never would be.
A furrow appeared between her brows.
“But most of all…” Another step. She hadn’t backed away, thank Christ. “I’m mostly sorry that I didn’t tell you I loved you sooner. Because, Zoe, I do love you. I love you so much. I—”
“I know.” Again, her voice was soft. “I heard you…” Her left hand rose and brushed lightly over her stomach. Over the wound that he knew was still covered in stitches. “I heard you talking to me in the ambulance.”
He could almost touch her, but fear held him back. “There’s something you need to know.” Before anything else happened, he had to tell her this part. He’d sworn to never keep another secret from her again. “It’s about Luther.”
He saw her tense.
“I think…I think he may suspect that you’re still alive.”
“Why?” Fear broke in her voice. “What makes you say that?”
“The way he responded.” We both knew she’d never have that while she lived. My daughter couldn’t. Luther’s words kept replaying in his head. “But Luther isn’t going to say anything. He wants the world to think you’re dead. That way, no more hits will ever be put on you. You’re safe now. You can have any life that you want.”
“Can I?” There was doubt on her face.
“Yes.” He’d make sure she got her dreams. Every one of them.
“The problem is,” she murmured. “I don’t know just what life I do want now.”
Victor knew what he wanted. He was staring at her. “Is it too late?”
“Too late for what?”
“Us.” The one word was ragged. “Too late for us to have a chance. A future. Because, Zoe, that’s what I want. All I want. To be with you. To make you happy. To have you look at me—” But he broke off.
Zoe inched closer to him. “To look at you…how?”
“With trust in your eyes. With love. To look at me…and see someone worth loving.”
“Victor…”
She was going to tell him no. “Please.” He was begging her. He’d never begged for anything. Only for her. Always for her. “I can make this right. I can do anything you want. I can—”
A knock sounded on the door.
Zoe tensed.
“It’s okay,” he told her quickly. “It’s just…” He turned away and hurried toward the door. “It’s just for you.” Victor opened the door.
Saxon Black stood on the threshold. Saxon—his chosen brother. Tall and strong and with one serious go-to-hell edge, Saxon had been his friend on the streets and then his partner at the FBI. But Saxon wasn’t alone. He’d brought his wife Elizabeth with him.
Elizabeth…Zoe’s half-sister. And Elizabeth was very obviously pregnant.
“Zoe…” Victor cleared his throat. “There is someone you need to officially meet.” Time to start eliminating all of the secrets. Time to make amends. “Zoe, this is your half-sister, Elizabeth.”
There was dazed shock in both women’s eyes as they stared at each other.
And…
Beneath the shock…there was more. Recognition.
Hope?
Zoe offered her left hand to Elizabeth. Her fingers trembled.
“Victor…” Saxon began, his voice rough and angry.
“Secrets just destroy,” Victor said. “So let me see if the truth can help everyone to heal.”
***
She wasn’t alone any longer.
Zoe stood on the balcony, her gaze on the beach below. Elizabeth was gone, but her half-sister had assured her that she would be back, very soon.
Elizabeth was her family. The baby that Elizabeth carried—a little girl—she would be Zoe’s niece.
I’m not alone.
The pain she’d felt for days had finally faded. Her heart was beating so fast, and a smile wouldn’t leave her face. She knew life wasn’t going to be perfect. Nothing was ever perfect. But…things were better.
For the first time since her mother had died, Zoe thought about the days that would come with hope.
Footsteps shuffled behind her. She didn’t look over her shoulder. She knew Victor was there. Silent, strong Victor.
Victor…who said that he loved her.
“You shouldn’t overdo,” he told her carefully. “Your doctor said that you had to rest and recover.”
Her hand curled around the wooden balcony. “I’m not overdoing.”
“You’re not thinking about jumping over that balcony and running, are you?” He moved closer to her. His words only sounded as if he were half-kidding.
She considered the idea of running and found…no, she didn’t want to run. She wanted to stay exactly where she was. “Will I be getting a new home here in Hawaii?”
“Yes. As soon as you’re feeling stronger, I’ll take you out and we’ll find the perfect place.”
The perfect place for her…or them? “Where will you be?” She turned to look at him. “Heading off on another case?”
Victor shook his head. Night had fallen, and a thousand stars glittered over them. “I’m done with the FBI. I’m starting my own business, and I can run it from any location I want.”
“So where do you want to be?”
His hand lifted and his fingers skimmed down her cheek. “I want to be where you are.”
Her heartbeat drummed even faster.
“I would trade everything I have to take away the pain I caused you,” he whispered as he stared down at her. “I want to make you happy. I want to prove myself to you. I want you to love me again.”
To love him again? “Victor…” She shook her head.
His hand fell away. He stepped back. She could feel his pain in that instant. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “So fucking sorry.” He
turned away.
She grabbed his arm. “I never stopped loving you. That isn’t how it works.”
He looked back. “Zoe?”
“I love you. I love you, but if you ever keep another secret from me again, I will totally make your life an utter living hell, do you understand me?”
“You love me?”
“Do you understand me?” Zoe jabbed his chest. “Because you don’t keep secrets from the people you love. You share everything. Good. Bad. The stuff in the middle. That’s what you do when you make a life with someone.”
“I want to make a life with you.” His words fired out in a rush. “I want everything…with you.”
She smiled up at him. During her time on the island, she’d been able to do a whole lot of thinking. And she’d realized…
I want Victor with me.
“I love you,” he told her, voice so rough and dark. “I always will.”
She stopped jabbing his chest and instead, her fingers curled around his shoulder. “And I will always love you.” She rose onto her toes and kissed him. Not a wild and passionate kiss.
Softer. Sweeter.
A kiss that made her whole body feel warm. Feel safe. Feel…
Loved.
Victor Monroe. Ex-FBI bad-ass. Ex-street fighter. All around trouble.
And he was hers.
That hope in her heart blossomed even more. Yes, she really couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring…what would happen in the days ahead.
Because the new life that was waiting? It was hers. Her life with Victor. Her life free of Luther’s dark influence.
Her life.
And she would protect it…protect that chance at happiness…at all costs.
Victor wrapped her in his arms and held her close.
Just where she wanted to be.
***
“Zoe…”
Her name was soft. Husky.
“Zoe, baby, I have a present for you.”
Her eyes fluttered open. She found Victor sitting on the bed, holding a very large box in his hands. A familiar box.
“I just wanted to give you something,” he whispered, “to make you happy.”
She sat up in bed, holding the sheet close. She lifted the lid off the big, white box. Saw the feathers.
Her costume. He’d actually brought the costume? Her fingers slid over the feathers. “It’s really nice,” she told him, swallowing the lump in her throat. “But there’s something else that makes me happy…”