Stupid tears slid down her cheeks. She pushed him back when she wanted to hold him close. “Two minutes ago, you were leaving me.”
He shook his head. “Two minutes ago, I knew I’d never be able to walk out of that damn door.”
Her breath caught. She started to smile up at him.
Then she heard the creak.
The same creak of the wood that she’d heard moments before when Blake followed her into her bedroom.
The old wood in her living room. Wood that had been warped by time and weather.
Creaking wood that told her…someone else is out there.
Blake must have heard the sound, too, because he jumped to his feet. He ran toward the door.
But a gunshot blasted.
Jess screamed even as she watched Blake fall to the floor.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jess ran toward Blake. She wrapped her arms around him even as he tried to push her back.
“Jess…” Blake felt his blood pumping out of him. “Run.”
But she was just holding him tighter.
Laughter came then. From the man who’d shot him. From the man he’d mistakenly thought was a friend.
Carson Anderson.
“Isn’t this sweet? Even now, she tries to keep you safe.” Carson’s voice mocked him. “Even now, when we both know you came racing down here, pissed to hell and back because you thought the little southern belle had betrayed you.”
Blake managed to sit up. The bullet had blasted into his side, and the damn thing was still in him. “Jess, go.”
“No!” She put her body in front of his. Putting herself in the line of fire. She stopped Blake’s world and destroyed him right then. “Look, Carson, we’ll do what you want, just—just put the gun down.”
Blake shoved up onto his feet. Staggered. Drops of his blood littered the floor. His hands closed over Jess’s shoulders, and he tried to pull her back. To put her behind him.
“You’re going to do everything I want…no matter what,” Carson promised her. He smiled. His gun was aimed right at Jess’s heart.
But the bastard wasn’t there for her heart. Blake shoved his hand into his pocket and hauled out the small, black bag. “Isn’t this what you came for?”
Carson’s gaze darted to the bag, and Blake succeeded in finally getting Jess positioned behind his body. He wasn’t much of a shield, but he’d protect her with every breath that he had left.
I’m sorry, baby. I am so fucking sorry.
He’d put his trust in the wrong person.
“Oh, hell, yes, I want the Night’s Heart. But you have to plan your moments, you know?” Carson’s smile flashed again. Cold. Deadly. “And here I thought Hayden Finn was my key. He knew all his father’s tricks, you see. I got him to teach me every single one…”
“Including the trick where you kill your partner?” Blake growled.
Carson shrugged. His grip on the gun never wavered. Only instead of aiming at Jess’s heart, the gun was now pointing at Blake’s chest. “If I hadn’t shot him, the guy would’ve killed me. He was really aiming for me that day. I didn’t have a choice.”
“You have a choice now!” Jess cried out. “Take the diamond. Just walk away!”
Blake still had the diamond gripped in his hand.
Carson shook his head. “I know Blake. You think he’d ever just let the stone go? He’d search to the ends of the earth, he’d hunt down anyone who tried to take what was his. I mean, just look at the way he came after you, Ms. Delaney. Hell sure has no fury like a man who thinks he’s been fucked-over.”
“You had the burner phone,” Blake snapped. His muscles were tense, adrenaline pulsing through him. “You didn’t find it in her room. You had it all along.”
“I did.” Said with pride. “I was also the guy who edited the security footage so that you didn’t see me sneaking into your suite after you left to visit the police department.” His gaze focused over Blake’s shoulder, on Jess. “You sure are a sound sleeper, aren’t you? And you were so sexy spread out like that…all naked and waiting.”
“You’re a dead man,” Blake swore.
“No.” Carson shook his head. “You are. You’re both dying tonight.”
There was no way Blake would let Jess die. So that means I’ll be killing the bastard I thought was my best friend.
“This is how it’s going down…” Carson sure was a chatty asshole. “Blake, you found out that your lover betrayed you. She stole from you. You rushed down here, you confronted her, and, in a fit of rage, you attacked her.”
“No,” Jess whispered.
“Yes,” Carson said, smiling again. “Oh, yes. When he attacked you, well, you had to fight back. Lucky for you, Ms. Delaney, you had a gun handy.” He lifted his weapon. “You shot Blake. You killed him.” He made a sad, low rumbling sound in his throat. “Unfortunately, you didn’t kill him quickly enough. You see…he came armed with a knife, and he stabbed you, a wound so deep that there was no chance of your survival.”
And Blake could see the knife. Strapped on Carson’s belt. The bastard was going to shoot him again, and then use his knife on Jess.
“Take the diamond,” Blake ordered him as he lifted his hand and the small bag. “I won’t follow you. Let Jess go, and you’ll never have to worry about me hunting you.”
Carson shrugged. “I don’t have to worry about the dead. I just have to bury them. And pretend to mourn. I’m very, very good at pretending.”
Jess was inching closer to Blake’s side. Not staying behind him any longer. He knew the woman wasn’t just going to hide. Wasn’t going to run. I wish she would! She was going to fight. In her last moments, in their last moments, she planned to attack.
Just as he did.
But when they lunged forward, Carson would fire his gun. Blake had to make absolutely certain that bullet was aimed at him, not her.
“I think I could have loved you,” he told Jess as his gaze flickered toward her. He needed to tell her that. He began to slide the diamond out of the bag. It was cold and hard in his grip.
“Wh-what?”
“I was already half-way in love with you, anyway…hell, maybe more than that.” Blood soaked his shirt. “Never thought that would…happen with me.”
She stared at him, her eyes wide. “You can’t tell me this now.”
“So freakin’ sweet,” Carson taunted. “Maybe I should kill her first. How about that, Blake? Seems fitting to see you lose what you want most, when all these years, I’ve had to watch you be the man who has everything.”
No, he hadn’t had everything. Not until too late. His gaze cut back to Carson. “Is that why you’re doing this? Because you want what I have?”
“You stole your way to the top. It’s my turn now. My turn.” Carson’s words held a jagged edge. “Now give me that diamond!”
If he wanted it…
Blake threw the diamond at his old friend, throwing it as hard as he could. Instinctively, Carson lifted his hands to catch the diamond—both hands.
Mistake.
Because Blake lunged toward him, and, even as Carson caught the diamond, Blake drove his shoulder into the other man’s gut. They hit hard, careening into the floor.
Behind him, he heard Jess’s footsteps rushing toward them.
Carson tried to lift his gun and aim it at Blake.
Blake broke his wrist. The gun clattered across the floor.
Jess grabbed for it.
But Carson—he still had the diamond, and he slammed it into Blake’s forehead. Blood streamed into his eyes as Blake fell back.
In a flash, Carson had his knife out and at Blake’s throat. “I told you before, man, that diamond will be the death of you.”
The knife sliced Blake.
“No,” Jess snapped out. “It won’t.” She stood right behind Carson, and she had the gun aimed at his head. “You get away from him, now. Drop that knife and back off!”
Carson’s gaze held Blake’s. Slowly, Carson backed a
way.
But he didn’t drop the knife.
“Jess…” Blake began.
Carson spun toward her.
“No!” The cry was torn from Blake as the knife’s blade flashed and Carson drove it toward Jess.
Gunfire exploded. One shot. A thundering roar. Carson jerked. “You…fuckin’…bitch…” He swiped out at Jess.
But Blake had him. He tackled Carson and as they went down, Carson screamed, a high, wild cry that was abruptly cut off.
Blake flipped the man over. The knife’s blade had embedded in Carson’s chest. In his heart.
Blake wrapped his fingers around the handle.
“D-don’t…” Carson gasped out. “I’ll…die…when you take it…out.”
“I know,” Blake said. But he didn’t take out the knife, not yet. “You were my friend, Carson.”
“I was…in your shadow.” Blood stained Carson’s lips. “Always in…dark…”
Jess stood behind Blake. Alive. Safe. The way he’d make sure she stayed.
Blake was still staring into Carson’s eyes when the life left his friend’s dark gaze.
Friend.
Betrayer.
They were the same.
The knife was still in Carson’s chest and the diamond was clutched in the dead man’s left hand.
***
Two weeks later…
Jess’s bare feet sank into the sand as she gazed out at the ocean. A storm was coming. She could smell it in the air. Could see it in the distant flashes of lightning that illuminated the tumbling waves out in the Gulf of Mexico.
She needed to pack up her art supplies. Go back inside her house.
Jess glanced over her shoulder at the house.
The place seemed so empty lately.
The home was no longer a crime scene. The blood had been scrubbed from her floor—courtesy of some team that Blake had sent to her home. He’d been sending plenty of “help” her way.
But, after he’d called the cops, after the local sheriff had swooped in—and been lost in a situation that was way over the guy’s head—Blake had left Seaport. He’d been injured, bloody, when she last saw him. EMTs had wheeled him away. She’d wanted to go with him.
The cops had insisted that she stay for questioning.
When she’d finally been cleared to leave the crime scene, it had been too late.
The diamond had been gone. Blake had been gone.
She was pretty sure he’d taken her heart with him.
As the wind roughened, Jess packed her bag. She hadn’t been working with paints today, just sketching. She should have been sketching the oncoming storm. Instead, when she looked down, the charcoal outline of Blake’s face stared back at her.
She had it so bad for him.
I think I could have loved you. His words played through her mind as she trudged back to her beach house.
There was no thinking about it for her. She’d fallen for him. Hard and fast, and with no restraint.
Now, she was alone.
Her steps were slow as she headed into the house. She locked the door—a new door, courtesy, again, of Blake and his minions. When the cops had rushed to the scene, they’d broken down her door.
But it was fixed now. Everything was fixed. Everything except her. She was the one who still felt broken.
Why didn’t he call me? Why did he just vanish?
She put down her supplies. The house was too quiet, so she turned on the TV. He’d been in her house for one night, but Blake’s presence still seemed to fill the place.
How screwed up was that?
The news flashed on the screen. The anchor was talking about a bank robbery in the next town. Jess frowned as she headed into the kitchen.
“And now, we turn to some surprising news out of Europe…” The anchor’s voice followed her.
Jess’s brows rose. Europe?
“A lost bit of history has been recovered. The fabled Night’s Heart, a rare black diamond that disappeared from a private collection over fifteen years ago, was discovered in the Marveau Museum in Paris this morning. Authorities have no explanation for the diamond’s appearance—it was found inside the museum’s vast gem collection, sitting right in the central display.”
She turned toward the TV, her heart racing.
The anchor shook his head and appeared perplexed on screen. “Experts believe that only a very talented thief could have gotten past the security in place at that museum, and this is certainly the first time any thief has returned a stolen treasure of that nature…”
“If it’s returned,” said a low, familiar rumble from behind Jess, “then does the person still count as a thief?”
Her shoulders tensed. No wonder his presence filled the house. Blake was there. “I guess master jewel thieves think they don’t have to bother knocking on doors.”
“We usually just slip past them.” His voice was closer now.
Her breath came faster.
“Especially when we’re not sure what kind of reception we’ll get.”
His fingers curled over her shoulders.
Her eyes squeezed shut. “Y-you gave the diamond back.”
“I gave…most of it back. Part of it was used to finance my business years ago, and I’m sorry, baby, but that’s long gone.”
He was sorry?
Her eyes opened and she turned her head to look back at him. “Why did you return the diamond?”
“Because I didn’t want some other asshole ever coming after it—and possibly hurting you.”
She swallowed.
“And, because…” He shifted her body so that she faced him fully. “Because I wanted to show you who I could be. Not just a thief. Not just…a killer.”
“Blake—”
“I want us to start over, Jess. No secrets, no lies. I want us to have a chance.”
“A chance at what?” The words were too husky and soft.
“A chance to see if we can make it together. A chance to see if I can make you feel about me—hell, I want to see if you can ever bring yourself to love a man like me.”
A man like him. “A reformed jewel thief? A Vegas playboy?”
“A man who would do anything for you. Even throw away a heart worth billions…because he wanted to prove that he could be the man you need.”
She stared into his eyes. No secrets. No lies. “I just don’t want you to-to throw away my heart.” There. She’d said it. Put it out there.
He leaned toward her. “Baby, I swear, your heart is the most important thing to me. I want to make you happy. I want to do any damn thing necessary, to make you love me.”
He didn’t get it. Her hand rose. Curled over his. “That isn’t how it works, Blake. You can’t make someone love you.”
He flinched. Pain flashed across his face. He started to pull away from her. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“You don’t have to charm me. You don’t have to seduce me. You just have to be with me,” she continued, staring into his eyes and seeing the future that she’d never expected. “Because I already love you.”
And she remembered…
Gunfire on an elevator.
Kisses against a window, high over the glittering lights of Vegas.
A man who fought to protect her.
A man who caressed her in the darkness.
A man who’d given up a fortune.
For her.
She rose onto her toes and pressed her lips to his. “You’re the right man for me.” He didn’t scare her. He was the one who made her feel safe.
Happy.
Her tongue slipped into his mouth, tasting him once more.
The first kiss between them had sealed her fate. She’d walked onto the wild side with him, and now, she never wanted to walk with anyone else.
“Be sure,” he whispered against her lips. “Be sure, baby. Because I can’t have you…I can’t start thinking I’ve finally found the one good thing in my life, just to have you leave me.”
Not without him.
She eased back a few inches to give him a hard glare. “And neither are you. No more vanishing without me.”
“I had to leave and deal with my past. I didn’t want any more trouble finding its way to your door.”
Jess glanced toward her door. “Even if it comes, I can handle it. We can handle it.” She wasn’t some delicate china doll that would break. “Don’t you get it, Blake? I don’t want you to be perfect. I want you just as you are, dark past included.”
“Then that’s what you’re getting, baby, because I can’t let you go.”
“You’d follow me anywhere?” She wound her arms around his neck.
“To hell and back,” he promised.
His arms curled around her. He lifted her up, and Jess tried to fight him. “No, your wound…”
“I’m a fast healer, and to hold you, I’d stand any pain.”
Oh, that was…oh. Jess wrapped her legs around his waist.
“I love you,” he told her, voice deeper than she’d ever heard it before. “When Carson was going to shoot you, I thought I’d go crazy. I knew I had to stop him, no matter the consequences.” His hold tightened on her. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t.”
Because he was the right man for her.
And maybe, finally, this was the right time.
He carried her into the bedroom. Shut the door. Blake lowered her onto the bed, but then he stilled.
His hands clenched into fists. “I…didn’t trust you.”
She pushed up onto her elbows. The setting sun and the coming storm sent shadows chasing across her room. The shadows covered him.
“I listened to Carson, and I rushed down here, convinced that you’d betrayed me.”
She waited.
His shoulders were tense and straight. “But then I got here. I saw you. And I realized that I still wanted you, still needed you, and I didn’t even care about what you’d done.”
“Blake—”
“I don’t have…my usual control where you’re concerned. I don’t think I ever will.” He seemed almost ashamed as he made the confession.
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