Lost: The Complete Series

by Lila Kane

  Which was always followed by a myriad of other thoughts. It’s too fast. Too soon. There’ll be time.

  But I had no idea how much time we’d have. All I knew was that Elise was the one for me.

  I cupped her cheeks and kissed her hard. “I know. Trust me, I know.”

  She returned my kiss, and I let myself get lost in her one more time. One more time before life got serious again.

  #

  I still wore a robe when we met downstairs for a late lunch. Logan, as usual, dressed in his dark jeans and T-shirt, shoes on. In case he needed to go outside, I presumed. So he could check the perimeter and do all of the things he’d been doing since we arrived.

  “I’m going to have a drink,” I said, feeling more relaxed than I had in days. I’d gotten outside, I’d had wild sex with Logan, and things were finally starting to look up. “Want one?”

  “Not yet.”

  He leaned against the island, eyes following me as I walked across the kitchen for a glass and then moved to the liquor cabinet.

  “You’re watching me,” I said, pouring rum into my glass.

  “That’s my job.”

  I turned slowly, angling my head. That’s all? His job? Because I swore there was heat behind that gaze. And after what we’d had together the last few days, it killed me to think I might feel more than he did. I’d almost told him I loved him in the shower. I’d held back, thank God. I wasn’t sure what had made those words climb up my throat and try to come out, but they had. Maybe it was emotion, maybe the days were catching up with me.

  Or maybe…I really was in love with Logan. I’d cared for him for years and shoved those feelings aside. Now that I had the chance to show them, maybe I was realizing how strong they were. How happy I was to not have to hold back anymore.

  I bit my tongue. Now wasn’t the time to say anything. I finished making my drink and then started for the table.

  Logan stepped in my way, setting his hands on my arms. His thumbs rubbed on the terrycloth robe. “Talk to me.”

  “About what?”

  “Elise.”

  I blinked up at him, playing clueless. There was no way in hell I was going to lay my feelings out there when I didn’t know if they’d be reciprocated. I couldn’t stand a broken heart. Not with everything else going on.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And didn’t you have something to tell me? About those guys?”

  He frowned. It looked like we were both trying to stall—trying to change the subject.

  “What was that look for?” he asked. “When I said it was my job to watch you?”

  I sipped my drink, gathering courage. One thing I’d learned from my brother; sometimes it paid to be honest. “I just…I don’t want you to watch me because you have to.”

  He blew out a breath. “Damn it. That’s not what I meant. It was…something that came out. Just a stupid answer that came to mind because I’m trying to—” He broke off and laughed, though there was little humor in it. “Play it cool? Seriously, it’s ridiculous, but if you knew how much I wanted to watch you, how much I need you, you’d understand how overwhelming this is.”

  I understood more than he thought. We’d gone from friends—no, not even that. Acquaintances? People who tried to avoid each other? We’d gone from that to lovers in the span of a few days and it blew my mind how much I cared for him. I was thinking love, and he was saying he was overwhelmed.

  “Join the club,” I murmured.

  He chuckled, then tipped my chin to kiss me. “Don’t ever think there isn’t more here, okay? I’m adjusting so I might not say the right thing, but there’s more. There’s so much more I can’t wrap my mind around it.”

  I nodded. It was enough. His words, the tenderness in his gaze and his kiss. I knew he felt more, and I was making something out of nothing. Being insecure.

  We sat at the table, relaxed again. Or at least, I was until Logan spoke.

  “They’re killers. Both of them. Hitmen.”

  I swallowed hard and straightened in my seat. “What?”

  “The men who are after you are trained killers.”

  My mouth dropped open and I stood, suddenly needing to move. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I paced one way. “Logan—” When I turned the other way, he was there, right in front of me.

  “Relax.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can. Because that means the police know exactly who they’re looking for. And the good news is they already caught one of the guys. They called this morning.”

  “Is that why you let me go outside?”

  His jaw clenched, but he nodded. “One of the reasons.”

  I reached for my drink, trying to be logical. “What does this mean?”

  “It means you can go identify him. The police are also trying to get him to talk about the other guy—in exchange for a deal. One of them already locked away is a good thing. But that means we need to head back to the city.”

  My heart raced. Go back? When one of them was still loose? I mean, sure, I’d wanted that before, but now…when I knew how real the danger was…

  “It’s okay,” Logan said, his arms closing around me. “I’ll be with you.”

  “I’m scared.”

  He only squeezed me tighter. “I swear I won’t let anything happen to you. It’s my job to protect you, but it’s so much more than that now. I’d die if something happened to you, so I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen. You’re safe with me.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned into him, letting the words comfort me. Logan was safe. Logan was my rock. And out of everyone in the entire world, I believed he would make sure nothing happened to me.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I wouldn’t release her hand as we entered the precinct. We’d had an escort from the car to the inside of the building in case the other killer was out there, but I stayed as close to Elise as humanly possible anyway.

  There was no way she was going to be out of my sight for a moment, especially when we weren’t in the safety of the hotel.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as we waited for the detective to lead the men into the room.

  Elise nodded, but wouldn’t meet my eyes.

  “I need to be sure,” I said calmly. “Elise.”

  She looked over, and I hated how pale her cheeks were. “I’m okay.”

  “You don’t look okay. Maybe we should—”

  “No, we’re not leaving and we’re not calling Isaac. I can do this. I have to do this. Then we can go.”

  “Or—”

  “Logan,” she warned. And then she smiled—actually smiled. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

  I gave her a kiss and squeezed her hand. “I won’t. You’re right. Let’s get this done.”

  We waited while several men filed into the room, each taking their spot on the other side of the window. It relieved me that they couldn’t see Elise. She didn’t need that. She needed to know she was safe, and this was the best we could do for now.

  The detective instructed her to look at all the men and identify which one had been in the alleyway. I hadn’t gotten as good a look as she had, but my eyes immediately went to the tall, dark-haired one second from the left.

  “Him.” She pointed to the same one I had been looking at. “That’s him.”

  I nodded and wrapped my arm around her. “I agree. Let’s go.”

  The detective met us in the hall and said he’d be in touch, and then we were escorted to the car again. Home. We were going straight home and then I’d do my best to take Elise’s mind off of all this. She needed a drink, she needed to eat, and maybe I’d encourage her to call her brother.

  All normal things.

  But without a doubt, I’d keep my eye on her. Not just because I wanted her safe, but because I wanted her happy. She might not be able to leave the hotel yet, but I’d make sure she didn’t feel the need to.

  I didn’t want her to feel like she was trapped, I wanted her to feel like thi
s was voluntary. To make her feel like this was where she wanted to be. With me.

  Fuck. Why hadn’t I told her I loved her? Telling her that watching her was my job was a dick move. That had to make her feel like shit. The last thing I was thinking about when I was around her was my job. Keeping her safe was more because I needed to. And the rest? Spending time with her, falling in love with her…it was the best thing that could have happened in my life.

  When we got to the hotel, I parked valet just outside the doors in the parking garage and ushered her inside quickly. I didn’t feel safe until the elevator doors dinged and we were inside the penthouse.

  Elise had been quiet most of the way home, and it was starting to worry me. Now that we were here, I could help. I could make this better.

  “I’m sure Isaac would like to hear from you,” I said.

  She glanced over with a shrug. “Probably not a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if I tell him what we just did, he’ll want to come home. He’s on the verge of coming back already. If he finds out we left the beach house, he’s going to know something else is going on.”

  I struggled with her words. She was absolutely right—but I’d planned on telling Isaac what happened today regardless. I couldn’t keep that from him. But it would be better coming from me. If Elise said anything, the emotion in her voice would give her away. He’d know things weren’t all right.

  Neither of us wanted him to come home—not when there wasn’t anything for him to do here that we weren’t already doing. Not when he deserved this honeymoon more than anyone. He hadn’t had a vacation in years.

  “What can I do?” I asked, walking to her and setting my hands on her arms. “I don’t like seeing you like this.”

  She sighed, and to my relief, she wrapped her arms around me. “I know. I’m trying not to worry.”

  “I understand why. What can I do?”

  “I just want to be normal for one night. Pretend everything is fine.”

  I eased back, studying her face. Normal. I could do that. We were safe in the penthouse and I knew there was no way security would let anyone up here without contacting me first. We were safe.

  “I can do normal. How about you go take a bath, relax, and I’ll figure out the rest?”

  “You don’t have to,” she said, touching my cheek.

  I leaned into her palm just a moment, taking what I needed. That small bit of comfort. It was enough for me. More than enough because I knew we were in this together.

  “I want to. I want a little normal, too, and this will be perfect. For both of us. I’ll bring you some wine.”

  She walked to the hallway, and I watched her the entire way, my eyes on her ass, her shoulders, even her feet. Each step that looked so fluid and beautiful even though it seemed like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders now.

  Hell. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I loved Elise. And tonight, I planned on telling her exactly how I felt.

  #

  I got out of the bath, grabbing my wine and smiling at the pile on the counter. Logan had brought me clothes and informed me dinner would be served soon. Then he’d left me alone, promising that he’d come searching for me if I wasn’t out in fifteen minutes.

  Damn, I really was in love.

  That’s all I wanted. For him to come and find me. For him to be here. I wanted him day and night. I wanted him more than I could express.

  I thought I’d wanted him before when he was off-limits and we kept avoiding each other, but now…God, now things were a million times more intense.

  “Tell me you’re almost ready!” Logan called from somewhere down the hallway.

  I laughed to myself and set my towel aside. A shirt? That’s what he’d brought me to wear? Only a T-shirt? Then I held it up and my heart turned mushy. It was his T-shirt. I pressed it to my face and breathed in deep. It even smelled like him.

  I pulled it over my head, combed my hair, and then grabbed my wine. Logan met me in the hallway.

  “I was about to come in after you,” he said, eyeing my hair and my bare legs.

  “I was about to let you.”

  He grinned and leaned in for a kiss. “Normal night means normal dinner and normal activities.”

  At the word activities, I felt a distinct tightening in my gut. “I like the sound of that.”

  “I wasn’t talking about that.” He smiled. “Let me rephrase. I wasn’t talking only about that. We can watch TV or eat ice cream or play backgammon or whatever you want.”

  “Do you even know how to play backgammon?” I asked.

  “No. Do you?”

  “No. But I’m really good at improvising.”

  He pulled me to him with a growl. “You keep saying stuff like that and we won’t even make it to dinner.”

  “Who said I was hungry?”

  His fingers clenched on my hips. He leaned in just enough our noses and foreheads touched. When he spoke, his lips brushed mine, and somehow it was more sensual than if we’d been standing in the middle of the hallway naked.

  “I was going to build up to this. I was going to romance you first. But now…” He sighed, and his breath tickling my lips gave me the chills. “I love you, Elise.”

  My heart stopped. I locked eyes with him, standing in elated shock as the words sank in. Then I remembered myself and gave a smile. “I love you, too.”

  He crushed me close, fingers tangling in my hair as he kissed me. I nearly spilled my wine, but I didn’t care. It was like I couldn’t get close enough to him. Our bodies pressed together so hard we were practically one.

  “It feels like I’ve waited forever for you to say that,” he murmured in my ear.

  “I know what you mean. We should have done this a long time ago. I feel like we missed out on a lot.”

  He stroked my hair and shook his head. “I don’t think so. Now that we know this, what we could have had, we’ll make up for it. Every day. We’ll shove a lifetime into a few months if we have to.”

  I swallowed down the sudden emotion that tickled my throat. We’ll shove a lifetime into a few months if we have to.

  And we would. I believed what Logan said. He was already trying to make every moment count.

  “Let’s start here,” he said, taking my hand.

  I followed him down the hallway and then froze. The lights were dim and candles flickered on almost every surface. At the table, there were also roses between the candleholders, and plates and wine glasses set out like a fancy restaurant.

  I heard music in the background and felt tears fill my eyes.

  “Logan…” I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you did all this.”

  “It’s normal, right?”

  I laughed. “No. Not at all. I’ve never had anyone do this for me before.”

  “Oh.” He glanced around with a frown. “I can blow out the candles. Or—”

  “No, no. I was joking. It is normal. This is what normal should be like. Happiness together, doing something mundane. I love it.” I kissed him with everything I had. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I would have done more, but—”

  “This is perfect.”

  He led me to the table and pulled out my chair. “When things really are back to normal, we can go wherever you want.”

  “Right now, all I want is to be here with you. This is the best kind of normal.”

  He smiled, making the night even better, and sat across from me. “One thing, though.”

  I angled my head. “What?”

  He gestured to a tray by the table. “All this food?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I didn’t cook it.”

  “You didn’t have time.”

  “Even if I did…” He grinned. “I don’t cook.”

  With a smile, I lifted my wine glass. “Don’t worry. That’s not a deal breaker.”

  He released a breath. “What a relief.”

 
CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “We got him.”

  I pressed the phone more tightly to my ear, making sure I heard the detective correctly. “You got him? Are you sure?”

  “He’s sitting in the other room,” the detective said. “He confessed to the murder, said he said he saw Elise there in the alley.”

  I ran a hand over my face, my shoulders drooping in relief. Elise was in the other room making lunch, so I didn’t yell for her. But part of me wanted to scoop her in my arms and kiss her hard, knowing it was finally over.

  “I’d like to come down there to be sure,” I said.

  There was a moment of silence, then the detective said, “He confessed. We don’t need an identification.”

  I knew that, but the thorough side of me wanted to make sure this was really finished. “I’d feel better coming down there.”

  The detective sighed but gave in, and I hung up the phone. I didn’t need to go. I could stay here and celebrate with Elise. But I’d feel better after I ID’d the guy. I could call Isaac, set him at ease, and then spend the rest of the week with Elise.

  In bed, if that’s what we wanted. I could take her anywhere she wanted to go. If I knew she was safe, the world was ours.

  I walked to the kitchen and admired her a moment. She was barefoot and still wearing my T-shirt. Damn, she was hot. She got me worked up simply making lunch. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and nuzzled her neck.

  “The detective just called,” I said.

  She turned in my arms, lifting her mouth for a kiss. “What did he say?”

  “They got the guy.”

  She blinked up at me, the words taking a moment to register. “What? They caught him? Really?”

  “Really.”

  She tossed her arms around my neck. “That’s great. Logan—now we’re safe, right? We don’t have to stay in here anymore—and we know that guy won’t hurt anyone else.”

  “I’m going down to the station to ID him.”

  “Oh. Right. I guess they’d need us to do that.”