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“Huh?” I shook my head. “Was that your house that blew up?”
Vincent curled his fingers with mine and pulled my hand up to his mouth. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when we get to where we’re going, baby.” He pressed a kiss to my skin. “Why don’t you get some rest? That press conference had to have worn you out.”
“You saw it?”
He nodded. “You were amazing.” He kept our hands joined as he dropped them to his thigh. “Get some sleep, Nathan. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
His words gave me an odd sense of comfort…and hope. “You’ll tell me everything?” I asked, even as I laid my head back on the headrest.
“Yeah, I will.”
I was sure I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but I closed my eyes anyway. A couple of hours later, Vincent was gently shaking me awake. “Baby, we’re here,” he said.
I sat up and tried to clear the cobwebs from my brain as I looked around. “Are you kidding me?” I said when I realized where we were.
It was the motel we’d spent the first night together in after he’d saved my life at my house. The tacky one with the heart-shaped bed and mirror on the ceiling.
Vincent smiled and kissed me. “It’s our special place. I knew the second you pressed that hot body of yours against mine that morning that you were going to fuck everything up for me.” His mouth brushed mine. “You did…in the best way.”
I groaned as I put my hand behind his neck and held him to me for a deeper kiss. When we finally separated, he got out of the car and reached in to get one of the pet carriers. I grabbed the other. The room was the exact same one, and while I got Mickey and Minnie out of their cages, Vincent went back to the car and returned with his bag and a litterbox for the cats. He got the cats some food and water while I put the carriers aside. The animals were unsettled at first, but once they found the window, they sat on the small ledge in front of it so they could look outside.
And just like that, I was back in Vincent’s arms as his mouth descended on mine. I wrestled with his clothes as he walked me backwards towards the bed, but he grabbed my wrists before I could reach for his pants. He pushed me down on the bed and kissed me hard. “Talking first,” he said, his breath coming in heavy pants.
I tried to sit up so I could pay better attention to him, but he shook his head. “Nope, like this. I’ve been waiting weeks to get you underneath me again and now that I have you here, you’re not going anywhere.”
I was about to remind him that he could have had that this whole time, but I held my tongue. I’d rather hear what he had to say.
“Yes, I blew up my house.”
“Why?” I asked, completely floored.
“Because for me to really live, Vincent St. James had to die.”
I shook my head, not understanding, but he kissed me to silence my next question. “If Vincent St. James no longer exists, there’s no reason to hunt him…there’s no revenge to be had. They called me The Ghost for a reason, Nate. It was because I was good at not being seen. The men I worked with years ago haven’t seen me since then. They know where I live because I never tried to hide that, but that’s it. No friends meant no links to the outside world. No lovers meant no one else they could target.”
“But Everett,” I said.
“Everett is going to mourn the loss of his friend. He’ll likely be the only one who will attend my funeral. He’ll handle my estate. He’ll make sure to spread the word that Vincent is gone…died tragically when a natural gas leak caused his house to explode.”
“You can’t do that to him, Vincent…”
“He’s in on it, baby. He knows all about it.” He ran his fingers down my cheek. My bruises had mostly healed, but he seemed to linger on the spots they’d once been. “My enemies won’t have any way of tracking me because I won’t be me anymore. Turns out Ronan and Dom have some skills even I don’t possess.”
“Like what?”
“Like finding a body at a morgue in Chattanooga that fit my general description. Like giving me a whole new identity. Social security, employment history, the works.”
It was almost too much to believe. “Why?” I asked.
“You know why,” he whispered, just before he kissed me.
“For me?” I asked. “You did this to be with me?”
“I thought I’d have to wait until you finished your first term in the Senate to beg you to make some changes for me.” He shook his head. “But when I saw the press conference…it was like my second chance and third chance all wrapped up into one.” His eyes held mine. “Nate, it wouldn’t be safe for me to be in the public eye in any kind of way, but if you decide to run for office at some point, we can make it work.”
