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“It’s time,” Arlo said in his signature deep and gravelly voice from behind me.
I turned around but didn’t move closer, feet upon feet separating us as he stood shrouded in shadows on the other end of the hotel room. He was magnificent and beautiful as I took in the suit he wore, a dark and expensive visage of what he really was.
A professional killer. A violent murderer with no remorse. A sociopath perhaps.
The man I love.
I made my way toward him until mere inches were the only thing keeping us apart.
“I’ll say it again… I think it’s best if you don’t come so that you don’t see what’s going to happen.”
I licked my lips and shook my head. He’d tried to tell me I wasn’t going with him tonight—demanded I stay safely in the hotel room, more accurately. But if this was really going down, I had to be there. For my peace of mind and to close this chapter in my life.
“I’m coming,” I said firmly—finally—and kicked up my chin in defiance, which had the corner of his mouth lifting in amusement despite the seriousness of the situation. He lifted his hand and cupped the side of my face. His expression softened.
“Grown men don’t even have the balls to defy me.” He leaned in and kissed me slowly and thoroughly, and I melted into him like I always did. “Your strength is one of the reasons I love you so fiercely.” His words were low and deep and murmured against my mouth, and my pulse did a flip in my chest.
My heart pounded in my chest at his words. “I love you,” I said, the words sounding like they’d been torn from me and rend me in half.
He pulled back, and I immediately rested my forehead on the center of his chest, breathing in his scent. I loved this man so much it physically hurt, and although I knew nothing would happen to him because he was so strong and stubborn, so dangerous that even death feared him, my breath still hitched at the thought of losing him.
“There’s no need for fear,” he said softly and kissed the crown of my head. “Don’t you know I’m the monster all other monsters fear?”
I smiled although I felt no humor in the way he teased, even if I knew he did it for my benefit.
“Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
I pulled back and looked up at him. I wanted the demons to stay firmly in the shadows. Yet I didn’t want to ever look over my shoulder and worry someone would take me away from Arlo. And the only way to ensure our future was secure and our relationship stronger than ever was to have more bloodshed and bury the bodies of the past.
God, who was the woman I’d become, one who was okay with killing to ensure my life was safe?
A survivor. I’m a survivor, and I’ll do anything to make sure I stay by Arlo’s side.
After one more kiss, he led me out of the hotel room and down to the BMW that had been waiting for us at the airstrip once we landed. I didn’t have to give Arlo any information about Henry or my father, and he’d never asked. Whatever connections he had, Arlo had obviously gotten the details he needed, and that was clear as we left the Strip and headed to Fremont Street.
The older part of Vegas came into view, a relic of the past yet still popular to tourists in the way they held on to a memento from a different time. But soon that facade started to wane the deeper we drove, the farther we went into the gritty part of what the city offered, where buildings were dilapidated, businesses run-down, broken windows and broken-down lives, with half-naked women standing on the corner of streets, smoking cigarettes and suggestively asking for “company tonight.”
I felt myself get pulled back down to the only place I’d ever called “home,” and I hated it. I felt nauseous in the way it was heavy inside me, like this other presence trying to take root in my soul.
I was staring out the passenger window when I felt Arlo’s hand cover mine that rested on my thigh. I looked over at him, but he was firmly focused on the street ahead. I wasn’t surprised he’d been able to sense my turbulent emotions. We were connected in a way I’d never understand but was forever grateful for.
He tightened his fingers on my hand, and I lifted my other to place my palm over his, the warmth and strength that poured from Arlo enough to have a semblance of calm washing over me. But even that soothing sensation couldn’t fully extinguish my bone-deep fear of what was happening next.
The broken part of Vegas was like another world on its own with how things worked. It was like Desolation in that sense, with life lost in the deepest parts, swallowed whole and decaying in the underbelly of what used to be a thriving society.
