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“That was before we made our deal.” His voice had that soft, unguarded tone that tugged at her heart. She couldn’t resist him.
She put her hands on his hot, scratchy cheeks, and stood up on her tiptoes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“Promise?” His voice was hoarse.
“Promise,” she assured him.
He dragged her out of the bathroom, stretched out on the bed and held out his arms. It felt so sweet and perfect, sliding into them. She hid her face against his chest, let the deep thudding of his heart soothe her.
She must have slept. Bizarre images paraded through her mind, from the violent to the erotic. She woke to find Sean gazing into her face. His expression brought her to instant wakefulness. “Yes? What?”
“Tell me everything T-Rex said to you, Liv,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry to make you think about it, but I have to know.”
She closed her eyes, and tried to remember the sequence, the wording. “He told me that he saw me in his rifle scope that day that I met Kev,” she said. “He recognized me from a TV interview I did when the bookstore opened. That’s how he found me. He saw Kev give me that sketchbook. He wants the video. What video?”
He shook his head. “Kev mentioned a flash drive in his note. He must have coded the information into his sketches, but he coded it too well. He overestimated us. We couldn’t crack it. We tried. For months.”
“Where is that notebook now?” Liv asked.
Sean rolled onto his back. “My brothers ripped out the pictures and framed them. Davy said he’d be damned if he’d waste Kev’s last sketches. I didn’t take any. Can’t even stand to look at them when I go to visit. Those guys are made of tougher stuff than me.”
She kissed his hard belly. “You’re plenty tough.”
He grunted. “You should see my brother Davy. Talk about tough.”
She frowned. “Is he the one who gave you those bruises?”
“Oh, don’t blame him. I provoked him on purpose,” Sean said absently. “Davy’s a pain in the ass, like any McCloud, but he’s great. You’ll like him. And Margot, his wife, is fabulous. You’re going to love her. Con’s wife, Erin, too. I can’t wait for you to meet all of them.”
That gave her a warm, tingling glow in her chest.
“Tell me again exactly what Kev said to you,” Sean said.
“Not much,” she said regretfully. “That he was being chased. That some guys wanted to kill him. He scribbled that coded note, and told me to take it to you and run like hell, or they’d get me too. Scared me half to death.” She shrugged. “That’s all. I wish I could help you more.”
He nodded, his eyes miles away as his brain crunched data.
“What was in Kev’s note?” she asked. “I’ve wondered for fifteen years.”
Sean’s gaze flickered away. He let out a sigh, as if he were bracing himself. “It said if you didn’t disappear that night, you were dead meat.”
She stared at his averted face. The silence in the room swelled, as his meaning sank in. “Wait. You mean to tell me the horrible things you said were to drive me away? You did that deliberately? Toprotectme?”
He nodded. She slid off the bed, onto legs that would barely hold her. Stared at him as if she’d never seen him before.
“That’s not possible.” Her voice shook. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head.
Fury, grief, built up inside her like steam. She covered her shaking mouth. “Youbastard!How could you do that to me?”
“I don’t know.” His voice was flat. “Still don’t. It almost killed me.”
She lunged towards him, and slapped his face. He barely flinched.
“For fifteen years I thought it was just a crazy fuck-up,” he said. “But if I hadn’t done it, T-Rex would have killed you. You’re alive, right? I have that much satisfaction. I did the right thing.”
“The right thing?” Her voice cracked with outrage. “Did it occur to you for one second to tell me what was going on? Did it occur to you to trust me? It didn’t cross that thick rock that passes for your mind?”
