AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The bastard was on his way back to that house hell bent on killing you and Scott and anyone else who was there. It was the only way to stop him, but I aimed for his shoulder. He moved at the last second and the bullet hit his chest.”
“Oh, my gosh.”
“I was really worried. He really had it in for you, so I made sure you were sent down here to get you away from him, then I followed as fast as I could. I never thought he’d show up.”
“But—I thought that was Conchello. Didn’t he order Jim to send me down here, then you to find me when I disappeared?”
“I manipulated certain events and said certain things to make all of that happen. He thought he was pulling the strings.”
“You’re kidding? I can’t imagine anyone getting the better of him.”
“He’s just a man.”
“Danny… I can’t believe you said that,” she breathed. “Scott made the exact same comment this morning.”
“I’m not surprised. I like Scott. He’s sharp, but he’s not arrogant.”
“How do you know?”
“You’re with him, Lizzy,” he said, lowering his voice. “I made it my business.”
Letting out a long, heavy breath, she knew it was all true.
“Please, will you hold me for a minute?” she said with a sigh, leaning against his chest.
“I’ll hold you as long as you need me to,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her.
“How did you end up working for Conchello?”
“What happened to my mom made me want to be a cop. I started in central California then moved to the LAPD. That’s where I heard you’d become a cop too. I thought about tracking you down. I’m not sure why I didn’t,” he said wistfully. “Anyway, I ended up accepting the undercover gig, but honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When you showed up at the mansion calling yourself Beth Cameron, I was thrilled to see you, then horrified, and furious at you for putting yourself in such a dangerous situation.”
“But I—”
“But nothing,” he said angrily, cutting her off. “You had no business being in that hell hole. I was determined to get you out of there. I tried to intimidate you and scare you so you’d leave, but you didn’t.”
“Danny,” she said softly and pulling back, “what about my partner?”
“Manny,” Dan muttered with a heavy sigh. “I tried to save him. It was one of Conchello’s wild boys who started firing through that office door. As soon as he did, I shot him, but I didn’t know if you or Manny had been hit. That’s when more of Conchello’s soldiers raced up the stairs. At that point, all I could do was pretend I couldn’t get the door open. I was praying you two would be able to find somewhere to hunker down, or take up positions to defend yourselves. I’ve been through a lot, but those were probably the most terrifying thirty seconds of my life,” he said, shaking his head. “Lizzy, I was shocked when I heard you’d leapt into the pool from that terrace. How the hell did you do that?”
“Danny, my dear, dear Danny,” she mumbled, moving her arms around his neck and staring at him. “I was a diver in college, and those extra seconds gave me the time to get out there and fly into the pool. You were trying to save my life, and you did.”
As her words washed over him, Danny could no longer hold back the deep emotion swirling through his heart. Holding her tightly, his eyes watering up, he fought to swallow the hot lump in the back of his throat.
“Lizzy, being around you all that time and having to act that way, it almost killed me. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, you were right.”
“I’d seen so many lives destroyed by drugs. I went into Conchello’s organization wanting to get him so badly it was all I could think about. But after a few months I felt like I was drowning in a black swamp with no way out.”
“What will you do now?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t risk going back to my old life, and I don’t want to. Daniel Miller has to disappear and I have to start over. I’ll be using my old surname, Sullivan.”
“You’ll always be Danny Sullivan to me, and now you look like him again,” she said softly, shifting in his hold, then taking a breath, she murmured, “Danny, I have to be honest. Being with you, it’s amazing and wonderful and I’m so happy and I still love you. The thing is—it’s different from how I love Scott. We’re just getting off the ground, but I’m crazy about him, I really am.”
“Hey, it’s okay, Lizzy, I’m not here to rekindle our teenage romance. I’ve seen you and Scott together. You’re a match. Don’t get me wrong, I still love you too, but we’ve both changed, though for the record, my need to look out for you will never go away.”
“I feel exactly the same, but why is this so hard?” she sniffled, fresh tears trickling from her eyes. “It’s like, I’m finally with you again, but I’m losing you too, even though I’m not.”
