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“Marlee, wait,” I say, cuffing her bicep with my hand to stop her from leaving. “Come see me after work.” I’m not ready to let this go… or her.
“Leave it alone, Aiden. This shouldn’t have happened. It can’t happen.” I sigh, knowing that now is not the time or the place to hash everything out. There’s a whole lot of shit to unpack and we can’t do that in a closet in Marquis when we’re both undercover working different cases.
“At least let me help. You forget I've done this before, more times than you in fact. I'm not saying that to put you down, just stating facts. If you want to close this case, I can do that for you. And I don't want any credit or recognition. Call it my redemption, call it whatever the fuck you like. Just let me help.”
“Bullshit,” she spits out, one eye still watching the camera feed. “This is more than you could imagine. It’s dangerous. It’s high stakes and I’m not risking it. Not for you. Not again.”
Despite everything inside of me screaming to protect her, we’re not in that place right now. “Your call, Marls. But you know the real me, and you know I’m not the man who fucked up last year.”
She locks eyes with mine and in those two seconds, I realize two things. First, things are not over between us—the last ten minutes in this closet have just proven that. And second, I’ve got my work cut out for me to get Marlee to trust me again.
That’s all I need to see to know that I’ll fight to the death to get her back. “I don’t know who you are anymore, Aiden. But now is not the time to find out. I’ve got to go.”
“You know where I am when you're ready.”
I check Decker's location one more time before pulling the door open and pushing her out, watching as she crosses the hallway and disappears into the ladies’ room.
Only time will tell where the two of us go from here. But whatever happens, I’ll be waiting.
Chapter 11
Marlee
“You OK,” Decker asks when I make it back to his booth. His eyes rake over me and I hold my breath, hoping that he doesn’t recognize the faint stubble rash on the left side of my neck that I couldn’t cover completely, or the way my tingling lips are swollen from Aiden’s bruising kisses.
I force a smile and nod my head. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed a breather. You know, splash some water on my face and take a moment.” I plaster on a smile. “Sometimes a woman needs to freshen up, Decker. Don't you know that?” I curl my lips into a coy smile.
Decker arches a brow. Not sure that he's completely convinced, I tip my chin up toward him. As anticipated, the move captures his attention immediately. Before I can say anything or stop it from happening, he dips his head and brushes his lips against mine, a smile appearing as he shifts back slightly. His hooded gaze roams my face before his hands move to grip my hips and he kisses me again, groaning into my mouth as he does.
While he's doing it, I focus on how Aiden's lips felt on mine in the closet, how his body felt against mine, inside me… That's the only reason I let myself get lost in the moment.
When the kiss finally ends, Decker looks me over, licking his lips as if savoring the taste.
“What was that for?” I ask, raising a brow.
“I saw a chance and took my shot. What can I say, you're irresistible, Quinn. Every man in here wants what I have and after that, now they know they can't have it.”
It takes everything in me not to shudder. This man has caused so much heartache and violence and is suspected to be behind the order of so many deaths, that touching him and especially him touching me makes me feel so dirty I know it’s going to take a lot of showers to feel clean again.
The sooner we can take him down, the better. Maybe we should take Aiden up on his offer?
Channeling my inner ‘Quinn’, I playfully push him away and shake my head, making a tut-tut sound as I do it. “Hey now. Isn’t this supposed to be business?”
His smirk deepens and his expression is anything but apologetic as he slowly moves away, his arms in the air in a 'hands-off' gesture.
There's no missing the way his eyes linger on my body, or that tell-tale look in his eye that I've seen from the start. He may say this is business, but there's nothing professional about his plans for me.
I may have initiated the first kiss, but there's no way Decker will be satisfied with just that. Which means I need to find another way to keep him distracted and away from Aiden until we can take him down for good. One that doesn’t include me touching the man—not if I can help it, anyway.
A little while later, just as new drinks are delivered to our table, I look up to spot Justin walking toward us. His gaze darts from Decker to me then back to his boss.
“Hey,” he says, his voice low and cautious. “We've got a problem.”
“Deal with it,” Decker says dismissively, turning back to me.
Justin winces. “Can’t. It’s the type that needs your attention, not mine.”
Decker curses under his breath. “I'm sorry, Quinn. Duty calls.” He lifts his hand to cup my jaw, brushing the pad of his thumb over the corner of my mouth. “We're going to finish this another time though.”
