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“Fine.Be secretive.Do you, bro.”Memphis sauntered over to stand near Oliver.He swept a considering stare at Lark.“We can always put her in a safe house.I’d be willing to wager the powers that be at the Bureau have already made such an offer to you.”
“No,” Lark responded before Oliver could confirm or deny such an offer.“I don’t want to be locked away.”
But, if anything, her response just had Oliver’s expression hardening even more.“Sweetheart, you might not have a choice.”Then he nodded to Memphis.“Thanks for the help.Beat the ground extra hard, will you?”
“Always.”Memphis saluted Oliver and headed for the door.
Midas immediately turned to follow him.“Got a place staked out nearby so I can watch the perimeter.”
That news caught her off guard.“You already have a place?”Like, what did he mean?He was just going to sit in a car or—
“Indeed, I do.I believe in being prepared.In case I needed to be close but out of sight, I took the liberty of contacting the rental agent who is in charge of the property across the street.It will give me the perfect vantage point to keep watch.”
Whenhad he contacted the rental agent?Not while he’d been in Oliver’s house with her.Before?If so, the man sure worked fast because that hadn’t exactly given him a lot of time.
“Lucky it was available,” he rumbled.“But then, the Feds keep a few houses on this street open.Use them for agents who have to come to town.Feds like Oliver working special cases.Imighthave used Oliver’s name to get access to the rental.I’m a name-dropper like that.Between Oliver’s name and the pop star I just finished protecting, well, those two names were golden for me.”
So this was like…a Fed block?Shouldn’t that make her feel safer?
“Figured you’d be pulling duty inside with her,” Midas said to Oliver.“Knew I’d be taking the exterior watch.Count on me.No one will slip past and get in your home.”
“Thanks, man,” Oliver replied.“I owe you.”
Midas paused on his way out.“No.We both know you damn welldon’t.” Then he, too, headed for the front door.
Her gaze darted to Oliver.A million questions spun through her mind, and she had no idea which one to ask first.Her lips parted.
“Stay here,” Oliver said.“We need to talk, but first, I’m making sure the doors are locked, the alarms are set, and this place is as secure as it can be.”
Okay, so that was where they’d start.Securing the perimeter.Step one.And step two?Find out what he knows about Blain.Because that was a blast from her past that Lark hadn’t expected.One she’d hoped to keep buried.
As for step three…What are we going to do about Nate?Find him.Arrest him.Stop him from hurting me.
While Oliver hurried away, she wrapped her arms around her stomach.Nate Quest wants me dead.And considering she had zero plans to be dead, that meant Nate had to be apprehended, ASAP.
Her gaze darted around the den.Stay here.Oliver’s order.An unnecessary one because where was she supposed to go?Was her apartment still considered a crime scene?Her right hand rose to rub her temples.She couldn’t go to her apartment.Definitely not an option.In her mind, she could still see the spray paint on the wall.You will die, too.
If she left Oliver, maybe she could get a hotel room for the night.Not like she had a ton of friends in the city who would help her.All of her “close” friends had vanished when her brother was arrested.
I’m supposed to be proving his innocence.
Instead, she’d been forced into hiding.How was that going to help Lane?
“Secure,” Oliver announced as he came back into the room.
She spun to face him.“Oliver—”
He stalked straight to her.His hands lifted.Curled under her jaw.And he kissed her.Not some soft and delicate kiss.Not the gentlemanly kind of kiss he’d given her so often when they’d first met.
Deep.Hard.Desperate.With a voracious need that rocked through her.With a demand that pierced right to her soul.And she…
Kissed him back.Her hands rose and curled around his powerful forearms.She didn’t pull his arms away.She held on tight.She opened her mouth wider.Lust poured through her body.She ached.Needed.Wanted.
All the steps she’d just plotted?Her precious lists?
They vanished.Only Oliver remained.
Then his mouth tore from hers.“I can’t fuck you without emotion.”
