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He winces.
“I didn’t mean to…say that,” I stammer. “I meant…heartless.”
“You think I’m heartless,” he says quietly. “If I’m heartless, then why does the thought of losing you feel worse than death?”
I reach for words, but come up with nothing. His dangerous eyes have softened. Maybe because he knows that I’m right, even if I never meant to hurt him.
“Redbird,” he says. “My scars aren’t thick enough to protect me when it comes to you.”
I’m not sure how it happens, but somehow I’m up against the door. His warm, broad body is against mine. His mouth moves against my lips, filling me with his familiar taste. I’m molten lava in his arms. Blood pumps through my body in a frantic rush and pools somewhere near my heart. Filling me with the strongest warmth.
He pulls away, his mouth an inch from mine.
“Keira,” he breathes. “I’ve lost everything, but I can’t lose you.”
My throat is dry. My entire body tingles.
“You’re not just falling for me, you love me already,” I whisper, tears pouring down my cheeks.
“Always.” His gaze is steady.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see a dog about a man,” he says.
“I hate your fucking riddles,” I manage.
“I know.”
His final kiss is so soft it breaks my heart. He pulls back and puts his hat on, tugging it low over his eyes. Then he walks out the door without another word.
It doesn’t occur to me until hours later that I didn’t tell him I loved him back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
KEIRA
I hate him. I love him. I want to kill him.
I want to be his forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
GERARD
I go to see Jack Russell.
He’s a friend and business partner. We both have a mutual understanding that he stays on my retainer for when I need someone taken care of, and I’ll stay out of his business.
If our agreement stands, there’s no good reason that my personal hit man's calling card should be in a box of Clint Garrison’s things.
I take the truck south. Jack lives outside South Platte, that’s all I know. But he’s got a contact at a bar in West Lancaster, a large town that falls an hour’s drive below the city. When I need to speak with him, I know I can find him there.
It’s late when I pull up outside the bar. The lights are on and music thrums from the lower level. I make sure my gun is fastened to my belt and get out of the truck, putting my hat on and pulling it low. I don’t like being recognized, it gets the rumor mill moving.
I push open the front door to reveal a packed front room. The bar has men lined up all the way down and there’s a crowd at the pool table.
My eyes skim over the room until they fall on a platinum blonde head of hair and a heart-shaped face. She turns and I recognize the bright red of her lipstick.
