“What?” he asked, frowning. “Except what?”
“I don’t know your real name.” I stroked his abdomen…then his cock. “Tell me, and I’ll let you come.” I squeezed him. Tight.
“Phineas Gaylord Hargrove,” he said on a moan. “Now what the hell does theF stand for?”
“Wait.” My hold on him loosened. “Did you say Phineas? Phineas Gaylord? You’re kidding me, right? Trying to get me to tell you my deepest secret?”
“It’s the truth,” he growled. “That’s my name, so put your hand back where it was.”
I laughed until my side hurt. Now I knew why he’d guarded his name so zealously.
He sat up and tapped his fingers against the tile. “I believe you have something to tell me, and I’m tired of waiting.”
“Fine. I’ll tell you. I bedeviled Michael so relentlessly, he added a middle name when he adopted me, making my name Eden Fucking Black.”
Lucius gave a husky bark of laughter. “You’re shitting me.”
“I wish I were,Phineas. ”
He tried to level me with a glare, but his eyes were sparkling too much. We both burst into another round of laughter. But once the amusement subsided, we sank into a heavy silence. There was still something nagging and dragging between us, but I was loath to bring it up.
“Where’s Agent Luc?” I finally asked, staying on safe ground by avoiding what we really needed to discuss.
“Safe. We can go get her, later. First, I have a confession to make.” Lucius did what I’d been unable to do; he brought our troubles out into the open. “Michael paid me to guard you. He—”
“I know,” I said, relieved that he’d finally told me.
“Don’t be mad,” he rushed on. “I realized early in the case that you could take care of yourself.”
“I’m not mad.” I intertwined our fingers and squeezed. “I’m grateful.”
He stared at me for a long while. “Okay. Where’s the Eden Black I know and love? I expected another knife at my throat.”
I snorted.
“Maybe I should be mad atyou. I wanted a piece of EenLi myself.”
“Maybe I’ll give you the next one. No, wait.” I nestled my head into the hollow of his neck. My hair spread over his chest like a golden curtain. “I left the agency. As of now, I’m unemployed.”
His fingers caressed the length of my spine, making me shiver. “Maybe we should start our own company.”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely. Tell me again about the Targon. I didn’t like the way he looked at you during your auction, and I still don’t like that he actually had his lips on you. I’m thinking he’ll be our first target.”
I laughed. I just couldn’t help myself. I might be jobless, but right now, in Lucius’s arms, life had never seemed more ripe with promise.