“I’m sorry,” Tina whispered.
Drew shook his head. He wasn’t telling her the tale because he wanted her pity. Pity was the last thing he wanted from her. “I wanted her to be proud, not to be holding her head down in shame because of what I was doing.”
Then Drew realized why he was telling Tina about his past, when he’d tried to bury those Mississippi memories as deeply as he could.
He wanted Tina to know that he couldn’t be bought, not anymore. That he wasn’t going to trade her for money.
That he was better than that.
He pulled in a deep breath. “I joined the army. I sent her my checks. She used them for the girls.” Kim, Heather and Paige. “Things started to change for my family. Things changed for me.”
Did she understand?
“I’m not the same boy I was back then.”
Tina shook her head. “I never thought you were.”
And it was still there. That blind trust in her eyes. When she’d been on that godforsaken rooftop and Lee had put his gun to her head, Tina had looked over and seen Drew. She’d recognized him, even when he’d had on that damn ski mask.
Trust had been in her stare then, too.
“Why do you have so much faith in me?” She shouldn’t. It was dangerous. He was dangerous. “You know about my missions.” She’d dug the bullets out of him, seen the scars from the knife attacks. “You know everything I’ve done.”
“Yes, I do.” She pushed up onto her tiptoes then. Her mouth brushed against his.
She knew, and Tina wasn’t afraid. She wanted him—good, bad and everything in between.
And he just wanted her.
His mouth pressed harder on hers. Need and desire twisted within him. He licked her lower lip, and loved the little moan that she gave in response.
They weren’t dancing any longer. They were at the edge of that too-small bed.
Tina’s hand slid down his chest, rested over his heart.
“Before I get my safe life back,” she whispered against his lips, “I want to be with you again.”
Nothing could have stopped him from being with her.
The bed groaned beneath them, the old mattress and springs buckled. He didn’t care. He stripped her, kissed her, caressed every silken inch of her body.
She put her mouth on his neck. Sucked. Licked. Made him shudder and ache.
He’d used all of his control before.
This time, in this moment, knowing that she was going to slip away from him soon...
There was no control.
There were frantic hands. Deep kisses. Clothes that were tossed to the floor.
He stroked her everywhere. Couldn’t stop touching her. He had to see all of her.
He tasted Tina. Every single inch of her. Her fingers sank into his hair and she arched against him.
When the first release hit her, he tasted her pleasure.
When the second hit, he was in her, driving as fast and as hard as he could. He’d pulled away from her only long enough to grab protection from his wallet, and even leaving her for that long had made sweat break out on his forehead.
Again and again he thrust into her.
The bed slammed into the wall. Her hips arched toward him.
His fingers were locked with hers. Their bodies moved in perfect rhythm.
Tina stiffened beneath him. Then her legs curled around his hips and she held him even tighter as pleasure flew across her face.
The release crested, thundered over him, and left Drew growling her name.
His heart thudded, racing too fast in his chest, and his breaths shuddered out.
Tina smiled up at him.
Such damn trust.
He was afraid he’d destroy it. The way he’d destroyed too many other things in his life.
I don’t want to destroy her.
Because she was coming to be the one thing in his life that mattered the most.
* * *
THE TRACKING SIGNAL had stopped. Devast had followed Drew Lancaster’s tracker all the way to the outskirts of the city. An old factory, one that sat, abandoned, boarded-up, with the faint light of dawn just touching its weathered roof.
No cars were outside. No vehicles of any sort.
Devast stared up at the factory. So this was to be the endgame location. Interesting choice.
Mercer must truly think that he was a fool.
You shouldn’t underestimate me, Mercer. That mistake would be fatal.
Anton would show his old friend.
He parked his car. He’d come alone. There was no sense losing any more men on this mission. Not when he knew exactly what he was doing.
Delivering a message.
Some messages were best delivered in person.
Anton headed toward the main entrance. This moment had been such a long time coming. Anton made sure that his steps were slow. Made sure to lean heavily on his cane. After all, he was frail. He was weak.
Very helpfully, someone had undone the chain that sealed that main entrance.
He heaved the chain out of his way. Deliberately, he wrestled with the chain as if it were a struggle to lift its weight. The chain fell to the ground. He pushed against the door. Once. Twice.
Then the door was sliding open. Anton waved the dust aside and entered the factory.
Silence.
Darkness.
“I know you’re here!” Anton called out. His voice seemed to echo back to him. “Why must we play these games?”
Footsteps padded behind him. In front of him. To the left— The right—
And they attacked.
A gun was shoved into his back. A knife put to his throat.
“Got you,” a man’s hard voice snarled.
Anton shrugged. “So it would appear.” But he wasn’t interested in talking with a flunky. He wanted to see one man. Needed to see him. “Where’s Mercer?”
Because he knew that Mercer would have been pulled out of his office. For a case this personal, there would be no sitting on the sidelines for him.
Lights flickered on in the factory. One after another, flashing on in rows.
Anton didn’t even blink at the onset of all that too-bright illumination in a factory that should have been without power for years.
I know how appearances can deceive. Hadn’t he been the one to first teach Mercer that lesson?
Anton’s gaze cut to the left. The man with the knife had short, dark hair and a gaze that said he’d seen plenty of death.
Good. Then there would be no surprises when he saw it again.
Anton pounded his cane against the floor. “I asked for Mercer.” He let his shoulders hunch inward. A frail old man was what he appeared to be. “I know...he’s here...” He huffed out a ragged breath. “Where...is...he?”