Buried in Secrets (Carly Moore #4) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,108

more dangerous.”

“When I met Emily before, she made it apparent that she and her husband aren’t partners. And she said she wants to bring him down. That is progress, Marco.”

“Unless she’s settin’ you up.” His hand swept over my cheek as he searched my face. “I don’t want to lose you.”

If he sent me away, he’d lose me anyway. Run and hide alone or take my chances here and then hopefully move on to deal with my father. If I left, I’d be starting from scratch with little money and no friends.

No. I’d stay and take my chances.

I gave him a soft smile, then moved my hand to the top fastened button of his shirt and worked it free.

“This isn’t settled, Carly.”

I undid a second button, revealing a good portion of his chest. “And it’s not getting settled tonight unless you were planning on packing me a bag and sending me off before sunrise.”

The look in his eyes suggested he’d been considering it.

“No more talk of running tonight,” I said. “I’d rather see you naked.”

“Just see me naked?” he asked with a teasing glint. “Nothing else?”

“The naked part comes first. The rest comes after. Which means you have to get naked to find out what happens next.”

His gaze landed on my collarbone at the edge of my dress. He placed a kiss there as he pushed the top of my sleeve over my shoulder.

I quickly unfastened the rest of his buttons and tugged his shirt free from his jeans.

We didn’t talk after that. He swept me into his room, and we made love with an intensity unmatched by our previous encounters. No man had ever made me feel a tenth of what I experienced with Marco.

Afterward, I lay in his arms, my leg draped over his as his hand trailed up my arm.

“I know you don’t want to talk about this,” he said softly, “but I care about you too much to ignore that you’re in danger.” His hand stilled. “Have you given any thought to where you might go?”

“You mean if I run away?”

He placed a finger under my chin and tilted my face up to look at him. “It might not be all bad. You ended up here…” He grinned. “It’s gotta get better than Drum.”

I didn’t smile back. “I don’t know if I can do it again. I don’t want to be alone.”

“I’ll follow you, Carly. I’d just have to wrap up some things here.”

I slowly shook my head as a tear slipped down my cheek. “And by that you mean you’d have to sell your house and resign from your job. If you did those things, Bart and anyone else would know you were coming to me. They’d follow you.”

“Then I’ll run with you. I’ll leave it all behind.”

“You can’t, Marco. The state police would come looking for you. A deputy who’s been helping root out corruption in his department? They’d suspect foul play, and your face would be all over the news. You’d be more recognizable than I am.”

His arms tightened around me. “I won’t lose you, Carly.”

“Which means I’m staying,” I said with a wavering smile. “Because I’m not losing you either.”

It killed me to realize Wyatt hadn’t totally gotten it wrong. Marco wanted to go with me…he just couldn’t. I’d been deluded to think that he could. And as much as I’d insisted that I wouldn’t run, when it came down to it, I’d go if left with no other choice. Marco and Hank would defend me, possibly to their deaths. I couldn’t live with the guilt if that happened, which meant I needed to be prepared for the worst. I needed to figure out where and how to get a new identity.

If or when I did leave, I would be leaving everything and everyone behind.

Including Marco.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Marco didn’t have to go into work until ten, so we had a lazy morning in bed. After we made love, he made me breakfast. I wore one of his T-shirts and my underwear and he kept sneaking glances at my bare legs as I leaned my back into the counter opposite him and watched.

“I have tomorrow off,” he said as he scrambled some eggs. He was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts that showed off his butt, and my gaze kept straying there since his back was to me. “What time do you start work?”

“Five, but I guess it depends on whether Ruth’s friend takes Molly’s shift. If not, I might need