head. “Mia. Marianne. My sis—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “I’d given up hope.”
“No, you hadn’t. I didn’t know what you were searching for, but your belief gave me the hope to go on.”
“You’ve been remarkably strong through all of this,” he said gruffly.
“No, it was you—”
“You know I never believed in your happy endings. I’ve seen a lot of happiness and a lot of heartache in my work. You must have gotten a kick out of discovering that Mia is my sister.”
Sunny shook her head, but before she could say anything else, Griff continued, still looking down at Emily.
“When she was Emily’s age, I changed her diapers. I taught her to say her name. She couldn’t say it quite right. It always came out Me-ann. I guess that’s where Mia came from.”
“What’s she going to do now?”
He sighed and glanced up briefly. “Bess Raymond’s testimony will bring closure to a lot of people. I doubt, with her age and illness, that she’ll have to do any time.” He smiled sadly. “Mia is her daughter. That’s not going to change.”
“But you’ll see her. You’ll get to know her, let her get to know you.”
He nodded, his eyes bright with tears. Then he blinked and looked back at Emily. He held out his finger and Emily grabbed it. He made a small, anguished sound and gently pulled away. When he met her gaze again, his unleashed pain streaked through her.
“This isn’t about Mia, is it?” Sunny’s throat closed up. She tried to swallow. “What’s the matter?”
Sighing, he ran a palm over his clean-shaven face and took a step away from her. “I tried so hard not to love you.”
Love you. She blinked. Had she heard right? Pain stabbed her in the middle of her chest.
He shook his head. “I always managed to stay away from the families’ deepest sadness and their greatest joys. I thought if I ever let myself feel all that, I’d—” he swallowed, then shrugged and lowered his gaze “—I’d fall into some kind of bottomless pit and be lost forever. Lord knows hovering on the edge of it was bad enough.”
Sunny couldn’t stop the smile that softened her lips. She’d have sworn her heart couldn’t swell any more, it was so full of love and relief and happiness. But apparently the heart’s capacity for love was infinite, because she loved Griff.
“Now you have your happy ending,” she whispered. “And you didn’t fall into the pit.”
“Not yet.” He looked away and wiped his eyes. “I never met anyone who compares with you. You found my heart. I didn’t even know it was still—” He stopped. His jaw flexed.
He sniffed and blinked. Then he held out his hand.
She took a step toward him and waited.
His face began to relax, and his beautiful violet eyes never wavered.
Finally his mouth turned up in a little smile. “I love you—” His voice broke.
Sunny shifted Emily to her other side and stepped into the circle of Griff’s arms. “I love you, too,” she whispered. “I think I’ve loved you a long time.”
Griff’s lips were against her ear. “I know what you mean.”
Then he ran his lips across her cheek and kissed her. Sunny’s insides turned to hot flowing lava as their kiss deepened and heated.
He pulled her against him, holding her in the circle of his safe, strong, sexy body, with Emily tucked between them. The baby waved her arms and Griff let her grab his finger.
“Now,” he whispered against her lips. “If you’ll marry me, we can have our very own happy ending.”
“Oh, Griff.” Sunny laughed. Then she thought about what marriage would mean.
“Will we have to move to Washington, D.C.?”
Griff watched the baby, his eyes dark and soft. “No. I turned in my resignation before I left, remember? Decker knows I’m quitting.”
“You’re going to stay in Nashville?”
“I grew up there. And it’s where you are.” He kissed her cheek, then nipped at her ear, sending shivers through her.
“But what are you going to do?”
“I was kind of hoping Loveless, Inc. might have an opening.”
“For a ‘happy endings’ detective?”
He bent and kissed Emily’s tiny fingers. “You take the happy endings cases. I’ll be the hard-boiled private eye.”
“So…Loveless and Stone?”
“Stone and Loveless.” He kissed her gently.
“We’ll negotiate,” she whispered against his lips.
“Now this is a happy ending.”
Emily giggled.
Sunny shook her head. “Not a happy ending, a happy beginning.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-2876-4
LULLABIES AND LIES
Copyright © 2006 by Rickey R. Mallory
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
About the Author
Books by Mallory Kane
Cast of Characters
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
About the Author
Books by Mallory Kane
Cast of Characters
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
About the Author
Books by Mallory Kane
Cast of Characters
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
About the Author
Books by Mallory Kane
Cast of Characters
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Copyright