lips together, knowing he won’t like this, but I let him in deeper. “No secrets, no matter what. There’s something there.”
Three little words, so much meaning, an impact that echoes through the room, through our relationship.
He runs his hands through his hair, yanking at the strands. He’s embraced the relaxed hair standards of nonmilitary life more than I have, that’s for sure. “Fuck, Nathan. Fuck.” He glares at me, and I take it all, knowing it’s warranted.
“I pulled everything I could on Emma and her sister. File’s on my desk. Take it and go through it. See if there’s anything I missed. Please.”
He growls his frustration, but he nods as he grabs his cup and heads back to the office to start digging into everything Emma Daniels and Claire Daniels have ever known, done, or said. He doesn’t want to do it, would rather I wash my hands of the whole thing, but he’s got my back. If it’s important to me, it’s important to him. That’s what brothers do.
I dump the rest of my eggs in the trash, uneaten. I need something else even more.
Chapter 21
Emma
The loud bang on my door resonates through my apartment, likely disturbing everyone in the whole building. Not Claire’s pattern, but urgent nevertheless.
I peek through the peephole and see Nathan there, and my hands fly to my lock. I don’t make him wait, too afraid he’ll leave.
When I open the door, he puts a hand on either side of the frame, caging me inside my own apartment but not entering either.
“This is not the way to do this, but fuck if anything else has been right. The only way I know how to tell for sure what’s real and what’s fake is to break down every fucking wall between us. It’s the only way.”
Whoa. Talk about an honest and just . . . out there declaration. It’s so surprising I hesitate. It’s not what I expected, but at the same time, it’s what my heart’s been yearning for.
A chance at redemption.
I know what he’s asking of me. He’s telling me that I’ll have to go all-in.
That’s a scary thought under the best of circumstances, and we have probably the worst set of circumstances Hollywood could script between the mindfuck his dad laid on him and then the one I just pulled.
I’m not much better, suddenly falling inexplicably and deeply for the bad boy who should be strictly off-limits.
Oh, he may not have a motorcycle and leather jacket, but he is the ultimate in bad boys, the power in his charm and expensive suits as he holds court in the boardroom or whatever it is his business does.
Everything is against us.
And still I jump at the opportunity and fling myself off the edge, praying he’ll catch me and that this isn’t some twisted retribution.
I back away from the door slowly, walking backward to the living room so as not to break eye contact. I make sure I’m in full view from where he stands in the doorway, and I sink to my knees.
It may not have been something I’ve ever done before, or at least not before that frightening moment at the party.
But it’s the only thing I can think of to show that I’m at his mercy, open and vulnerable, willing to let him take everything.
It’s how we started, and now, it’ll be how we start again.
I feel my lips tilt up in hope. “Nathan, come in.”
It’ll be the last order I issue.
He’s on me in six strides, the slam of the door closing still echoing in the room when he grabs a handful of my hair and tilts my head up for a kiss.
No, not a kiss.
Though our mouths move against one another, our tongues tangle, and our breaths mingle, this is a possession.
He is taking me—my breath, my body, my power—in this instant.
I arch in surrender to his power, trying to get even closer to him as he leans over me.
But he fights me, moving his hands to grip my face in his palms. His eyes steady on mine, and his truth is painful. “I am so fucking furious at you. I hate you, hate that you lied, hate that I don’t know if you’re still lying, hate that I had to defend myself to my brother, hate that I’m here when everything screams at me to stay away. But here I am. I hate you.”
He shakes my head slightly, triggering the tears in my eyes to spill over, down my cheeks.
But