kiss with a seriousness I hadn’t felt before. Hunger flooded my body, and the feel of her skin against mine sent shivers up my spine.
My cock began to get hard. I had to pull away before I fucked her right there, next to the corpse of the piece of shit who kidnapped her.
“Here,” I said, pulling off my flak jacket and shirt. “Put this on.”
She took my shirt and pulled it over her head. I dropped the vest down on the ground. The shooting upstairs had stopped, and there were only voices of men talking left.
“Think we won?” she asked.
I nodded. “We definitely won.”
“Is it really over?”
“It’s really over. I promise.”
Before she could say anything, the door to the basement opened. “Hello down there?” Rigley called out.
“It’s me,” I called back. “We’re coming up.”
“There’s my thief!” he laughed.
Becca gave me a look and I just shrugged. We walked back around the junk and the dirty work out equipment and made our way upstairs.
“So this is your stepsister,” Rigley said. “Nice to meet you.”
“Rebecca,” she replied. “You too.”
“Are we done here?” I asked him.
“Yes. The fucks are all dead, and we are victorious.”
“And you and me?”
“Square, Mister Thief. You did good.”
“Jay is downstairs,” I said softly.
“Ah. We have his girl. We thought he might have gotten away.”
“He didn’t.”
“You have Lindsey?” Becca cut in.
“Yes. “ Rigley paused and then grinned. “What should we do with her?”
Becca blinked. “I don’t know.”
“Should she die?”
“No!” she said quickly. “No, don’t kill her.”
“Are you sure?”
“She’s been through enough,” Becca said softly.
I looked at her for a second and then back at Rigley. “We’re going.”
He was already turning away. “Take a car. We lost a whole team today, so we don’t need it.”
“Thanks. I’ll leave it at Thom’s.”
“Keep the fucking thing. We have plenty to replace it now.”
I took Becca by the hand and we walked out of the house. I carefully steered her away from the worst of the violence but couldn’t help but walk past at least two bodies. She looked away until we were out in the sunlight.
I felt nothing but joy as we climbed into a car. The keys were already in the ignition.
“How did you do it?” she asked me softly.
“I don’t know.”
“Thank you.”
“Becca—”
“No, listen to me. Thank you.”
“It’s my fault you were there.”
“No, it isn’t. I didn’t have to take that key. Lindsey ratted on me. But you came and you saved me.”
I grabbed her face and pulled her toward me. “I’ll always keep you safe. I fucking promise.”
“I know you will.”
I kissed her softly on the lips.
“I don’t care about the stepsister thing,” I said.
“I love you.”
“I know,” I said, grinning. “I’m completely and totally yours.”
“Take me home, you big asshole.”
My grin widened. “Gladly.”
I kissed her again, our mouths lingering for a moment, exploring each other. Finally, I pulled away and began to drive back home.
I looked across the car at her, and she smiled back.
Neither of us bothered with the rearview mirror. Neither one of us wanted to stay rooted in the past.
It was forward and away.
It was living and moving on.
Together.
Epilogue
After a half hour up there he was just a speck in the distance, a tiny dot toward the top of the cliff.
It was his third competition back, and, if the time on my watch was right, he was in the lead by a huge margin. Not quite record-breaking, but he was still getting back into the swing of things. The records would come soon enough if he kept up his current training.
A huge wave of pride surged up through my chest as I watched him move. I could barely make out what he was doing, but I knew Reid saw the cliff’s rivers of handholds better than anyone else. He was moving methodically and slowly, conserving energy for the final push.
After the shootout, we drove straight home, barely talking. He put me to bed and I slept for something like twelve hours. When I woke up, he was napping in a chair right next to me, still wearing the exact same outfit he wore the day before.
We never heard from the mob again. Reid said Thom had tried to get him involved, but Reid’s mind was already on other things. He was already thinking about the future.
“I’d rather climb than smuggle drugs,” he said to me a few days later. “The money isn’t as good, though.”
A cheer went up through the crowd as Reid pulled himself up over the edge, cresting the cliff and making it to