and tell me that you can’t tell me about my life because things are classified.”
“Baby…”
Wrong thing. Wrong thing to say.
Her eyes turned to slits as she stalked toward him. She wore jeans, black boots, and a long, white sweater. She looked like the most beautiful woman in the world to him but she looked at Dex…
As if he were a stranger.
She stopped right in front of him. “I am not your baby.”
But I want you to be. I want you to be so much, but I don’t get to say it. I don’t get to tell you how I really feel. I don’t get to tell you that I almost lost my mind when that bullet fired, and I saw you fall. I have to keep this stupid fucking mask in place and play the asshole when all I want to do is grab you, pull you close, and never, ever let go. “You’re my fiancée. Terms of endearment are expected between us.”
She yanked off the ring. Before she could throw it at him—and Dex knew that was exactly what she intended—his hand caught hers. His fingers wrapped around her hand as he forced her to keep the diamond ring cradled in her palm.
“It’s not over,” he told her softly. We’re not over. “You can’t give it back yet.” The fantasy had to last a little longer. Especially because he’d miscalculated.
“It’s over unless you tell me everything, and you tell me now.”
Would she walk away from him? Walk into danger? He couldn’t let that happen. “Fine. I think I know who killed your parents.”
Her eyes widened. “Then tell me. Don’t just—”
“Roman’s father.” Couldn’t she ever consider that maybe he didn’t want to tell her everything because the news would hurt her? Dammit, I hate her pain. Yet here he was, bringing that pain to her over and over again. “I believe that Roman’s father was responsible for their car crash.”
“What? Why? How—”
“His father and your mother had an affair. A very long affair.”
She shook her head. The denial was clear to see on her face. “No. My mom loved my father. He was a good man.”
“Yes, yes, he was a good man, and Roman’s father…” Your father, baby, your real father. “He wasn’t so good. He was a dangerous man who took what he wanted. He met your mother when she was a young dancer doing a tour in Europe. They…connected. And over the years, she kept coming back into his life.”
Once more, Lacey shook her head. “She wouldn’t do that.” Her voice had gone ragged.
“Maybe he kept pulling her back. He had a lot of power and influence.” People hadn’t exactly been known to say no to him. Until her mother. “But from what I can gather, shortly before the accident, she finally broke it off with him. Said she never wanted him in her life again.”
“From what you can gather.” She swallowed. “You mean with your network of spies and intel. You used them to find all of this information, and you kept it from me.”
Yes. He had. He was still keeping secrets from her. I don’t like hurting her. But she deserved as many truths as he could give her. “When he couldn’t convince your mother to leave her husband and come back for good, he was enraged.”
“So enraged he killed her?”
Tread carefully. “When your parents died, they were driving in your father’s car, weren’t they?”
“Y-yes.”
“Your mother wasn’t supposed to be there. She should have been out of town that day. Only your father should have been in the vehicle, but your mom returned home early to surprise him.”
Lacey’s lips parted, but she didn’t speak.
“Roman’s father paid someone to cut the brake lines in the car.”
“He wanted to kill my dad,” she whispered. Tears gleamed in her eyes.
“Kill him or hurt him. Instead, he wound up with a crash that killed them both.”
“You knew this from the beginning.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “You are a bastard, you know that?”
“I know.” He couldn’t look away from her tear-filled eyes. “Please, don’t cry.” The words tore from him. Gruff. Rough. “Please.” When had he ever used the word please with anyone but her? But Jesus, Lacey was crying, and he couldn’t handle it.
“You made me cry, you jerk!” She swiped her hand over her cheek. “You just stood there and told me that my mother had a lover who killed her and—”
“You wanted the truth. I’m trying to give it to you.” Because I want to give