her sides. “Kiss me.” I cage her in, one arm on either side of her against the sink. Her pretty face is taut, her lips pressed tightly shut. “You don’t want to?”
“N . . .” She fades off, and I cock my head.
It’s her that makes the first move. All her.
She grabs me and hauls me onto her mouth, going at me like a mad woman. Her moan contradicts her hands that are trying to push me away. The heat of her body contradicts her attempts to be cold. This woman is one huge bag of contradictions. But she needs to realize that she causes conflict in me too. She is the epitome of weakness for me. A weakness that I want. Because while she strips me of strength to some extent, she injects me with it in others. My heart beats stronger with her around. I have purpose like I’ve never had.
I loop one arm around her waist and tug her into me, my other hand taking her jaw, squeezing.
“No, please.” She suddenly pulls away, turning her head, wriggling to free herself. “No more, Danny.”
A little stunned, I step back, her rejection stinging. Because I sense something in her tone I’ve never heard before. Resolution. My headache is suddenly back, my body suddenly shaky again. Her resolve is a smack in the face. Her expression as fierce as she is. “No more games?” I didn’t mean it as a question. It was supposed to be an assertive statement. None of this has been a game to me, not for a while now.
“No more anything.” She stares me down, refusing to look away from me, strong and firm in her stance. “You and me.” Her finger drifts between us. “We’re impossible.”
“Who says?”
“Me.” She turns away and drops her eyes from the mirror, hiding from me. “We’re toxic all on our own. Together, we’re poison.”
And explosive. And perfect for each other. I engage my muscles to approach, but hear footsteps coming from behind.
“Danny, for Christ’s sake, we’re late.” Brad takes in the scene, but impatience won’t allow him to take in the atmosphere. “Let’s go.” He reverses his steps, jerking his head. “Now.”
“This isn’t done,” I tell Rose, backing up.
“No, Danny, it’s done.” She looks up, and I swear there are tears in her eyes. “Trust me.”
I shake my head, not prepared to believe it. “I’ll be back,” I say, turning and leaving the room. I pull the door closed and take my keys from my pocket, locking it with the master. Something unsettling tells me that Rose doesn’t plan on being here when I get back, so I need to ensure she is. And not only because we’ve got shit to iron out, but because, as Adams pointed out, his contact wouldn’t think twice about killing her. “Not a word,” I warn Brad as we head back downstairs.
“Fine.”
“Talk to me.”
“It’s the shooter from the hospital. He’s dead.”
“What the fuck?”
“I went to the prison this morning. They turned me away. He was found in his cell. Twenty stab wounds to the neck. Worried he’d talk, I expect.”
“Fucking great.” I shake my head to myself.
“And Adams—”
“Don’t tell me he’s dead too.”
“No, he’s hiding. Somewhere in the Hamptons, but not at his own place. Don’t worry, we’ll smoke him out.”
Amber is loitering in the entrance hall when we make it there. “Go home,” I order without looking at her, striding down the steps and slipping my shades over my squinting eyes. “And stay the fuck gone.” The men will have to find another in-house whore.
We get in the car and Brad starts the engine, putting his foot on the pedal, racing down the driveway.
All I can see in my mind’s eye is Rose’s tears. Rose doesn’t cry. What the hell is going on?
The last of the shop staff is leaving when we pull up, and he waves out the window of his truck as he passes us on the mud track road leading up to the shack. The water is especially calm this evening, still and almost eerie. I get out and walk down to the shoreline, staring out at the sun dipping on the horizon. I hear the slide of the huge bolt of a container behind me, then the creak of the door being pulled open. Looking over my shoulder, I find one of the men pulling up to the container in a forklift, the telescopic arms extending into the metal shed and reappearing with one of the jet skis across