pinched my chin. “I want to fuck you so hard, you’ll feel me in your soul.”
Desire unfurled deep in the pits of my very being for the man standing in front of me.
He placed a soft peck on my mouth, a sense of calm washing over us. “You don’t need to be naked for me to distract you.”
I shook myself and glared up at him. “Ass.”
He chuckled, his eyes saddening. “Thank you,” he said a moment later.
“For what?” I asked softly.
He sighed. “For making me feel somewhat normal again.”
SHIVER ran down my spine as the cool mid-afternoon air brushed over my skin. I didn’t know how long I had been walking for but when the muscles in my legs started burning, I could only assume it had been a while.
“Miss Price?”
“I’m not ready,” I told Jones. It was a daily argument between us. He would drive. I would walk. He would demand that I get in the limo. After an hour or so, I would usually give in and join him in the front seat. The idea of getting in the back scared the shit out of me. Anxiety crept along my bones at the mere thought of it. Remembering when my ex held me captive for a brief length of time in the back of his limo, I couldn’t help the acidic bile that rose to my throat. Jones had offered to get a new vehicle to drive me around in but I refused, needing to get over my fear. But what I really needed was Parker. He would help me. To get out of my head. Away from the very nightmare that threatened to consume me. Away from myself.
My throat burned, my eyes welling. I missed Parker so damn much. All I could think about was him. His touch. His voice. The musky scent of his skin. The rough caress as he drove deep into my soul. I needed him to help me move on. To get me away from this hell that I called my thoughts.
Leaving the FBI station, if you would have told me weeks ago that I’d end up there in the first place, I would have brushed it off. I was Keely Price. Hacker extraordinaire. Untouchable. Or so I thought.
Having The Mist for a father, I learned a thing or two about the government. Agent Cross may have had information on me but his threats only went so far. He didn’t have proof. And without proof, he had jack shit. He had tried scaring me but after being with Devin Tate for years and enduring his abuse, I could handle anything. I scoffed at myself. I was such a liar.
My phone vibrated, startling me from my thoughts. “Hello?”
“Hey, baby girl,” my best friend, Troy Danvers, greeted me.
“Hi, Troy.” I smiled. Finally. It had been so long since I had felt that upward pull of my lips that I thought my face would shatter into a million pieces.
“Where are you?” he asked, concern coating his deep voice.
“Out.”
“Are you walking?”
I sighed. “Yes, and Jones is following me.”
“Good. That’s…good.”
“Troy—”
“A package arrived for you.”
I stopped in my tracks. “From who?”
“Keely, I think—”
“Tell me,” I demanded.
“It’s from Devin.”
“ARE YOU going to open it?” Troy asked, sitting across the table from me.
I didn’t answer, staring at the long, rectangular package that he had placed in front of me. The box was black, made of some sort of dark wood that I couldn’t place.
“Keely…”
“Please.” I met Troy’s gaze. “Just give me a moment.”
“Let’s leave her alone,” Patrick West, Troy’s boyfriend, offered gently.
“But—”
“Teach me how to make those delicious cookies of yours.” Patrick cupped Troy’s cheek and placed a soft peck on his mouth.
“Patrick.” Troy looked at me, his blue eyes saddening.
“I’m fine,” I said, softly.
Patrick smiled at me. “She’s strong, baby. Come. Let’s give her some time alone. I’m sure if she needs you, she’ll let us know.”
“If I need either of you, I will let you know,” I corrected.
Patrick’s eyes warmed and he blew me a kiss as he and Troy headed into the kitchen. Their voices were low and muffled and I tried ignoring them but couldn’t; their words jabbed into my heart.
“She needs him.”
“Parker is dead.”
“Is he really?”
My head snapped around at Troy’s question. How would he know any different? As much as it killed me, I never told anyone that Parker and I had faked his death. Memories of that conversation tried to force their way to the forefront of my mind but I stopped them. I