With Every Breath (Slow Burn #4) - Maya Banks Page 0,46

ago.

It wasn’t the smart thing to do, but she couldn’t drop off the face of the earth having Gracie thinking Eliza was angry with her. She owed her this much for saving her life. And she hadn’t lied to Sterling about the surprise involving Gracie’s school for impoverished children. She’d gifted her entire savings to Gracie’s cause because Eliza would have no use for it since she’d either be dead or in jail.

Her letter had been a goodbye and not a very subtle one. She’d asked Gracie to tell Tori, Ari and Ramie she loved them and considered them her dearest and only girlfriends and she’d made only one request in regard to her male coworkers. She’d asked Gracie to tell them she was sorry for letting them down, for failing them. But for Dane, she’d included a smaller sealed envelope and simply asked for Gracie to personally deliver it to her partner and the best friend she’d ever had.

She closed her eyes and hunched down, shielding her face from the rain as she began the half mile walk to the house she’d rented. A hotel wasn’t an option and the town only sported an aging bed and breakfast and a motel that she wasn’t surprised to see was still likely being used for the nightly hookups and drug binges, where dealers and buyers met and, for a price, the management looked the other way. And since it was owned by the chief of police’s brother-in-law, there wasn’t much to worry about as far as it being raided.

Once, after a late shift at the diner, she’d left at two in the morning to walk to the home of the elderly woman she sat for during the day and had been blocked by two potheads, high as a kite and looking to score with an easy target. They’d already reserved a room at the seedy motel and had been waiting in the shadows for her to cross their path.

Thomas, who’d been courting Eliza for several weeks, had materialized out of nowhere and quickly put the fear of God in the two drug addicts, threatening to tear them apart if they so much as looked at Eliza again.

Thomas had a mild manner about him. He didn’t appear to be a badass capable of taking down one, much less two, drug users strung out on God only knew what, but there was something in the way he carried himself, the absolute confidence and determination that made others steer clear of him. The men that is.

Women were utterly charmed by him, and Eliza had been no exception. She’d found it wildly romantic and sweet that he would defend her so veraciously and then sweep her into his protection, vowing that no harm would ever come to her. And so he’d eaten supper at the diner most nights and sat in the corner until Eliza got off and then he’d walk her back to the house of the woman she sat for, with stern instructions to rest and be careful.

Oh how easy a target she’d been. Even without his psychic abilities, he would have manipulated her with ease. It wasn’t difficult for a young girl who had nothing and came from nothing to be overwhelmed by a handsome older man who genuinely seemed to care about her and respect her. He embodied everything she’d never had, never hoped to have, but wanted with everything in her young romantic heart.

He’d been the consummate gentleman, never acting inappropriately, but then he had the benefit of knowing her thoughts, her cynicism and her doubts and so he knew exactly what not to do in order not to lose her faith in him. She’d never had a chance once he’d targeted her. Every action, movement, thought or gesture carefully orchestrated by plucking what she feared most and longed for most right out of her head.

If only she’d known then that when it seemed too good to be true, too perfect, then it very likely was. The woman she was now would never be so coerced or manipulated. She’d call bullshit before a man like Thomas even opened his mouth.

She despised smooth, polished men as a result and avoided them above all else. It was why it had taken her considerable time—and effort—to let her guard down with Dane and allow herself to trust someone—a man—again. Because for all his brusque mannerisms and abrupt speech and nature, Dane screamed wealth, power and polish. And an air of confidence that was