now. I needed to feel him on each and every inch of my skin.
“Tyler…,” I exhaled, trying to catch my breath.
“Yes?”
“Take me home. We’ll talk about whatever you want later.”
“Mackenzie…,” he began, and I could see him struggling.
“I know you want me. I can feel it. I need you right now. We need to make up for lost time. So, please, take me home and make love to me.”
Staring at me with hunger, his expression carnal and animalistic, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, the thirst was gone.
“We need to talk first, Mackenzie,” he said, helping me lower my legs back to the sand.
“We already did,” I replied, my voice bordering on being a bit whiny. I ran my finger down his shirt, settling on his belt buckle as I pulled him back toward me. “You’re keeping your team of trained mercenaries on board to look after me. You know how much I get turned on when you go all protective. We talked, so let’s go do something else now.” I began to unbuckle his belt, but his hands caught mine before I could go any further.
“That’s not all I need to talk to you about. There’s more.”
“More?” I raised my eyebrows.
He simply nodded in response, swallowing hard.
“What is it?”
“Besides us needing to talk about what you’re keeping from me regarding Charlie…”
“I’m not–”
He raised his finger to my mouth, hushing me. “You are, Mackenzie, and I get it. You’re learning to trust me all over again. You’re not sure where my loyalties lie right now. You’re worried I may use what you tell me to hurt Charlie. And you’re right to think that, especially if I find out he’s a danger to you. That’s where my loyalties lie. With you and only you. Okay?”
I nodded slightly and he removed his finger from my mouth.
“It’s about your father…,” Tyler reluctantly said.
“What about him?”
Sighing, he rubbed his temples, his shoulders shrinking. “If I thought there was any other option, I wouldn’t be asking this of you.”
“Asking what?” I countered, crossing my arms in front of me, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.
“I need to talk to him,” he said, his voice soft.
I stared at him, not expecting him to ask so much of me. For most, meeting the parents was a rite of passage, something all couples did. But this wasn’t a simple dinner to make sure I wasn’t dating a complete asshole. This was a man who had approached me for the sole purpose of finding and turning my father in, and was now asking that I bring him to meet the man he may still be hunting.
“Tyler…” I sighed, unsure of what to say to him.
“I know what must be going through your head right now,” he said, grabbing my hands. “I understand your reluctance, but I’m not going to stop working this case until I know you’re safe from harm. That means finding out what really happened all those years ago. There’s been too many suspicious things happening, giving rise to more questions than answers, and I think your father may be able to give us some insight that could help put this puzzle together.”
“Tyler, I just…” I paused, collecting my thoughts. “I spent eight years of my life thinking he was dead. Having to disappear and change everything about me, including my name, was the hardest thing I ever had to do. It broke me and, the day I saw my father step into the living room at my mother’s house, I vowed to do everything I could so I’d never have to lose my family again.” I tore away from him, a chill washing over me as I recalled how lost I felt all those years when I thought I had no father.
“But what about your mother?” Tyler shouted, catching up to me.
“What?” I hissed, spinning around to face him. “Don’t you dare bring her up! She has nothing to do with this, not anymore!”
“Don’t you want the person responsible for her death behind bars?”
“Who? Charlie?! Last I checked, you seemed to be hell-bent on blaming him for all this!”
“Don’t you think your mother would want you to finally be able to let her go?!”
“Why don’t you think–”
Tyler reached into his pocket and pulled out a long velvet box, holding it out to me.
“What is that?”
“It’s something that belongs to you,” he said softly.
Taking the box from him, I opened it, my eyes settling on my mother’s ornate rosary. I had felt so empty and alone