Part 23 (2/2)

aWe may never know that,a Dante said.

aHow can someone be that messed up?a Gabe asked. aHow could he hurt the people he was supposed to care about?a Annaas eyes welled up with tears. aI donat know. Weall never know.a aAnd how could none of us see it?a Gabe asked.

aWe saw what he wanted us to see,a Dante said.

aSerial killers and psychopaths are good at hiding who they really are. They can appear so normal,a Anna said. aThatas whatas so scary about them.a aI guess.a Gabe crouched and kissed the top of Annaas head. aI wouldnat want your job, honey. You deal with some f.u.c.ked-up people.a Dante pulled her against him. aYou did good. You kept him sane until we got here.a aI was a victim once,a she said, feeling nothing as she stared down at Romanas body. aNever again.a She realized as the teams came in to work the scene that through it all she hadnat once had a panic attack.

Huh. Maybe she was getting tougher. Finally.

It was now or never. Decisions had to be made.

It had been a week since Romanas case had been wrapped up, and Dante had no reason to still be here. Head given his statements. All the loose ends had been tied with a big, fat bow. Anna had ended up getting eight st.i.tches in her arm. The cut hadnat been too deep. Thank G.o.d. Seeing Roman slash her with that knife had made his heart stop. He still relived that moment over and over again.

d.a.m.n, shead been brave.

But now it was over.

He could go back to work. His work. His job. Wherever he wanted to go, because he had that level of freedom. Or not go, if he so chose, because he had that freedom, too. Head put in his time. Death-defying time.

He could go back to it if he wanted. Head always loved his job, as harrowing as it was sometimes.

Or he could stay here.

Only one person could help him make that decision, and theyad danced around talking about it for seven d.a.m.n days now.

He was still staying at Annaas place and she seemed to be content with that, hadnat kicked him out, hadnat asked him to stay.

Actually, she hadnat said a G.o.dd.a.m.n thing at all. Shead done her job, filed her reports, been debriefed, given her interviews. At night she came home with him and they made love and talked about everything except the fact that he should probably be leaving.

For some reason by the time they came home, they were too tired to do anything other than eat and climb into bed.

And once in bed? Yeah, deep conversation was over. All they wanted was each other, and that required very few words.

So he decided he was going to talk to her at the precinct today. Head corner her in the coffee room if he had to, but they were going to settle this once and for all.

Maybe she was tired of him and she wanted him to leave, and she didnat want to hurt his feelings, so she was waiting for him to grab a clue and get the f.u.c.k out of town. Maybe the bad memories would never go away for her, and he was part of the past she didnat want to relive over and over again.

Was he that dense he just couldnat see it?

And maybe he hadnat said anything himself because he didnat want to hear those words from her.

But shead said she loved him.

And he said he loved her.

But sometimes that wasnat enough to build a foundation on.

s.h.i.+t. Quit being a p.u.s.s.y and just go get it over with.

He marched into the office and saw her sitting at her desk, rubbing her brow. She was busy. He could come back later.

He hesitated. Then pushed his feet forward and stopped at her desk. aI need to talk to you.a She lifted her gaze to his. aIam working on a case, Dante.a He hauled her out of her chair. aNow.a She glared at him, then her arm where he held her. aAre you out of your G.o.dd.a.m.n mind?a aWeare having a coffee break.a He led her into the coffee room and shut the door.

aFirst, do not ever manhandle me like that again.a aI love you.a She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. aI love you, too.a Then she frowned. aWhat is this about?a aItas time for me to leave.a aOh.a She crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. aSo are you leaving?a aI donat know. Am I?a Her brows rose. aIam not your mother.a aWhat the f.u.c.k is that supposed to mean?a aIt means I donat make the decisions for you. Last time I looked you were a grown-up. So are you leaving or arenat you?a d.a.m.n, the woman infuriated him. aI guess not.a aFine, then.a aFine.a This wasnat going the way head planned. She seemed irritated. And he was p.i.s.sed off.

Time to regroup. aAnna. Letas start over. I love you. I want to marry you. I want to have lots of babies with you. I donat want to leave. I want to stay. Do you want me to stay? Will you marry me and live with me and have kids with me?a Her eyes looked as if they were going to pop right out of her head.

aUh, what did you just say?a He c.o.c.ked his head to the side and crossed his arms. aYouare going to make me repeat it?a aOkay. No. Wait. You love me. I know you love me. But you want to do the whole marriage-and-babies thing?a aYes. Does that surprise you?a aI donat know. Yes. No. I donat know. Everything about you surprises me, Dante.a He came over to her and put his hands on her hips. aI want a family, Anna. I never had one until you and the Clemonses and the guys. And I came back after twelve years and I had it again and almost lost all of you. I almost lost you. I donat want to leave. I donat want to lose you again. I want to have a place to call home. I want to have kids. I want to put down roots, not travel all over the world. And I want to do all of that with you.a Her lips quirked. aYou do?a aYes, I do.a aWhat will you do for a living? Not much call for black ops in St. Louis.a He arched a brow. aDo you know that for sure?a She punched his arm. aSeriously.a aWell, I hear the FBI is interested in hiring me for their local field office.a aAre you kidding?a She snorted.

aIam not kidding. Based on my outstanding qualifications, I can pretty much write my own ticket.a aYour currentauhaemployer will let you do that?a aYes. Theyall let me go.a Head been making inquiries. Plans. About their future together. Anna had never thought much about marriage and family. Shead figured shead be married to her job as a detective for the rest of her life.

Until Dante had swept back into her life and turned it all upside down and sideways.

Shead gotten used to having him in her bed at night, and at her kitchen table for coffee and breakfast in the morning.

And she didnat intend to let him walk out of her life again.

She wound her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. aI love you. Letas get married and make babies.a aWhen?a aIam free this weekend and Iave never been to Vegas.a He drew her against him and kissed her in a way she would never tire of being kissed. Wholly, and with his entire heart. When he drew back, he said, aI like Vegas.a This time when her scar throbbed, it was because her heart was beating so d.a.m.n fast she felt as if her chest would explode.

Now whenever she touched her heart, it would be because it was filled with love.

The past was dead. She was so ready for the future.

Acknowledgments.

To Linda McFall, for believing in me enough to make this happen. Thank you for this.

To my editor, Krista Stroever, for your wonderful ideas, brilliant brainstorming and infinite patience in driving this book to its conclusion. Thank you!

To my agent, Kimberly Whalen, for getting me there, keeping me there and calming the waters along the way. I couldnat do this without you.

To my friends who are my rock every daya”Shannon Stacey, Maya Banks and Angela Jamesa”thank you for letting me vent, throw things, cry and whine incessantly. Having friends I know I can count on means more to me than I can possibly say. Youare the absolute best.

ISBN: 978-1-4592-1520-7.

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