“And you, what? Want me to do the honors? Get on the inside, do your dirty work, help you arrest the old asshole?”
Anne shook her head. “No, that’s what the department wants. I wanted to be the one to tell you because I don’t want you to go.”
William brushed his hands together and stood. “Why?”
“You told me what Egerton said, what he’s like. This man is as insane as your father, even if he seems to like you a bit better.” Anne shoved her hands in her pockets. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“So you’re here to tell me you suddenly care oh so much.” William wiped his hands on his jeans. He tended to dress down for inventory, in nothing but an old pair of jeans and a worn-out T-shirt. “Well, it’s no skin off my nose if you lot put some other sucker in there to get information for you.”
“I care, William,” Anne insisted.
Turning swiftly, William fixed a withering look on her. She pulled her head back but didn’t move, so he stormed toward her and grabbed her wrist.
“Do you? Do you really care?”
“Ow,” she said with more annoyance than pain.
He dropped her arm but leaned in so close their noses were almost touching. “Why? Why would you give a flying fuck about some irredeemable criminal? And why do you expect me to buy that?”
“Because I love you, you jackass!”
William narrowed his eyes, sucked in his cheeks, and shook his head. “You don’t. It’s nice of you to say, but you don’t love me.”
“I knew you were arrogant, but it’s pretty extra to tell me how I feel,” Anne shot back.
“If you love someone, you don’t throw them away like garbage, love. And you sure don’t do it more than once.” William walked past her. “How ‘bout I show you the door?”
Now Anne grabbed his wrist and jerked him back. Hard.
“Ow,” he said mockingly. Though, it had hurt a bit.
“I don’t have just myself to think about,” Anne said.
“Are you looking for absolution here? For me to tell you it’s okay to jerk me around like this? Or did we just have sex after the gala because you felt sorry for me?”
“Shut up!”
William laughed. “That’s right. That’s a great way to handle an argument. We’re peak relationship goals right now.”
“I didn’t give you pity sex. I wanted it. I still want it.” Anne squeezed his arm again and stepped closer until he could feel her chest rising and falling. “And I want you, but I don’t know how I can have you. My life isn’t entirely my own to do whatever I want with.”
“Don’t you dare blame this on Evie. She’s purer than either of us will ever be. And you’ll always find an excuse not to do this. If you did love me, you’d find a way to work it out. You’d at least try.” William jerked his hand away and put it on his hip. “And last time, what was your excuse? Your job?”
“Last time was still about…” Anne trailed off.
William raised a brow. “About… what? Who?” His heart began to pound. “About Evie? Were you—?”
William wished he were the type of man to push away a woman who kissed him to shut him up, but he wasn’t. He could take down a man twice his size, sharp shoot, and survive almost anything, but he apparently wasn’t strong enough to tell Anne Sutton no.
The morning after the gala, William had been so certain that it had been their last time together that now every touch seemed precious. Today very likely was their last time. Afterwards, she would leave him again, maybe with an excuse, maybe not. Either way, he glutted his hands with the feel of her, moving them up and down her body as though he could fill up on the memory of her skin and bank it away for the long stretch without her that surely lay ahead of him.
She fell back against a dusty wall of books, and he unbuttoned her pants and jerked them down. In the seconds between breaking the kiss, unbuttoning his pants, and pressing another fierce kiss to her lips, he could see in her eyes how much she both wanted this and hated herself for having it.
William wished he could make her love herself. He wished he could make her choose happiness instead of endless sacrifice, but he couldn’t control her, and he wouldn’t have been happy if he could. Instead, he would love for her, at least at this moment, and he slipped his fingers into the already slick folds between her legs. She squirmed and then began to rub against him as he worked his magic between her satiny flesh. He bowed his head and took in her scent, kissing her neck and drinking her in like a fine wine. He wanted her ripe and ready before he took her fully, and his fingers were as nimble as ever.