“Why the jeans, Chastity? You always wear skirts and dresses.” He lowered his mouth to her shoulder and neck. He must have seen the bandage there. “What’s this?”
“From you, too,” she whispered.
He moved his hand from between her thighs to her face, gripping her there. “Have you learned your lesson?”
“My lesson?” He squeezed harder. She gasped.
The evilness in his eyes warned her that he was out of control. Her gut instincts kicked in and she knew that she was busted. He was going to kill her. As soon as he had the chance, and as soon as he was done playing with her, he was done, and she was dead.
“I learned a lot over the last forty-eight hours,” she told him.
“Like what?”
“Like men can’t be trusted. Even you.”
“Even me? Why wouldn’t you trust me?”
“Because you lied about Maggie. You were in love with her.”
Chastity was shooting from the hip right now. But last night, as she thought back about how Maggie was sent to set up Nash and Riker, and how Desi’s name was on her apartment lease, she wondered if there was more to the relationship.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. Nash and Riker said that she meant nothing to them. The night you beat me, and told me to leave them, you spoke about Maggie. You sounded more like a jealous lover than a friend.”
He squeezed her hard, and she gasped. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“Sure I do. And I’ll tell you this much, Desi. I won’t stay with you, give all of myself to you, unless you put her behind you, behind us. She’s gone. I want, I need a man who is going to give me everything, all of him. I want to know the real you. I want to know who Jose and Luke are. I want to know who Maggie really was to you. I don’t know any of these people. I don’t know any of the circumstances behind your life or theirs. I only know that I’m tired of being used, of being knocked around. Can you give me that, Desi? Can you?”
He stared into her eyes, and she hoped that Nash and Riker were hearing her words. She wanted them to totally know that she had nothing to do with Desi or Maggie or the illegal activities. She was a pawn in a game. Someone caught in the middle of revenge. Nash and Riker needed to know the truth.
Desi shocked her as he pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. She could hardly breathe, never mind believe that he was making love to her mouth after her little speech. When he finally released her lips, he cupped her cheeks between his hands and held her gaze.
“You’re coming with me. We’re leaving the state, the country. Our life together, Chastity, begins today.”
She swallowed hard as he stood up from the seat, took her hand, and escorted her out of the building. He held her hand tight as they walked down the streets. Not a soul looked their way. They moved along, and then they came to another building. Glancing around, she didn’t see anyone watching, but she knew they were there. Riker and Nash promised to be there.
They got inside the dark building and approached the back area. There stood four men. There was a large amount of money on the table and their expressions were angry as he entered.
“What the fuck took you so long, and who is this?”
He shoved her into a seat. She nearly fell over.
“She’s the girlfriend of the two men who killed Maggie.”
“What?”
“She’s mine now. They’ll never see her again.”
As fear and uncertainty filled her gut, Chastity heard the explosions. The room began to fill with smoke. There was yelling and chaos everywhere.
She heard the words “Freeze! FBI!” but then Desi was pulling her up from the seat and practically dragging her along with him.
“Move, Chastity.”
She dug her sneakers into the flooring as they exited the building. She lost her balance, and there were men and agents everywhere. Desi shoved her to the side, between him and something hard and cold. But she stared at all the agents in shock. Her heart was pounding. She knew this was it. She could die right now. Desi held her life in his hands.
She pulled from him, and he drew a gun.