“It was necessary, and I’m not going to apologize for it.” This was addressed right at me, making me raise my brows. “More to the point, I meant what I said about personalities being set by the first grade. Maybe he was a good man at one point—helping out a poor injured puppy at the side of the road and bringing it into the vet where he met your mother. But I’d put money on that soulless bastard injuring the dog himself as a means of meeting your mom, just so he could dazzle her with his so-called compassion. He’s never done an unselfish thing in his life, so I’m going to make damn sure he never has an opportunity to influence you or our kids.”
“Got it.” I watched him punch the elevator’s button. “Except for one thing. You keep mentioningour kids. What kids? I think you need to explain where your head is right now.”
“Annnd, that’s my cue to take the stairs.” Steele took two big steps backward, hands out. “I just came up to let Eden know that she’s going to be sent a termination-of-services contract, dated today, and to thank her for being an incredible client to work with. I’m sorry we had to meet the way we did, Eden,” he added with a smile in my direction, “but I’m very glad we’ve gotten to know you. Expect a whole lot of invites from me and my wife to double up for a night out, you two. Our kids are full-on wild, so we need to escape them at least once a week to stay sane.”
“That sounds nice,” I said softly as the elevator doors opened. Steele waved us off as Luke pulled me inside to tuck me in a corner of the small space. I held onto the handrail while bringing him close with the other, because in that moment I was pretty sure I’d fall down after the day I’d had. “So that’s it. It’s over. I no longer have to look over my shoulder and wonder who’s watching me. I don’t even have PSI following my every move. I’m… I’m free.”
“You’re free from your stalker, and your asshole father, and most of PSI.”
“Most?”
“You’re never going to be free of me. You’re welcome.” Smiling, he kissed me as the doors opened before he pulled me out of the elevator. I was happy to let him guide me all the way out of the hospital to his car, and as we drove away I looked one last time in the rearview mirror at the hospital where my father was.
Goodbye… and good riddance.
“Remember what I said about endings, genius?” His voice broke into my thoughts as he headed for the freeway, moving in the direction of his apartment. “Whenever you have an ending, there’s also a beginning of something completely new. That’s something to look forward to, yeah? And the best thing about it—you don’t need a rearview mirror to see it.”
My clever monster. He never missed a thing. “Thank you, Luke.”
“For what?”
“For what you said to my father. My whole life was built on a lie, and I never even saw it. I never saw it because, despite knowing what a conman he was, it never occurred to me that he’d conme. To blame Driscoll’s death on his own kid… I realize now there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to get what he wanted. Which means,” I added, shooting him a wary glance as he slid through traffic with the buttery ease of a racecar driver, “if my father decides to mess with me to get me back under his thumb, he might try to worm his way back into my life somehow.”
“I’m not worried, love, and I don’t want you to worry, either, because I’m always going to be there to stop that worthless fuck. Days from now, weeks, years… doesn’t matter. I’ll be there, because I’m going to be with you making those babies and living our life. Our new life that we’re startingtoday.”
“Today, huh?” My heart did several somersaults before I remembered how to talk. “Wait, are you saying all this because I said I love you earlier? Because you don’t have to—”
“I don’t have to what? Follow up on that statement to make sure it wasn’t just a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing? Because you’re not going to get out of it that easily.”
“I’m not trying to get out of it,” I rushed to say, reaching out to place my hand over his on the steering wheel. “It’s just that in my head I somehow had this whole conversation pictured differently. Like, very differently.”
“Different how?”
“Well,” I frowned, thinking about it. “First off, there was mood lighting, and flutes of champagne with soft, sexy music in the background. There might have even been a hot tub involved, though don’t ask me where we were in my imagination, because neither one of us owns a hot tub.”
“I like it, though. Makes me think we need to invest in a hot tub. Or at the very least, a tub built for two.”
Ooh. That sounded nice. “The one thing that was very much not pictured in that whole scenario was blood-stained clothing. Oh, and I didn’t smell like a mossy fish tank.”
”So,” he said, smiling as he slowed to turn off the freeway. “It’s the scenery and trappings you’re worried about?”
“My point is that I wanted to seduce you,” I muttered, and when I heard the whine in my tone I felt even more stupid. This was absolutely the worst love confession the universe had ever seen. “I wanted to knock your socks off in a way that would convince you that I’m an amazing deal that you can’t pass up. But considering the way things went today, I’m now fairly certain I’ve only convinced you that my whole foundation has been built on shaky landfill, and at best I’m the human equivalent of a used car that has high milage and more than one unreported accident in its past.”
“Damn, woman. When you put it that way, I probably wouldn’t get much out of you if I had to trade you in.”
“Luke, I’m serious.”
“I know, and it’s hilarious.” Pulling over into a parking lot fronting a strip mall, he put the car in Park, and turned in his seat to face me. “As of today, you need to start learning to let go of your old way of life. That includes working people like they’re your marks.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You don’t have to seduce me,” he went on, talking over me with a smile I couldn’t be mad at no matter how hard I tried. “You don’t have to sell me on some kind of special deal, or schmooze me to get me to do whatever it is you want me to do. You’re the smartest woman I know, so open up your damn eyes and figure out that I’m already seduced, and sold, and I’ll do whatever the hell you want me to. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll give you the whole fucking world, if that’s what you want.”
“I don’t want the world,” I whispered, reaching out to cup his cheek. “What I want is you. Because youaremy world.”
“Eden. Baby.” He hooked a hand around my nape and pulled me in for a long, lingering kiss before he rested his brow against mine. “Remember when we first met, and I asked you who you were?”
“I’ll never forget it.”