Page 77 of Hard Game

Lauren closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose but doesn’t answer me. I reach out, hook my finger through her belt loop, and tug her closer, her hands resting on my shoulders as she stares at me.

“You’re gonna have to say it. Detective.”

Lauren exhales through her nose and shakes her head like she can’t believe what she’s about to say. “I want you. I want us.”

I don’t move for a second; instead, I allow her words to ricoche around my head happily, a stupid grin on my face. “Say you want me to fill you with babies.”

Lauren points at my now flaccid dick. “I think you just did.”

“Say it,” I growl, slapping her ass.

She yelps her surprise but shoves me back onto the couch, leaning over me so she’s inches away from my face. “I want us.”

“You want my babies. You want to be my wife.”

Lauren grits her teeth and points a finger at me. “You’re pushing it.”

“You want me to own you. You want me to fuck you all day, every day, for the rest of your life.”

Lauren laughs, breaking the tension between us. “You know what? I do, Maddox.”

I inhale sharply. She’s admitted it. “I knew it.”

She strokes my face and studies my eyes, and suddenly I feel vulnerable. “Who are you, really?”

I tilt my head and wonder if she’ll ever leave me. Not that I’d let her, of course, but should she ever want to. I’d have failed as her man if she did. Not only that but by being with me, her life is in danger. “Whoever I am, I can’t stay here, doll. If you’re with me, nor can you.”

Lauren takes a deep breath and nods. “I know.”

“And you’ll give up everything you’ve worked hard for, just like that?”

I click my finger and thumb together, and she flinches, shaking her head.

“My dad took the news about my sister hard,” she says slowly, sinking to the couch beside me.

I yank my pants up, not wanting to have a deep and meaningful conversation with my dick out.

“He begged me to do one more thing for him,” Lauren says, cocking her head so she’s staring at me.

“What’s that?” I ask, reaching out to take her hand.

“To live the best life I can. Not for other families like us; for me.”

I say nothing, but to know her father asked her that is a big thing for her. Lauren doesn’t put herself first; I don’t think she knows how to. “I want to be happy, Maddox.”

“Max,” I say softly. “My name is Max.”

Tears fill her eyes, and she smiles, squeezing my fingers with hers. “You’ll always be Maddox to me.”

I lift her fingers to my lips and kiss them slowly, one at a time. “And you’ll always be My Detective.”

EPILOGUE

MADDOX

“This is where you grew up?” Lauren peers at the house, her eyes wide. “Jeez, Maddox. Why did you turn to a life of crime?!”

I follow her gaze, taking in the white-washed walls and iron gates, the countless windows, and the sprawling land. It hadn’t changed much since I’d last been here, but it never felt like home. Ivy crawls up the house’s walls, making me sigh.

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