Page 69 of Taking Denver

On my friends.

VIP is just below the office windows, and I spot Sebastian quickly. Zeke is talking to a girl over the ropes. Ace looks like he’s on cloud nine. Sebastian is talking to Ethan, and Ethan glances around, maybe looking for me. I play with my necklace and smile. They look the same, and I wish I’d appreciated the time with them more. I’d give anything to be at the table enjoying drinks, dancing with Sebastian, or holding Ethan’s hand.

When Ethan finally sees me, I hold my breath. He’s in dark suit pants, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled to his elbows, the top button loose to reveal the tan he’s maintained since returning home. He looks so handsome, his dark hair brushed back, and if I were closer, I’d gaze into the dark brown of his eyes and see nothing but want.

He mouths a ‘Hi,’ and I smile in response.

Ranger moves beside me. I raise my eyes to his as he licks his thumb and rubs it across my cheek gently. “You have blood on you, Deluxe.”

I flinch at the name, and he smirks, standing behind me and sliding his arms around my waist. He pulls my back to his chest,mouth against my ear. “Do you think Ethan would still be here if he knew the truth?”

Despite myself, I relax into him. “You are.”

“Because men like me live for women like you,” he says. “He couldn’t handle it. And he’d bore you.”

I look down at Ethan. He watches us, jaw tight.

“Maybe I want to be bored,” I say quietly.

He laughs into my neck. “That’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told, and you’ve told quite a few.” He moves my hair over my shoulder. “One week with him, and you’d come running back, bloodthirsty and begging for me.”

Goosebumps lick my spine. He kisses my neck, and I wish my body wouldn’t react like this around him—like this is normal, like it’s natural. Like I’m made to be in his grasp.

“Why did you forgive me?” I ask, eyes still on Ethan.

“Forgive you for what?”

“Wyatt.”

He sighs softly, not frustrated but maybe sad. “Denver, I know that night was a turning point for you. Guns. Blood. Murder.” The final word feels wrapped in silk, and I shudder breathlessly. “But do you know what it was for me?”

My voice is hardly a whisper. “What?”

“A Thursday.” He kisses my neck, and my stomach clenches. “Days like that are a dime a dozen. Lives, their lives.” He nods to the crowd below us. “They mean nothing. They amount to nothing. Taking Wyatt’s life meant nothing, especially if it kept you safe.”

I rest a trembling hand on the arm he has wrapped around my waist. “You frighten me when you say things like that.”

“No,” he says, turning me to face him. “I excite you. And that’s why you’ll never be bored.”

I rest my hands on his chest, hating that he’s right. Remembering how Ranger acted the night Wyatt died bothterrified and thrilled me. It had been so easy for him to decide what happened, as simple as picking a meal at dinner, because he was protecting me.

“You know I could forgive you for anything,” he says, his thumb stroking my jaw. “Except leaving me.”

I forget the wall of glass where everyone can see us, I even forget Ethan, because being like this with Ranger is like being in a world of our own. A world with no rules. A world where I want him to kiss me because I need his love.

“Ranger—”

“Not yet, little bird.” He steps back, and I feel cold without him close. He snatches away what I shouldn’t want just as it had started to taste sweet. “Cal will stay close. I’ll see you at home.”

He heads for the door, and I rub the chill from my arms as I say, “What about Isabelle Ledger?”

Ranger pulls open the door. “She dies.”

He leaves.

The two words drift over me, my reaction not as jarring as it should be because I knew. For all my cajoling, my soft words, and handholding, even I only have so much power over Ranger Luxe.

I’d approached it wrong. I’d demanded too quickly, pleaded too desperately, and now he knows giving in makes him look weak.

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