Page 24 of The Verdict

Mercury had found me. Les worked with criminals. Jupiter had a whole new face.

“You need to eat and rest,” Rhys declared and hooked his arm around my waist, the thick of it feeling like a root wrapping me to his side. “Where’s Harm and Dare?”

Who?

Ty remained perfectly still, analyzing the hold Rhys had on me. “They left with Izzy and the kids to get ice cream and then back to Izzy’s house for games. They should be back soon.”

“Check on that security footage. Also, call Talon and see if Armorous can send someone over to look through Wheaton’s house for any patient information. Guessing he’s not going to keep criminal records at his office.”

“What are you?—”

“I’m taking her to the guest cabin.” It wasn’t a question—it wasn’t even an answer. He said it like it was a law.Written in stone.“She’s staying here until we figure out who killed Wheaton—until I know she’s safe.”

Safe.

The word resounded with each thud of his steps as he guided me down the hall in the opposite direction. I wanted to say something—ask the million questions spilling through my mind—but my voice was still stuck, chained by adrenaline.

The hall ended in front of a door.A high-tech door.Thumbprint. Keypad.An elevator.I let him usher me inside insilence.I needed a plan. I was safe here—for now. But I needed a plan.

“How do you know all this?” I asked, my voice raspy as the elevator moved down. “What do you do here?”

Rhys’s hold on me tightened. “Private… investigations. We’re ex-military, so we help the law where we can.”The door opened, revealing a hallway the length of maybe a football field or less, lowly lit by sconces on the walls.Thiswas so much more than a motorcycle garage.“Wheaton has been on our watch list for several years now. He’s operated on at least a dozen of the FBI, Interpol, and Europol’s most wanted criminals, but no one has enough evidence to prove it.”

“And you think one of them…” I bundled my arms tight to my chest, realizing I’d started to shake and hoping he didn’t notice.

Rhys stopped in front of a door on the right, entered another code, and the lock clicked open.“This is the guest cabin. You need to shower and eat and rest. I know you haven’t slept…” He trailed off.

“Yeah.” My head bobbed… and then it kept bobbing. Like I’d tied myself together with too many strings over the last few weeks until I was strung so tight, as soon as one loosened, everything started to unravel.

“Merritt…” With a low growl, he reached up and pulled my hat off my head, tucking it under his arm.

I tried to turn away so he couldn’t see, but his hands caught my face between them, tilting it up until there was nowhere to hide.Invisible.I needed to be invisible again. But then his eyes captured mine, and there was no hiding. Not then. Not now.

He saw my cracks. Saw my unraveling. And my lips slipped open, my lungs welcoming the first full breath I’d taken all day.And the realization that I’d never be invisible to him.

“Rhys…”Kiss me.The thought came unbidden to my mind.Reality shifted and swayed around me, but not him. He was immovable. Steady.Safe.And his kiss… I could trust that to consume me.I wanted it to.

The heat of his breath reached the tip of my nose and then lower. My eyes fluttered shut, my lips tingling for the first brush of his.

“You’re safe here,” he said with a low rumble, his body crowding mine.

I didn’t need the words. I didn’t need the promise of his protection; I’d handled myself for a very long time now. But to hear it, to feel his presence wrap around me so powerfully… I shivered, unable to stop myself from wanting it.From wanting him.

It was dangerous. Like bait on the end of a hook. Only a fool would think they were good enough to taste the lure without being caught.

Maybe I was a fool.

The broad tips of his fingers slid back into my hair, and I held my breath, waiting for the hard stamp of his full lips. Waiting for the rush of heat. The welcome of oblivion. But it didn’t come. Instead, his hands began massaging my scalp in firm strokes, and a moan rushed from my lips.

It wasn’t a kiss, but,Dios mío,it was amazing.

I melted into the intimate touch like wax to a flame. Muscles. Bones.Mind.Without thinking, I curled my hands into his shirt, holding on for dear life.

“That feels so good,” I moaned, pulling myself flush to the hard length digging into my stomach. A hot hiss seeped from his beautiful lips.

Somewhere in the span of seconds, the scalp massage turned erotic. What was meant to relax me instead ignited an ache. Warm and pulsing low in my core. I swayed with the push and press of his fingers. It was more than physicalintimacy, it was as though his touch could reach inside my mind and coax out my secrets. All the ones I kept tight in order to keep myself safe.

“Rhys.” My eyes fluttered open, heavy with want. “Please…”

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