Page 94 of The Verdict

“Shit…”

“I didn’t.” She turned her hand in mine and drew my palm over to her. “I didn’t recognize anything about him, but he would’ve been watching me that whole time we talked. He would’ve realized we were together tonight.”

My jaw tightened.No wonder that fucker had surprised me.They’d been angling for the two of us since we arrived.

“You shouldn’t have risked it—risked yourself for me. God, if anything?—”

I stopped when she brought my wrist to her mouth and pressed her lips to my tattoo, her stare locked on mine.

“I realized what was important. Not my safety. Not my freedom. Not my innocence. You.” Another kiss. “Protecting you.”

God, this woman…

“I couldn’t let them hurt you.” She drew an unsteady breath. “I couldn’t let myself lose you, Rhys. I’m sorry for leaving you… but I’m not sorry for loving you.”

I slid my hand around her neck and brought her mouth to mine, our tongues tangling in a mess of hot, needy truth.

“Say it again.”

“I’m sorry?—”

“Not that part.”

She exhaled with a whoosh. “I love you.”

“Real or fake?”

“Real,” she said softly, just as we came to a stop.

Harm cleared his throat, and we pulled apart. I met his eyes in the rear view.

“You both need to stay here,” he said. “You’re going to drawattention.” He indicated to Merritt, and then looked at me and added, “And you’re injured.”

“It’s one of those twenty-four seven gyms, so there won’t be anyone at the desk this late,” she said. “It’s locker twenty-four. The code is forty-seven, fifteen, fifty-one, two.”

Harm nodded. “We’re going to clear the place. Use comms to let us know if you see anything.”

“Got it.”

He got out of the seat, and I pressed a kiss to Merritt’s forehead. “It’ll be over soon,” I swore to her, and then I moved to sit behind the wheel just in case we needed to move.

“He could already be inside…”

She wasn’t wrong. By the time she’d gotten to the hotel and we’d left, there was a chance Morte was already here and gone, taking with him the diamond and our chance to finally put a face to Ivans.

“We’ll find him.” It was a promise.

We sat in silence—anticipation—as Harm crossed the street to join the rest of the guys as they cautiously approached the gym, weapons drawn. They entered, and a few seconds later, people started rushing outside. Merritt and I both sighed in relief.At least, he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else when he got here.

I lifted my hand to my chest, feeling the edge of the bandage. Toying with it under my shirt until a black sedan screeched to a halt in the handicap spot in front of the entrance. The man who got out was unmistakable.

“He’s here,” I said into my mic, watching with my fists clenched as the man I wanted to kill disappeared inside the gym.

Chapter Twenty

Merritt

As soon as Mercury got out of the car, my heart started to beat in the center of my throat. Heavy, rapid pumps filled my veins with adrenaline rather than blood.

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