Page 57 of Man of Lies

He looked like a man who’d fought sleep until it finally dragged him down right where he stood. At my side.

It shouldn’t mean anything. But there he was, so fucking vulnerable—and damn it, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I didn’t want to look away, even though it hurt in a way I couldn’t name.

I’d never felt this before. Never for anyone. A gnawing sensation had settled in deep, tethered to something inside me I’d been too damn scared to face.

But I wasn’t a fool. I may be a master liar, but I never lied to myself.

I loved him.

Everything about him, from his gentle breathing to the golden tint at the very tips of his black lashes, seemed... important. Small things, and yet they made me feel so much smaller. I hated how inescapable it felt, as if from the very beginning, I’d had no choice. Every tiny detail had become precious, like I was marking the moments I wanted to hold on to forever.

I wasn’t supposed to need anyone. Hell, I’d spent my life avoiding it. But with him? I couldn’t help myself. Without my permission, he’d come to mean everything to me—and God, the thought of walking away, of losing him, made it hard to breathe.

I braced my hand on the armrest and swung my legs over the side of the couch, trying to sit up, but the second I engaged my core, pain flared white-hot through my stomach, like someone had shoved an iron poker into my side. A grunt slipped out before I could stop it.

Mason bolted awake. In an instant, he was kneeling beside me, wide-eyed and wired, his bloodshot eyes locked on me like I wasthe only thing in the room. His hair was sticking up on one side and flattened to the side of his head on the other. No glasses. Just that raw, intense focus.

“Stop moving,” he ordered, voice rough with sleep. His hands, steady and careful, pressed against my shoulder, easing me back onto the cushions. “You’ll bust your stitches.”

I ignored him. “Where’s my gun?”

Mason’s lips tightened, like I’d crossed some line, but Dominic spoke up before he could reply.

“In the safe. I don’t allow weapons in my home.” He tucked his hands into the pockets of his loose, expensive-looking slacks, smiling thinly. “Unless they’re mine.”

I didn’t do vulnerable. It made my skin crawl. But here I was, unarmed and half-naked in an unfamiliar space, stripped down to a pair of boxers that weren’t even mine. Every breath felt like a knife to the gut.

Mason’s touch was the only thing keeping me from breaking out in a nervous sweat. His hands roamed my chest and shoulders, gentle and soothing, like he needed to reassure himself that I was whole.

“We’re at Dom’s place,” Mason murmured. “I didn’t know where else to take you.”

My brain felt like soft pudding, cloudy at the edges.

“What’d you give me?” I grunted, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Just something to take the edge off the worst of it,” Mason explained, guiding me down onto the pillows. I had no core strength to fight it, and the truth was, I didn’t want to.

I trusted Mason’s judgment.

And that scared the hell out of me.

I sank back into the cushions, letting gravity take more of my weight. My limbs felt like dead weight, and my throat was raw and dry as hell. Swallowing didn’t help much, but Mason must have sensed it. His hands moved to the knotted muscles at the base of my throat, rubbing gently, trying to work out the tension.

He looked wrecked.

My job had almost gotten him killed.

I’d kissed Mason Beaufort with a gun in my hand and a target on my back, knowing exactly what it would cost me, and I’d still taken the risk. Because he needed me, and goddammit, I needed him just as much.

Before I could talk myself out of it, my fingers brushed lightly against the sharp line of his cheekbone. Rough. Warm.Alive.

Thank God.

“You okay?” I whispered.

His breath stuttered, soft enough to miss if I weren’t already hanging on to every move he made.

“I almost—” He shook his head, exhaling hard through his nose, trying to shut it all down like he always did. A flicker of misery flashed across his face, and without thinking, I cupped the back of his neck, pulling him into my arms.

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