Page 11 of Redemption

I pretend to fiddle with my phone, shifting my weight on both feet. “I have plans.”

“Netflix and Cabernet?”

“Malbec and Prime Video,” I snicker.

He opens the door caging me between the car and the club.

“Ugh, fine.” I roll my eyes. “I guess you’re better than my battery-operated boyfriend.”

“See? I knew you missed me.”

I’m not surprised at all as the driver pulls away from South Beach, toward the highway that leads to the bridge taking us across the harbor to Key Biscayne. He’s been watching me this whole time, waiting until I ventured into his friend’s lair to ambush me. Classic Roque. I look out the window at the passing lights, not trusting myself to look at him. He indulges me and sits back; like the relaxed, sated predator he is.

“What are you doing here, Romina?”

Just like that he’s back to business.

“Taking a vacation. I’ve never had one.”

He stops me from entering my rental, letting his men go inside. I turn my back on him, choosing to stare out at the swaying palms and starry sky.

“Clear,” one of his men calls out, exiting.

“Goodnight.”

“Nice try.”

I brush past him, inside my rental and go straight to the shower needing to wash away the scene at Eden. I feel his eyes on me as I strip then enter the shower.

I hide my smirk as the glass door opens and he enters behind me.

“What?!” I shriek as he lands a hard smack on my ass. “You’re so dead!” I rub my hand over the sting as I face him. He grins as he hogs the spray, forcing me aside. I watch as the water falls over the hard contours of his body. He’s in better shape than he’s ever been. He’s a bit bulkier, obviously power lifting. He has more ink on his biceps and chest and my eyes wonder what each one means. Unable to stop myself, I lift my hand bringing it down on the left cheek of his muscular ass.

He’s as shocked as I am.

His incredulous eyes turn to me. “You’ve done it now.”

I shriek as he turns the water all the way to cold, holding me under the freezing spray. My tiny slaps don’t even register as he laughs at my attempts to get free. “Come here, let me warm you. I wouldn’t want my baby doll getting too cold.”

He turns the spray off, wraps a huge towel around us and throws me down on the bed. “Time to get to work, eh?” His lips find my breasts, his hands pull me close. I get lost again in all his sin. I shut my eyes. They’ll be no redemption for me. It’s time I finally admit to myself that I’ll never want anything or anyone else but him.

He holds me tightly in his arms, probably thinking I’m going to run again. I turn, with a confession on my lips, about to tell him about my deal with the Feds. But he’s asleep. His face finally relaxed with a peace I’ve never seen on it. My finger traces his cheek, plays with the one lock of hair over his forehead. I sigh softly. He thinks I’m his peace. Either that or I wore him out between the sheets.

“I love you,” I whisper. Finally admitting what I’ve fought so hard to deny. “Every broken, dark twisted part of you. I accept you as you are.” A tear finally escapes. I lay my head against his chest, letting the sound of his steady heartbeat lull me to sleep.

* * *

“Mmhhhmmm,”I snuggle deeper under the sheets with his smell on them. Birds chirp outside the window. The rays of sunrise shine through slats of the fancy shutters of my rental. I stretch out running my palm over the mattress in search of my alpha’s hot body.

“Roque?” My eyes pop open. His spot next to me is empty. The bathroom door is open, and the lights are off.

Blinking, I sit up, ignoring the fact that I still feel the burn from him inside me. Getting out of bed, I find the discarded towel from last night and tuck it around me. He’s probably making coffee. His name echoes off the walls bouncing back to me as I call out for him.

The place is empty. Deserted. I peer outside; there’s no dark SUV waiting for its master.

He’s just gone. Vanished. Left. There’s no note. No explanation. I’ve been burned. Had. Literally. I sink to the floor putting a fist to my mouth to stop the cry tearing through me from erupting. The angry, devastated tears make it through my barricade, falling like a hard rain down my face. I finally know what it feels like when the person you love runs. Like shit. I’m bereft. The other half of my soul slipped away like a thief in the night. Damn him for always needing to come out on top. For always needing to win his hand in our sick game. A game I was trying to tell him I didn’t want to play anymore.

I use the guest bath to shower. I can’t bring myself to even enter the bathroom where his presence still lingers. After that I pack my shit and roll out, too. I refuse to sleep in a bed with the ghost of my lover in it. Payback is a bitch and it hurts like hell. I hurt even more because now I understand what he felt ever time I ran from the destruction of us.

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