Page 43 of Culmination
We make love for what feels like hours, to the point that my girl can barely keep her eyes open. Which is precisely what I was hoping for.
I press a kiss to her shoulder, biting down gently before raining kisses up her skin until my mouth settles on her. The moment our lips meet, I slowly slide out of her. When I retreat, Brie’s watching me with hooded eyes, exhausted from the pleasure. I make quick work of cleaning us both. Then I haul my girl into my arms and carry her out of the bathroom. She shivers when I place her on the bed, and when I climb in beside her, I draw her in close before tucking the blanket around us both. Brie’s arm slides across my bare stomach as she cuddles up against me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“What are we going to do?” she asks, her voice soft. “When we get home, I mean. Hell, I don’t even know where home is anymore.”
I place a hand on her cheek and brush away a lock of hair. “Home can be anywhere for us. For the three of us.”
She blinks as she looks up at me. In this moment, she looks so soft. So innocent. So vulnerable. It’s times like these that I want to pack her up and take her far away, where no harm can reach her.
“Do you mean that, Rafe?”
My eyebrows knit at the hesitation in her voice. “Tomorrow or the next day, whenever the hell this is all over, nothing is going to change for me. Not between us.”
Brie’s eyes soften, and I can tell she’s struggling to keep them open.
I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Brie. Loving you means taking care of you. In all ways. And right now, you need sleep.”
“Rafe,” she whispers, her voice laced with exhaustion. “What I had with Adrian… Well, it pales in comparison for what I feel for you.”
I didn’t know how much I needed to hear those words until she said them. A swell of relief floods my chest. An unexpected weight releases its burden on my shoulders.
“Tomorrow,” she says, “when we finish this, I want to leave this place and never look back. I want to make a life with you, build our family, our future. I love you, Rafe. More than I ever thought possible. And I don’t want to give Theo or Adrian any more time than we’ve already wasted on them.”
“Babe, look at me,” I say, watching as her eyelids flutter before breathtaking brown eyes peer up at me. “You don’t have to worry about either of them anymore. I will always protect you. Soon enough, this will be in the rearview mirror.”
“I know. That you’ll always protect me.” A delicate hand settles on her belly. “Protect us. We’re lucky to have you.”
“Pretty sure I’m the lucky one. Now get some sleep. This will all be over in the morning.”
That earns me a final sweet smile before her eyes drift closed. I don’t dare move until I’m sure she’s in deep slumber.
I wasn’t lying when I said it’d be over soon. I just want it over before she wakes and thinks to be a part of my plan. Because the idea of Brie going anywhere near Theo Morningstar is absolutely out of the question.
The benefits of satiating Brie to exhaustion were twofold. One, the obvious. Two, I need to get out of the hotel room and make contact with Howard. Now that we’ve found the ledger, the forensic accountants at the agency can start connecting the dots and doing their magic to bring down the Morningstar empire. And now that I have proof of what Morningstar’s real aim here is, it’s more urgent that he’s taken into custody, far away from reaching Brie. The longer this goes on, the more the anxiety builds within me. I won’t rest until Theo Morningstar is behind bars and Brie and our baby are safe.
After I’m sure she’s tucked into bed and fast asleep, I dress and holster my gun, adding two knives to my person just in case. Theo’s had people following me before, so I can’t take the chance of them getting the drop on me before I can shake them in order for me to meet Agent Howard.
This is it. We’re so damn closing to ending this.
So damn close that it thrills me, and I can almost see the end in sight. Pretty soon, this will all be a distant nightmare. Pretty soon, we’ll be living life as a family. As I step out onto the darkened street, I think of that future.
My grin widens at the thought of her swollen belly. The way my imagination runs wild at the idea of her breastfeeding. Our baby in her arms, on her breast, in my arms. Taking its first steps, saying its first words, taking equal parts of both of us to become this amazing tiny human.
Just as I’m passing a dark alley, I hear rustling and realize I’m caught entirely off guard. Instead of being usually alert, my mind’s wandered.
Brie’s left me vulnerable. It’s not her fault, of course. It’s mine.
A figure steps out of the shadows.
“Fancy meeting you here, Matthews.” I can barely see him, but I don’t miss the sneer in his voice. “I’d say I’m sorry about this, but why lie?.”
Fuck. The implication of those words doesn’t escape me, and I know I’ve severely fucked up and played right into the enemy’s hands.
And before I can reach for my weapon, my mind explodes with flashes of light and excruciating pain. Then the world around me goes black.
THE BAG’S RIPPED FROMmy head and I have to blink a few times for my eyes to adjust to the light. I’m in what appears to be a large, ornately decorated bedroom. Bars on the windows are the only thing that make the room feel all wrong. And when I hear a door open and close, I turn around.
There’s Theo Morningstar, standing across from me. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since this whole thing began. Every time he’s summoned me in the past, he doesn’t face me. Just has his goons tell me whatever fucking directive he’s decided on. The sight of him should unnerve me, but it does the opposite. In fact, I have an intense urge to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze until the final breath leaves his body. Suffocate him the way he’d have had Adrian do to Brie.
