Page 6 of Keep Me (Rebel Hearts Heists 2)
I want to believe that I would have been.
I open the bag with the clothes and smile when I see what Blaine put there: a short, black mini skirt that looks like it’s made of a very expensive, shiny material, a black tank top and a sheer purple blouse that will make the green of my eyes pop. I shimmy on the purple silk underwear he chose before the rest of the clothes and try on the black heels he selected, thinking that I’ll put them in my bag until we land.
But I indulge for a second, looking at my reflection in the mirror; I love Blaine all the more for knowing exactly what I like to wear, for guessing my style and my exact size. He isn’t feminine in any way but out of all the guys, Blaine is the one who seems to understand fashion and to take special care in his appearance. I love that.
Love, that word. Again.
I smile at the mirror but it’s a sad smile because I wonder if there’s any way that this situation will resolve itself without any more broken hearts. I know the guys are playing nice right now and they aren’t putting pressure on me to choose but I can’t lie to myself and think that they’ll be ok with this long term. The situation we’ve been in while on the run has pushed most relationship talk to the back burner and I guess the mission we’re on now might delay it further but I know that one day, I’ll have to decide who I want to be with. I know the brothers aren’t bothered by one another … but I couldn’t live without River in my life. I couldn’t choose between the three of them, even if I am supposed to.
I look at the Sloane in the mirror as if she can give me all the answers, but my reflection is staring back at me with a quiet intensity, not giving away the solution to my problems.What a bitch, huh?I giggle at my goofiness, thinking that being tired feels like being drunk. I easily go from really deep introspection to dorky silliness in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, my thoughts are interrupted by the bathroom door opening and Kaden’s reflection appears next to mine.
He isn’t touching me but his dark blue eyes are looking into mine through the mirror.
“What are you doing here? Didn’t you see that the bathroom was occupied? And how the hell did you get in? I thought I locked it.” My tone sounds as hard and harsh as I want it to be, I’m not trying to hide my fury and my distrust of him.
He shrugs, the corner of his upper lip quirking up in a lopsided grin. “Every aircraft in the world has a latch on the bathroom door that makes it possible to open it from the outside. It’s so that the crew can check for incapacitated passengers.”
“Well, I’m not incapacitated as you can see. So—”
He puts a hand on my hip, it’s a light touch but his fingers burn my skin through the fabric of my clothes, as if he were branding me with one simple touch. Up until yesterday, I would’ve leaned into that touch, resting my back against Kaden’s solid, ripped chest. But so much has happened since yesterday, everything has changed between us.
“Sloane, we need to talk.”
My reflection’s gaze hardens and I shake my head. “There’s nothing to talk about. I have nothing left to say to you.”
“Baby ...” he whispers and his warm voice seeps deep into my chest, velvety and soothing, sexy and thrilling but I summon all my inner strength and turn around ignoring the way my heart is beating faster.
“If you need to use the bathroom, go ahead. I was done anyway. I’m going back to sleep.”
* * *
Kaden
She’s so mad at me.
I thought that after the first moment of shock when she learned about my real identity, she’d understand. What I didn’t expect was that my lie made her doubt everything between us, that she thought that being with her was ‘part of my job.’ How the hell did I not consider that? This woman was used and emotionally abused by Pierce for over a year. Of course, she would think that everything between us was a lie at the smallest sign of any fuck up or problem. I can’t blame her. That’s exactly what she’s been conditioned to believe.
The fact that I had to arrest her didn’t fucking help, but I only did it to protect her from her ex. I didn’t think that Walker would have let Pierce Hunter take her into custody but I had to be sure, so I did the only thing I could to prevent that from happening and arrested her myself. The fact that the asshole managed to walk away scot free after blatantly ignoring his superiors’ orders, proceeding to go on a personal manhunt while jeopardizing a two year operation, and then committing horrible fucking acts in that boathouse, where he would’ve killed River and possibly Sloane, tells me that I did the right thing.
Pierce Hunter definitely has really far reaching connections because not two hours after we got back to the Seattle HQ, Walker was ordered to return the badge and the gun he had confiscated in that boathouse, effectively reinstating Hunter to his duties. No investigation of his actions was ordered, no disciplinary action was even considered after what clearly transpired yesterday. Walker was actually threatened with repercussions on his career if he ‘harassed’ Agent Hunter again.
Pierce was called back east for a mission and while it makes my blood boil that his friends in high places protected him, at least that was a way to keep him away from our operation. Because this was my priority in the hours immediately after arresting my girl and my friends: to secure a deal that would allow the brothers to finish what they started and to make sure that they received immunity once everything was said and done.
I had to use all my connections and call in all the favors I was owed and Walker was invaluable in helping me to get all the necessary authorizations. That was the plan that had formed in my head back at the beach house, when I learned that Royce and Blaine were robbing banks hoping to frame their father’s ex-boss for it and that River needed the money for his sick niece. I know that they broke the law but while I can’t completely condone their actions, I understand the motives behind them. I know that deep down, they aren’t criminals.
So I had to work hard to get us on this plane, to make sure that the last two years weren’t in vain. I had to do all that when all I really wanted to do was to check on Sloane, to explain why I did what I did, to hold her tight and make sure that she was ok.
I know I need to explain all this to her, I need to explain how I wanted to tell her and the others about who I really was the minute I found out why the bank robberies really started. I want her to know that I might have been lying about my real identity but that what happened between me and her was real. All of it. That I never lied about my feelings for her, because everything that ever happened between us, stopped being just about sex very early on for me.
So when she tries to walk away from me out of the small room, I use my body to trap her between me and the bathroom sink. “I don’t need to use the bathroom, Sloane. I came here to talk to you.”
She doesn’t back down, her eyes are full of anger when she looks at me dead on and speaks. “I don’t want to talk to you, Special Agent Vance. I want to go back to my seat.”
“Sloane ...” I warn her, my voice lower and firmer than intended.
“What? What are you going to do to make me talk to you? Are you going to handcuff me again?”
