Page 7 of The City That Care Forgot

“What happened to the list after your father disappeared?”

“Agent Culver was found with his throat slashed floating in Lake Michigan. The list hasn’t been seen since, and no other agents will even admit to having seen it.”

“They’d be signing their death warrants.” Shane thought about everything Rachel had told him so far, processing bits of information, storing and discarding as needed. “So why are they after you, Rachel?” Shane finally asked, coming around to the one thing that didn’t make sense.

“Because my father made a mistake.”

“What mistake?”

“My father was blind when it came to his brother. He believed all families should be loyal to each other, no matter the circumstance, but Uncle Angelo was never loyal to anyone but himself. Dad asked Angelo to protect me if anything should happen to him, and Angelo played him until he got the information he wanted.

“What information?”

“Dad told Uncle Angelo that he’d sent me a copy of the list for safekeeping.”

Shane shook his head in disbelief. “You have the copy of the list?” he asked incredulously. The fact that Rachel was still alive was a testament to her own abilities.

Stark pain came into Rachel’s eyes. “Yes. It’s in a safety-deposit box in Chicago. This is the reason I know Angelo killed my father. Because if Dad were still alive I would have heard from him by now. Angelo wants the list, and he’ll do everything he can to get it in his hands. I’m running out of places to hide where his men can’t find me.”

Shane thought of the tangles this particular situation would bring them. The worst-case scenario was that Angelo would torture them both before disposing of their bodies. The Valentine organization ran far and wide, and there would be few people along the way who could be trusted to keep them safe.

“So what do you say, Mr. Private Investigator? Am I too dangerous for you?”

ChapterThree

“I guess it’s lucky for you I like dangerous women,” Shane said after a minute of stunned silence. “We need to get out of here. You can tell me the rest on the way. You must be one hell of an amazing woman to have dodged them for this long.”

“You don’t grow up in the Valentine household without learning a few helpful tips, but I’ve felt Angelo’s men breathing down my neck over the last couple of months.”

Shane zipped up the black bag with the weapons, money, and a few other necessities and slung it over his shoulder. He turned off the lights so only the glow from the computer screen was visible. He grabbed Rachel by the hand and pulled her toward him. She barely came up to his shoulder in her socked feet.

“I have to say I’m not terribly sorry for meeting you under circumstances such as these. And I’m not sorry for this either.”

He put his hand on the back of her neck and brought her closer. Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips hovered a breath away from hers. He recognized the low pull in his gut as her body fit against him. He was prepared to explore—her taste and texture—prepared to savor the soft sighs that would follow. But as he brushed his lips gently against hers, he realized he’d made a mistake. He wasn’t prepared at all. Her mouth was a banquet, her lips sweet and her sighs intoxicating. He could lose himself in her taste alone.

He pulled away, knowing that if he kissed her again there would be no turning back. The part of himself he’d kept rigidly locked away would take over all rational thought, and it could only end in pain for them both because he would never be capable of giving what a woman like Rachel Valentine deserved.

But Rachel surprised him when she wouldn’t let him back away. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled him closer.

“Mmm, again,” she moaned.

He knew it was a bad idea, but his brain was being overruled by more basic needs. He captured her mouth in a scorching kiss that held two years of pent-up desire and longing. It was a kiss meant to stir passions, a kiss meant to threaten his control. It was carnal in its intensity as lips and tongues clashed.

He hadn’t realized he’d been starved for the taste of a woman. But not just any woman. Only this one. What was wrong with him? He had to get a grip, and fast.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than the windows facing the street exploded and a boom echoed where only seconds before the room had been filled with sounds of passion. Terror and adrenaline replaced the feeling in an instant, and Shane rolled and tucked Rachel beneath him. The rapid-fire sounds of bullets hitting the building continued as they belly crawled to the stairwell.

“Sounds like he’s got an HK MP5,” Shane said, his voice calm and low.

“What’s that?”

“Submachine gun. He’ll have to stop and reload in a minute. When he does we need to get to the back door. There’s an alleyway behind us.”

“Gotcha,” she said.

He admired the fact she hadn’t lost control at the first sound of gunfire. They hunkered down again as the shots continued. The bottom windows were being taken care of now.

“I never realized I had so many windows,” Shane said. “My secretary is going to be pissed.”

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