Page 38 of Truth & Lies

“I have my ways, remember . . .” is all he says before holding out his hand. “Need your room key, Lys.”

Pulling away only as much as I have to, I reach into my purse before handing the card over to him.

“I—” A myriad of scenarios play out in my mind while all of the things I need to say crash around my head.

As if reading my mind, he stops and lifts his hands to my shoulders, dipping his head to look me straight in the eye. “Give me one more minute and then we’ll talk. I want to make you’re in a safe place before we talk about anything. Okay?”

I didn’t think it was possible, but my heart melts while simultaneously stuttering to a halt in the same beat. Somehow, I’m able to keep breathing and nod, murmuring an “okay,” as he lets me go, laces his fingers with mine, then leads me into my room, closing the door behind us.

He turns on the lights and dims them, before leading me over to the bed and urging me to sit down. Then I watch as Barrett drops down to one knee and carefully unclasps my heels from my feet, pulling them off one at a time.

I don't realize I've closed my eyes until I hear him move, and when I open them again, he's not in front of me. Instead, he's across the room, perched forward in the one-seater chair, his elbows leaning on his legs, his gaze pinned to me.I guess he’s ready for our overdue chat now.

Crossing my legs on the bed, I stare at him, taking in the sight of the man that I’m relieved to see in front of me again. My lips part on a gasp when I realize that his eyes are clear. There’s no war being waged, no conflict to be seen—just a look of complete and utter tenderness with an edge that I’ve come to realize is all Barrett. His brows draw together and his chest seems to rise and fall as if it’s taking everything inside of him to put distance between us.

“How are you here?Whyare you here?” I ask.

Raking his teeth across his bottom lip, he runs his fingers through his hair. “Detective Manning called me this afternoon, and I tracked your credit cards. Caught the first flight I could get and came straight here to find you,” he replies. Open. Honest. Succinct. This is Barrett in self-protection mode, and honestly, I can’t blame him. My life may have been turned upside down, but I’m not so selfish that I can’t recognize the fact that this man has also had his life, his case,everythingspun around too. All because he was investigating my stepfather and his path crossed with mine. ‘Have you had any updates about your mom?” he continues.

I swallow back a sob. “Not yet.” My voice cracks and I scrub at my face with my hands as I try to pull myself together. “I’m sorry, I must look terrible. I’ll just go—”

In the blink of an eye, I'm flat on my back and Barrett is hovering over me, his fingers tangling in mine as he lifts them above my head, pushing my hands into the mattress. "You look amazing, Kitten. Youalwaystake my breath away. But seeing you let me in, clinging to me in a way that makes me believe you don’t want to let me go—that is more beautiful than you will ever know." He lowers his head to rest against mine, his lips a whisper's breath away from mine. "Can I kiss you?" I barely nod before he's ever-so-gently brushing his lips against mine. Then, instead of taking things further and kissing me again like I'm expecting, he lets me go and lies down next to me.

“I don’t know what’s happening anymore,” I blurt out, looking across the pillow into Barrett’s eyes and getting pulled under by them.

He runs his fingers through my hair in long soothing strokes, his gaze watching the movement. "I'm going to make you trust me again, Lys. I know I haven't given you a reason to believe me in the past, but there's nothing you don't know about me now. I'm an open book, so whatever you want to know, anything you feel youneedto know, all of it is yours.” As he speaks the words that shake my entire world on its axis, his hands continue to roam, from stroking my hair, running his knuckles over my cheek and jaw, then lower over the soft skin of my throat and collarbone.

Needing to be closer, lean into him like a magnet unable to fight the inevitable pull. It's as if the universe knows something I don't. "I need to know about Christy," I whisper, resting my palms on his chest, not pushing him away, but there's no missing the tension in my body, or the way he goes stone still either.

A silent sigh of relief escapes me when he relaxes into me and doesn’t hesitate in answering my question. “Christy played me, and she played Lawrence. She told me they’d broken up and I had no fucking idea that she was lying to us both. I wouldnever—and I mean that Lys—neverdo that to a friend, especially not to him.”

The tension holding my body hostage leaches out of me and I move forward, giving him my full weight and not stopping until my face is barely an inch away from his. All I can see is intensity and sincerity shining back at me. “I don’t think he knows any of that.”

“I know he doesn’t, but he also never asked and then he was gone,” he replies, rolling over onto his back and pulling me with him so I’m plastered to his side.

I rest a hand on his chest as my head fits into the crook of his shoulder. “I can’t talk about him with you.”

“Don’t want you to. Especially not when your body is pressed into mine and we’re in your bed. I want to talk about you and me.”

"What if I don't want to talk," I say, turning to rest my chin on his chest.

He moves me over so I’m stretched out on top of him and he’s cradling my jaw, ensuring he has my full attention. “We need to talk andonlytalk, Lys. I know we run hot, that’s never been the problem. What I need you to know is that I want more than just the physical connection with you. I need you to believe inmeandusas much as I do. I want to prove to you that you can trust me and thatnothingwill ever be more important to me than you.”

“I want to,” I whisper, realizing just how much Idowant that.

He slides his thumb back and forth slowly over my cheek. "Then I'll work my ass off until you do because when I see something I want, I go for it.”

My lips quirk up at that. “I seem to remember experiencing that first hand.”

“Mmm hmm…” His gaze roams over my face, fixating on my lips before lifting back to my eyes. “But first we need to find your mom, and take Gavin down once and for all." The determination in his voice is unmistakable. The strength and conviction behind his words lifting me when I should feel anything but.

“You are the biggest surprise, Barrett.”

“And you’re my greatest reward, one I’ll work my ass off to protect.”

I push up to bring my face closer to his and brush my lips against his before running the tip of my tongue along the seam of his mouth. When he opens for me, I deepen the kiss, pouring everything I can’t say and all the feelings I can’t describe into the kiss and my touch, Barrett doing the same.

We don't take it any further than that, we simply lie there in each other's arms, talking, kissing, touching, and finally—sleeping.

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