Page 2 of Cruel Love

Dani doesn’t react. For a moment, I think she’s dozed off, but she eventually turns onto her other side to face me.

“I wish I could,” she says.

“But you can,” I say, gently touching her cheek.

She shakes her head once. “I have to go back, Fox.”

“Just blow it off.”

“I’m not the one hurt the most if I do that.” She looks down. “I don’t want to do that to him.”

I sigh. Contractual obligations. She skips out on those and Bennett’s career suffers. He’s the one still elbow-deep in the Hollywood lifestyle. Dani, on the other hand...

She likes the quiet now.

Her father will never see us as anything but a mistake. She knows that, but Dani is mature enough to end their professional relationship... well, professionally. Me, on the other hand...

Let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of the two weeks notice.

I kiss her forehead. “Okay,” I say. “We’ll go back.”

She touches my chest. Her warm hand lingers on my cobra tattoo for a second too long. “You should stay,” she says.

“Not gonna happen.”

“You’re safe here.”

“But you’re not safe there,” I say. “They found you once, they’ll find you again.”

“Meaning they’ll find you, too.”

“I’ve fought for five years to find my way back to you, Dani. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”

Somehow, she smiles. “Okay,” she says. “We’ll go back.”

I kiss her. I wrap my arms around her, holding her close. She rests her thigh on my hip, drawing us even closer together. Ever since she showed up on my doorstep again in that sling, every day has been better than the last. Every kiss, every moment has been one to savor and cling to as long as possible. I’d hoped, foolishly and selfishly, that this would be it. That she and I would find forever out here far away from judgmental parents and dangerous criminal organizations.

She straddles my lap and I sit up to kiss her again. I relish in the warm comfort of her skin as a cold dread threatens my heart. For the first time in my life, I feel peace. I never thought that’d be possible for me after everything I’ve done, but out here in the quiet, somewhere between her tempting lips and the whisper of bed sheets, I’ve found peace.

“I love you,” Dani says, our lips brushing together.

I chuckle. “You stole my line.”

She smiles. “You stole my heart. It’s only fair.”

I kiss her. I close my eyes and I let go. I lose myself in her all over again, ignoring the damn black cobra permanently lingering between us.

After tonight, I might never get another chance.

Tomorrow, we go back to Los Angeles.

Home sweet home.

Chapter 2

Fox

Two Months Later

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