Page 129 of Exposed

I’ve never felt anything like it.

King’s touch feels like a promise.

A tangible one.

His strong arm wraps around my waist and pulls me tighter when his lips brush the side of my head, but not to torment me more with memories I’ve worked hard to put behind me.

If I could erase it from my brain forever, I would. I’d give anything for that.

And I did. It cost me half of The Pink.

King

I pressmy lips to the side of her head and fight every instinct in me since I heard Dex and Rand talking about her. “You should’ve told me.”

She turns to stone in my arms. It reminds me of when she snuck us into The Pink and I kissed her without permission for the sole reason to keep her safe. It’s near the top of the regrets that I’m quickly stacking up when it comes to her.

“Why?” she spits. “So you can run off and arrest him?”

“No.” I hold her tight and tell her the truth. “Because I would’ve treated you with more care.”

She shakes her head but stays planted in my arms. “And that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“He touched you that night at The Pink. That was bad enough. Had I known what I know now, I would’ve killed him.”

This time she pulls out of my arms. A few hours ago, there’s no way on earth I’d let her go. Every instinct in me is to wrap her up and keep her forever. “That’s the last thing I need on my conscience, King.”

“Your conscience?” It’s everything I can do to keep my tone low and even when I want to scream the house down after what I learned. “And that right there is why I don’t deserve you. Because I’m bursting at the seams to rid the planet of him. The only thing in life I want more than to hang onto you forever is to have his blood on my hands to make sure he doesn’t breathe another day to hurt you.”

“Don’t make me a victim. I took control of the situation the only way I could. I knew if I called the police, they’d come for me. I knew if I stayed and tried to claim what was legally mine, they would eventually finish what they started.” She shakes her head and tears pool in her beautiful dark eyes even as she raises her voice to me. “Ichosenot to be a victim. And you know what, King? It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, because I sure felt like one. But I did it. I took control even though it meant losing everything I came to Miami for.”

My heart clenches. “I’ve felt a shit ton of pain in my life, baby. Hell, I’m still sporting bruises from the fun those fuckers had withme, but none of it compares to listening to Rand talk about you on the wire tonight. Never in my life have I experienced pain like that.”

“This is why I didn’t tell you. I might not curse or lie or break the rules, but that doesn’t make me a pushover. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. You can’t control me. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be. But I swear, King, if you make me feel like a victim, I’m gone.” She takes a step toward me and pokes a finger in my chest. It might as well be a dagger through my heart coupled with the wordgone. “You might hold the reins when it comes to Dex and Rand, but not me. The moment you treat me any differently than you have so far, I’m done.”

I don’t know whether to drop to my knees and beg her to never be done with me or start planning Rand’s untimely death. My head is fucked, because really, I’m so damn pissed she kept this from me.

That’s when it occurs to me, I thought I knew everything about her.

And that pisses me off.

I don’t even bother standing my ground. I take a step closer and demand, “What else haven’t you told me?”

Her angry dark eyes widen. “You are unreal.”

I shake my head. “Trust me, baby. I’m very fucking real. The state of the wire room is proof just how real I am.”

“What did you do?” she exclaims, as if the hole in the wall is more important than this.

I’m about to open my mouth to tell her, when my phone vibrates. When I look at the screen, there’s nothing I want more than to ignore him, but he’s my boss, and with the state of my case right now, I can’t fucking ignore anything.

I hold my finger up to Goldie and answer Tim’s call. “Yeah?”

“I should be writing you up right now for damage to government property, but we’ve got more important things going down.”

I stare at the woman who kept secrets from me. The biggest and most important ones in the world. “What the fuck happened now?”

“The police were dispatched to Colony Park with an active burglary in progress. One of your main targets is in custody.”

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