Page 39 of Queen of Spades

“Hell, yes, it is. It would have hurt me less if you accused me of being a murderer.”

“Isn’t that exactly what you were hired to do?”

“But I didn’t,” he says, like I should be grateful about that fact.

My jaw falls open as it really sinks in.

He’s been playing me this entire time.

The happy-go-lucky himbo doesn’t exist.

“You’re good,” I reluctantly admit. “I’m a little impressed.”

“I had the benefit of knowing you weren’t who you said you were before we met. Otherwise, you probably would have fooled me. You wouldn’t have let the old me in, so I watched you. Then I became who you needed me to be.” He uncrosses his arms and approaches me slowly. When I don’t retreat, he pulls me into his chest. “Don’t you get it? Sparrow, Annika, or whatever name you want to take over next, it doesn’t matter. I’ll love you with that one, just like I love you with this one.”

I swipe at my aching eyes as my heart races. “Really?”

“Fuck, yes,” he says so fervently that I want to believe him. “I’ve been looking out for you since before you even knew I existed, but you don’t have to keep me at arm’s length anymore. I’m fully capable of keeping you safe. I’m just as deadly as you are.” He bends, brushing his lips over mine. “Let. Me. In.”

My hands dig into his muscular back as my mind spins with the chaos of everything I just learned.

Grady pours his feelings into the kiss, and my knees go weak.

Dammit.

He just flipped my world upside down.

Maybe this is worse than what happened three years ago.

I don’t know where we go from here, but I can’t lie to myself and pretend I don’t love him too.

Grady goes stiff, ripping his mouth away from mine and pulling me behind him in one swift movement. He grips my arm with one of his but extends the other, holding out a gun I had no idea he even had on him.

My eyes widen as the ghost I never thought I’d see again steps into the living room.

Chapter Thirteen

Kane

Fifteen Minutes Earlier

Stakeouts are miserable in general. This is an entirely different level of hell. Knowing Sparrow is inside that house…

That’s not even her name anymore, and that irritates the fuck out of me.

Annika.

Why the hell did she pick that name?

Is it one of her favorites?

Was it randomly what was available?

I’ve got way too many questions.

I actually thought she was boring during the months I lived with her when she went to college. It was hard to fathom how she was even related to her family.

She had me fooled completely.

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