Page 82 of Locked Down

She paused for a moment and then squared her shoulders.“You can do this,”she murmured to herself. She started forward.

Ryker eyed her as she approached him. He didn’t move. His face was in shadow from the harsh lights of the airplane hangar behind him.

“Ryker,”she breathed as she came up to him.

“Vic.”

“How are you? How is your back?”

“Fine. And you?”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

“So where do you want to go, Vic? Archer asked me to make sure you were safe while you were in town.”He turned to open the door for her but she stopped him. If she didn’t do this now, she might lose her courage.

“Ryker. I…I’m sorry for the way I ran out of town. I deserted you when you had just saved my life. I?—”

“You’d had a traumatic experience. Another one.”His chuckle was gentle.“It was smart to go see your folks. Texas agreed with you, by the way.”

She glanced down at her faded jeans and deep green blouse. She’d gained a bit of weight and she filled things out better than she used to.“Thanks. But seriously Ryker. I want to explain.”

“No explanation needed, Vic. Where do you want to go?”

She frowned. This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned.“Ryker, I need to explain. I was so…overwhelmed by what happened. By my uncle’s behavior. The bomb. Losing Marilee. It was huge and I needed a minute to process it all. To come to grips with it, you know.”

Ryker had gone back to leaning against the SUV, his arms crossed over his chest. He had an almost bored expression on his face.“It’s all good. I get it. We’re good. You don’t need to explain.”

She was so fucking frustrated she wanted to stomp her foot Why was he doing this? Why was he being so damn casual, like she didn’t mean anything to him? He’d said he loved her. Was it a lie? Did he say it in the heat of the moment and it wasn’t true? The thought had crossed her mind plenty in the past few months, but she couldn’t believe that. She wouldn’t. Ryker didn’t say things in the heat of the moment. He was always careful with his words.

“So, one more time, where do you want to go?”

“Bloody hell, Ryker, stop it!”she yelled.“Talk to me like normal.”

He stared at her, his face a blank mask.“Why did you leave me money in your will?”he asked in a quiet voice.

She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.“Money in my will?”She frowned.

“Hawk mentioned it,”he added.

“I…I know you and Archer wanted a way to get access to my uncle, but I brought you in and you…you ended up killing a man. I just…I didn’t know what else to do to apologize to you. I thought if I didn’t make it, then at least you’d be rich and you’d never have to work again. I didn’t want that to haunt you.”

Ryker stared at her.

Finally, he shook his head.“Vic, I kill people all the time. He had a gun and drew it on me. It was me or him. I’m fine with it. And I don’t need your money. I’ve got plenty of my own. I haven’tneededto work in years.”

She stared at him. Why were they discussing this?“I see. Well, it’s moot anyway. You saved my life.”

“Right.”He straightened.“You have to pick a place, Vic,”he said as he turned toward the car.

“Fine,”she sighed.“Your place. I want to go to your place, Ryker.”

He froze, his hand on the door handle. He met her gaze for a long moment.“I don’t think you want to do that, Vic. I’m not some kid or wet-behind-the-ears congressman. I’m a stone-cold killer, honey, and I’m not about to change. I don’t want a one-night stand with you, and I have no time for games. You said nothing was keeping you here. And you left. I accepted that. You can’t come back because suddenly life in Texas is boring and you need some hot sex and a boy toy.”

“Boring? Boy toy?”she burst out laughing.“When have I ever said anything about a boy toy?”

“You got what you wanted from me, and you left. That pretty much sums up boy toy, doesn’t it?”

Suddenly she understood. From his perspective, it was totally different.

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