Page 109 of Drawn Blue Lines

“You let her go alone? Dios mío, I sent you with her to make sure she didn’t do something stupid, Harcourt! Meeting a killer alone in an abandoned warehouse qualifies as pretty goddamn stupid!”

“She’s not stupid, Val! She’s determined to protect this family! And I didn’t let her go,” I growled, between clenched teeth. “She snuck out of bed before I could…”

Fuuuuuck.

Val’s eyes flashed pitched black. Not a speck of gold flickered in a dead sea of dark rage. “She. Snuck. Out. Of. Bed. Before. You. Could. What?” He bit out each word, his nostrils flaring.

“Stop her,” I finished, but even I didn’t believe it.

“What happened between you and Adriana?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You left here warning me that trusting her was a mistake. You swore she had an agenda. Now, you’re defending her like…” His voice trailed off, his eyes narrowing.

“Like what?”

“Like I would Eden.”

I laughed. “Right.”

“Did you fuck my sister?” His voice lowered to a thin rumble, and there it was.

The snap threat.

Lunging forward, he fisted my shirt. “I asked you a question.”

I calmly lifted my drink and took a sip, staring him right in the eye. “Are you done?”

“I asked you to do one thing. Keep your dick away from her.”

The way he spoke like we were some drunken bar fuck in a dirty bathroom stall pissed me off. “It’s not like that.”

“Then tell me, Harcourt.” He smirked, an unbidden mocking in his eyes. “What’s it like?”

It was like getting hit in the head with a brick. It was a frustrating back-and-forth with a woman I was never supposed to want. It was a dead calm stirred up in a tornado of smart mouth and brazen wit. It was fear of falling and the rush of the plunge.

“I love her, all right?” I shouted, shoving him away from me.

Val blinked. Then he blinked again. Then again. “What did you just say?”

I pressed my fingers against my forehead, rubbing against the headache brewing behind my eyes. Exhaling hard, I dropped my hand and held his gaze. “I said I’m in love with Adriana.”

“It’s been a week.”

“About the length of time you knew Eden, I believe.”

All the tendons in Val’s neck pulled tight with tension, but he kept his lips pressed tightly together, tamping down his anger. It was because I was right, and he knew it.

At least I didn’t have to kidnap Adriana to get her in my bed.

Gritting his teeth, he turned toward the bar again, filling his glass until it nearly overflowed. “Does she feel the same way about you?”

“I think so.” I didn’t elaborate. Val didn’t need to know about Adriana’s rules or what that kiss meant. I didn’t give a damn if he stomped around threatening to cut off every protruding part of my body. This conversation was over.

But there was still one thing left I needed to say.

One thing I couldn’t leave hanging over my head if I wanted to remain a permanent part of Adriana’s life. She promised it would die with her, but secrets had a way of coming out one way or another, and if I wanted to open a door to the future, I had to close the one to the past.

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