Page 71 of Redemption

“I’m sure every client presents a challenge of some sort.”

“Yeah. I recently had this assignment where the client was super demanding. And then she had the gall to fire me. Me.”

I laughed, though I worried about the consequences for Jackson, even if I’d been joking about “firing” him. “You know why I fired you.”

He took my hand in his, bringing it to his mouth for a kiss. “I do. And I don’t regret it.”

“I hope it won’t get you into too much trouble at work,” I said. I would’ve asked him to stay till the end of the trip, but I didn’t think he had that kind of vacation time. And even if he did, could he afford to take so much time off? Would he even want to?

It was probably for the best. One night was safer. One night wouldn’t muddle the situation or my heart.

“We’ll find a way to spin the situation so it won’t reflect adversely on you,” I said.

“Thanks,” he said, his expression darkening. “But what’s done is done.”

“Maybe you should get that as your next tattoo,” I teased, noticing it wasn’t the first time he’d said it. And both times, he’d sounded so…resigned. Downtrodden. I hated to think that I was responsible for it.

I hated to think that our choices might impact his career. I knew how much it had cost him to be discharged from the SEALs. I didn’t want anything to happen to his position at Hudson because of me.

I propped my head up with my hand. “You said you were hoping to spend more time with your family after our trip. What will you do next? After this assignment, where are you supposed to go?”

He seemed to hesitate, then said, “I’m not sure yet. And you? Will you go back to London?”

I sighed, not wanting to imagine being anywhere but here. With him. “That depends.”

“On…” he prompted after I said nothing more. He traced my hip, smoothing his hand over my skin.

“On whether Hudson is able to find and apprehend the source of the threats.”

“We will find them,” he said in a menacing tone that made me confident they would.

“I hope so,” I said. “Otherwise, I’m afraid to see what my brothers will try to do.”

Jackson frowned, brushing my hair over my shoulder. “What does that mean?”

“They can be very protective,” I said. “I love that they care about me, but sometimes it feels suffocating.”

“Is that why you chose to live in London even though everyone else is in LA?”

I chewed on my bottom lip. “That’s certainly part of it.”

“And the other part?”

I sighed. “The other part was that I needed a change. When I decided to move there, my grandparents had just died, and we’d…”

He tilted his head back in understanding. “Ah. Yeah.” He cleared his throat, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I am sorry, Sloan. For the way everything went down. For the things I said.”

I captured his hand and drew his palm to my mouth for a kiss, appreciating his apology more than he could ever know. Even so, I didn’t want to dwell on it. Not now, when I was still naked in his arms and feeling so vulnerable.

“Do you spend all your time in London?” he asked.

“I travel around to various locations, especially in Europe and Asia. But I consider London my home.” I didn’t want to talk about myself or my life in London. I wanted to hear about him. What he’d been up to the past fourteen years. What had inspired his tattoos. “This is new.” I circled the sextant tattooed on his chest.

The design was simple yet so well rendered it almost looked 3-D. It was one of my favorite new additions to his ink, but maybe that was because it was nautical. And it was part of a larger piece of artwork with a horizon and…

He covered me. “I’ll show you something else that’s new.” He rocked into me, turning my laughter into a moan of pleasure.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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