Page 128 of The Butterfly Killer

Marcus couldn’t hold back the gasp when Roman bit his shoulder hard.

Mercer went quiet on the other line.

“Uh—what favor?”

“I don’t believe you statement.”

Marcus stilled. Roman sensed the change and stopped kissing.

Mercer darkly laughed.“I’m inviting you to the case. Your expertise would help immensely. And the favor in question…well, I’ll let you know when you get here.”

Marcus could hear the silent threat. “Where is ‘here’?”

“Check for yourself. The plane ticket is in your desk drawer. I had your friend drop it off.”

The anger settled in a little too late. Marcus clenched the phone. “I guess Burns doesn’t know you’re doing this?”

He couldn’t imagine Agent Burns going along with this kind of tactic. He had thought Mercer was an upstanding agent, but he now saw that Mercer wore a changing mask whenever it served his purpose.

“How about we keep this between us? Burns is sensitive and we both know he won’t understand the choices we’ve had to make.”

Marcus’s anger simmered down to a lump in his throat.

“Can you at least tell me when I leave?”

“Tomorrow. The request has already been filed. As of twenty minutes ago, you’re officially on the case. See you then, Palmer.”

Mercer hung up.

The phone was like acid in Marcus’s hand. He dropped it. Thankfully, it landed right back on his pants.

If it wasn’t for Roman holding him, he might have collapsed.

“Roman.”

“Yes?”

“How much of that did you hear?”

Roman pressed his face back against Marcus’s shoulder. “More or less all of it.”

Marcus took a shuddery breath. “What are we going to do?”

He was turned around to face Roman.

“Did you already forget? We’re both under Lucas’s protection. Miguel was an idiot and he still managed to evade being caught for years because of Dante.”

Roman took Marcus’s face into his hands. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”

Marcus was breathless, this time for Roman.

“I want to do the same for you too.” Marcus held Roman’s face the same way, cradling him in his hands.

Roman smiled. Marcus didn’t understand how the smile of a killer could be so sweet, so pure, so full of love. He basked in it, honored that it was for him alone and that no one else would ever be able to experience it.

He’d made up his mind as Roman kissed him in the glow of the morning light. He would go wherever it was Mercer had planned. He’d work on the Cortez case, but he’d turned them in circles so they never came close to the truth about Roman.

This promise he made to Roman, he would never break it.

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