Page 109 of Devil's Riches

“What do you mean?” I asked, brows puckering. I could hear sirens in the distance now. It wouldn’t be long until the police showed up.

“I was lying,” Nate said. “Edward was the one who ordered Greg’s death ten years ago, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Greg was willing to testify against him and the rest of the Golden Circle as revenge. So I made all of that shit up. I figured it would shock him long enough for you to get him to drop the gun, and it worked.”

“How’d you get the photo of Greg in the bunker?”

“I took it before we went to the Mayfair last week,” he explained. “I was worried something might happen to us, so I wrote down everything we knew and put it in an email with some photos of Greg as proof. If we didn’t make it home from the Mayfair by the next afternoon, the email would’ve automatically gone to Colette, along with instructions on where to find all of Greg’s murder tapes.” He paused and rubbed his jawline. “I didn’t tell you about it when I did it because I didn’t want to make you worry even more.”

“You thought of everything,” I said, voice barely above a murmur. I took a step closer. “And you found me,” I added. “Again.”

Nate took my right hand in his. “I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” he said gruffly. His gaze drifted to my chin and back up to my eyes again. “It’s all going to be okay now,” he went on, squeezing my hand tighter. “Everyone’s going to know what really happened. They’ll know your dad was innocent.”

“I know,” I said, voice thick with emotion. Tears were gathering in the corners of my eyes. “Thank you.”

He scrubbed his free hand over his chin. “Alexis, I…”

He trailed off, brows furrowing. I took another small step forward, closing the gap between us. “I know,” I whispered. “Me too.”

We didn’t need to say it. Not right now; not while sirens were wailing and my grandfather was groaning on the floor right next to us. We just needed to feel it. See it in each other’s eyes.

Nate pulled me into a tight hug. As I nestled into his arms, I felt his breath on the space between my shoulder and my neck, and I let out a soft sigh of contentment. Having him this close to me felt like coming home—a warm mix of comfort and safety.

A moment later, as the sirens grew louder, I pulled away from the hug, tilted my head upward and bit my bottom lip. Nate stared down at me, eyes burning with intensity. He gripped my chin and moved his face closer.

This time, I didn’t need to go up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He was already kissing me.

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