Page 30 of Brutal Ice

“A serial killer is far different from an ordinary stalker!”

“You’ll get hurt with me.”

A shiver skated over her body. “I think my best chance of not getting hurt is with you.”

They faced off. Her chest rose and fell too quickly. His mouth was inches from her own. She was far too conscious of what they’d been doing—right there, on that very desk—not too long ago. Her body felt too attuned to him. But her mind? It was splintering apart.

Avalon had tossed out that line about PTSD. And, dammit, Violet knew the other woman had been right. Her nightmares. Her night sweats. Her panic—yes, she knew exactly what she had.

She also knew that the way to face her fear? It was to track down the bastard who’d taken her. “You think he’s coming after me again.”

A grunt.

Was that a yes? She took it as one. “So you’re in my life now. We had our big dance earlier. Let’s cement things. Be seen very, very publicly from here on out. If he’s coming for me, then you stay close to me.” It was what Royal had suggested earlier. Where was the problem? Now, they’d just be working together. “While he thinks he’s closing in on me, you and I will close in on him.”

“You don’t want to play with me.” A growled warning. He finally let her go. Stepped back.

And she felt colder. “I don’t want to wind up like those women in your pictures. I want to stop him. I want to fight.”

“You’re fighting by blackmailing me?”

“That is such an ugly word.”

“It’s an ugly thing to do, sweetheart. Especially since I saved that sweet ass of yours.”

“Why did you?” The question blurted from her. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. Super grateful to be alive and breathing and not sliced into some horrible nightmare. Super. Grateful. But if you were there hunting him, why didn’t you just leave me in the trunk? And get him first?”

“Because I couldn’t be sure where he was on the property. I suspected he was there?—”

“How?” How had he known where to go?

“I suspected he was there,” Royal repeated. “But there was a whole lot of ground to cover. While I was hunting him, he could have circled back and taken you. Finished you. Leaving you on your own wasn’t an option.”

And now she was blackmailing her hero. What did that say about her?

“My rules,” he suddenly snapped.

Her brows shot up.

“You do what I say, when I say it. No questions. No protests.”

A lump rose in her throat. What am I doing? What am I thinking?

“And you swear—right here and now, you swear—that you will never reveal the truth about me to anyone. No matter what else I do, you’ll take my secrets to your grave.”

“That sounds super ominous,” she whispered.

“I’m an ominous kind of guy.” A half-smile teased his lips, and, yes, the faint smile somehow made him look ominous. “Do we have a deal? Or do you just want to run back to your safe life? I do have guards on you. They’re watching you from the shadows. Protecting you. They’ll keep doing that until I have the killer contained. I can end this for you. And you can have your life again and never have to look back.”

“We have a deal.” A fast retort from her. She shoved out her hand toward him. Weren’t they supposed to shake or something? People shook on deals.

That half-smile of his vanished in a blink. Royal frowned at her hand.

She wiggled her fingers. “I’ll keep your secrets. And you let me hunt with you.”

His gaze was still on her hand.

“I need this.” She did. More than she could say.

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