Page 133 of Brazen Deceits

“You know, we heard it, all of us.”

Her hand stills on my arm.

“I’m here, if you need someone to talk to. We all are.”

Her fingers settle into a steady tap from pointer to pinky, five beats, then a pause, the next set taken up where the first left off.

I press my nose into the damp mass of her curls, wishing I could take some of the weight of worry from her.

What must it be like to risk exposing your barely scabbed-over trauma to an attempted rape? Even if it was the plan she’d built in her head, hearing that monster whispering in her ear? Had I not been done with that awful forgery, I would have ruined the damn thing, the way my hands clenched and shook.

The look RJ and I shared, our helplessness, blocks away, depending on Trips to take down three guys and get her to safety? I never want to feel like that again.

It had to have been ten times worse to be there. To choose that risk to save a fucking job.

We could’ve found Jansen a way out. We did.

We didn’t need to get the Rubens, too.

But this woman, she saw the game board and decided we should get everything we wanted.

Trading her own safety to get it.

Brave.

Foolish.

It’s a damn fine line to walk.

I just hope I’ll be there to catch her when she stumbles too far off the path. Because no matter what, she’s mine.

I’m not letting go.

Chapter 62

Clara

Morning light streams in the windows, and despite my exhaustion, I don’t think I’ve even slept.

It turns out that tryingnotto think is less effective for falling asleep than one would assume.

I call bullshit.

Walker slips out from behind me, and I cling to him, needing a kiss, needing distraction.

He obliges, but pulls away before I can truly force things to heat to the point of thoughtlessness. “Try to get a little more sleep. I want some time with the Rubens. And Trips and I have to set up the liaison with Jasmine.”

My pout is answer enough, but he tucks me back in.

“Try. Please.”

I sigh. “Okay.”

I watch him pull on clothes, covering up all that beautiful skin, hiding all those unexpected muscles. He closes thecurtains before he heads out, the door clicking shut behind him in the now dim room.

Jansen stretched spread-eagle in the bed in the middle of the night, leaving only a sliver of space for Walker and me. With a sigh, I scoot over to rest my head on his shoulder, and he immediately wraps himself around me.

Cradled in the dim quiet, I practice breathing, working through systematic muscle clenching and relaxing exercises, anything I can think of for putting myself to sleep.

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