Page 75 of Sinner's Salvation

“Do you want to use it?” He sounded worried she’d say yes.

“No, but knowing it’s there and it’s another option would be good.”

It took them a little while, but they finally found theemergency, emergency exit in the bathroom.

The grin she turned on him when a section of the wall behind the toilet opened, lit a slow burning fire in his belly. “Feel better?” he asked.

She ducked her head. “Yes. Thank you for humoring me.”

“I’d do a lot worse to see that smile on your face.”

She blinked, looked at the narrow spiral staircase leading down, then looked at him again. “Oh.” A blush crept up her cheeks as she closed the wall panel, hiding the stairs.

Beautiful, so fucking beautiful.

He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but something held him back. Maybe it was the story she told him earlier, about being dumped into a mass grave. Maybe it was the fact that her son was a friend. Maybe it was the whole fucked up situation.

She seemed fragile, uncertain, and anxious. And what woman wouldn’t feel that way if she’d been betrayed by as many people as she had been.

He’d need to show her he was trustworthy. Prove he wouldn’t throw her under the bus.

“Hey,” he said, cupping her face. “I have an idea.”

She met his gaze. “What is it?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.” He got to his feet, then offered her a hand up. She allowed him to pull her to her feet and didn’t pull her hand away once they were walking.

He led her over to the couch, then unfolded it into a bed.

He held his hand out. “Come and rest with me.”

“Rest?” she asked.

“Just rest. We could both use it.”

She hesitated, then nodded.

He lay down first, and she joined him so he could spoon up to her from behind. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.

She was warm and smelled like sunshine.

***

Gerry Ledger yankedon the handcuffs encircling his wrists one more time. Part of him wanted to pull and tug on them until he started bleeding. Most of him wasn’t interested in putting himself through that much pain.

He was sitting in an interrogation room in the FBI’s New York Office, waiting for...who knew what. He’d tried to explain about Anna Breznik and what a danger she was, but they just shook their heads and looked at him like he was dirt.

His evidence might have been destroyed when that Army asshole used a bomb to start a fire in the security office, but all he had to do to produce more proof was shoot her again.

The prospect made him happy for a moment.

The door opened and his brother walked into the room. The glare on his face was sharp enough to cut through the damned handcuffs.

He didn’t say anything and Gerry did the same. He’d learned long ago not to air his dirty laundry in front of a bunch of other people.

An FBI agent came in with a key and unlocked the handcuffs.

Gerry got to his feet and followed his brother out of the building.

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