Page 78 of Cruel Ice

Surprise had her hands falling from her hips.

“The guy is pretty jealous that you beat him to the whole taking-a-bullet-for-me punch, by the way. The last seven years, he’s been jonesing to even the score for me. I carried him out. Bastard was mad at first, when I pushed his ass to do therapy to get back on his feet, but after he stopped raging at me, Hunter realized he was still alive. And he could go after the SOBs who’d set the trap for him.” A pause. “He did go after them, by the way. I helped.”

A chill skated down her spine. “Declan.” Marley wet her lips. “What happened in Georgia?”

His brows lowered. “Someone else is onmysuspect list.”

“Who?” Who had she missed? “If you wouldshareyour list of enemies then we could get on the same page and?—”

“Your police detective.”

“Okay, first, he is notmypolice detective.” Obviously, he was talking about Parker. And Parker was not hers in any way, shape or form.

“He’s in Chicago right now.”

That news had her edging back a step. “Since when?”

“Yesterday morning. I might have put eyes on him before we flew to Chicago.”

She thought there was nomightabout it. “You had someone tailing him for that long because…” Because the only thing that made sense was… “You already suspected him before we left Augusta? Declan, you have got to stop being a secretive bastard andtellme things! Don’t you get that? You have to tell me things because we are?—”

“In a relationship,” he finished.

She sniffed. “I don’t fuck men that I’m not in relationships with. So, yes, we are in a relationship. And that means you tell me everything. Good, bad, and all the messy stuff in between.”

“You don’t want to know the parts in between. Or the bad things.”

She did, even as her stomach twisted. “Why do you think I can’t handle bad things?”

He closed the distance between them. His hand reached up, and his knuckles skimmed over her cheek. “I don’t want any bad part of me to ever touch you.”

Her head turned. Her lips brushed over his hand.

Declan pulled his hand back. Fisted his fingers. “But there is so much bad in me.”

“Stop seeing yourself that way. You arenotbad.”

A faint smile twisted his lips.

The twisting in her gut got worse. “Is your brother a suspect? In your mind, could Royal be guilty? I mean, he arrives in town and then your assistant—who we both believe was sharing intel with the perp after you—suddenly vanishes. That’s a coincidence.”But, apparently, Parker is in town, too.

At this point, who isn’t in Chicago?

“Why would Royal want me dead?”

She could think of several million—possibly billion—reasons. “A long-lost brother might want your fortune.”

“He doesn’t give a shit about that. Besides, I’ve already set up the legal paperwork so that he gets half of everything no matterwhat. Whether he wants it or not, it’s going to him. Once the paperwork is signed and the deal is sealed, he can give all the cash to charity if he wants. But it’s going to him.” A vow.

That news sent a little hum through her. “Did your assistant know that you were giving your brother half of everything?”

“Yes.”

“And Royal…you met him over a dead body, so I’m taking that to mean the man clearly has no qualms about killing.”

“Royal killed to protect himself and the woman he loved. I completely understand that action.” A roll of one shoulder. “Someone hurts you, and you can damn well bet they’ll be getting a swift trip to hell.”

That was dark. And intense. And very Declan. Maybe he thought the words would give her pause. They did not. “Someone hurts you,” she returned, not missing a beat at all, “and I’ll make sure they take that same trip.”

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