Page 68 of Cruel Ice

Declan strode from behind the desk.

“You wanted me to pull up everything I could on her. I did. I have. She and the detective have a history. A long one. They went to high school together. Dated briefly after her attack by Glass. The cop is actually the only guy she’s dated since the Glass attack. The woman went into hiding after that creep sliced her. A hiding that came courtesy of her brothers. And speaking of them?” A soundless whistle. “They are a whole other mess of trouble we don’t need. Pretty sure one of them might be CIA. The other is some adrenaline junkie who specializes in hostagerescue. True blue assholes who will not understand your way of life.”

“What about Glass?” Declan wasn’t concerned about the brothers. They would not be getting in his way. “Anything else I need to know about him?”

“He’s in Georgia, locked away in a maximum-security prison. Mostly kept in solitary confinement. The man is not some easy target.”

Declan inclined his head. He’d already known all of that information, but he still said, “Thanks for the intel.”

“I—what?” His brows beetled. “That’s it?”

“Glass isn’t a concern any longer. Mark him off your list.”

“Shit.” James raked a hand over his face. “What have you done?”

He needed to see Marley. “Why accuse me? Here I am, being an upstanding citizen—as I keep having to remind you I actually am. I’m in Chicago. You just told me Glass was in a maximum-security prison down in Georgia. I can’t possibly get access to him.” A roll of one shoulder. “But, sadly, prison riots happen all the time. And sometimes, even people who are supposed to be in solitary get pulled into the fray.”

“Shit,” James said again. Then… “Shit.”

“Is there anything else? Because I thought this doom-and-gloom meeting would yield more drama.”And more information that I did not already know. You’re slipping, James.The Glass intel had been disappointing, and Declan had actually already been aware of Detective Parker Ellis’s link to the Flynn family.

I am well aware of my father’s crimes. And sometimes, the ghosts of the past can come at you when you least expect them.Parker had stared at him with a bit too much hate that first night in the hospital. The glance had set off alarm bells for Declan. He hadn’t just left the digging to James.

Sometimes, I prefer to do my own dirty work.

James shook his head. “You’re going to crash and burn with Marley Jones.”

Now he smiled. “But won’t the fire be fabulous?”

The bedroom door opened.The faint sound had her eyes opening. Marley stared into the darkness.

The door clicked closed.

Footsteps padded silently toward the bed. Her back had been to the door. She’d awakened a short while ago. Gotten out of the bed to dress. Rummaged in Declan’s closet until she’d found something that worked and returned to bed. Then she’d rolled onto her side. Snuggled up against the pillow. And started to drift off again.

Declan hadn’t been in bed with her. But she knew that he was now walking toward her. In moments, the bed dipped a bit. Had he taken off some clothing? She’d heard a few rustles. Marley thought that perhaps he had. He slid into the bed. She could feel his warmth, but he didn’t touch her.

She wanted him to touch her.

“Do you see evil?” he rasped. Such low words. “I know you saw it with that bastard Glass. Will you see it with me?”

She held her breath. Was he about to make another big confession? Because if so…

She rolled toward him. Put a hand on his heart. No shirt. Bare skin. “I won’t pretend to be asleep this time.”

His hand covered hers. “Marley? What are you talking about?”

“I don’t see evil when I look into your eyes. I see you, Declan. You.” Enough of this. Touching him wasn’t enough. She threwoff the sheet, and she climbed on top of him. Marley straddled him. She was wearing one of his over-sized shirts. He seemed to be wearing a pair of jogging pants. The soft material brushed against the sensitive skin of her thighs. No shirt for Declan.

And his dick bobbed eagerly toward her, shoving against the front of his jogging pants.

Tempting her to take him, to go wild with him but…not yet.

“I heard you when you said you killed your father,” Marley confessed. Time to just get that out in the open. If she didn’t want Declan to keep secrets from her, then she could not keep secrets from him.

His hands flew up and locked around her waist. “What?”

“I wasn’t sleeping. I heard you. And I’m still here. I didn’t go running.I am still here.” Her hands pressed to his chest. Such a warm, powerful chest. “I don’t think you’re some big, bad monster, Declan Flynn. I don’t care what the world says. I know you. The real you.”

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