Page 87 of Cruel Ice

“No!” Marley yelled.

“No.” A snarl from Declan as he—as he put his body in front of Parker’s. “You’re not killing a cop in cold blood.”

James frowned at him. “But…he was going to shoot you, son! There is nocold bloodabout this. I just saved your life!” His breath heaved in and out. “We have to finish him.”

Marley inched toward the couch.Declan wants me to get the fuck out of here, but I?—

“Call nine-one…” A gasp tore from Parker. “Call?—”

“No one is calling nine-one-one.” James was definite. His gun was pointed at Declan.

A Declan who seemed to be the only thing between Parker and death. “You can’t do this!” Marley cried out. “He’s a cop! This is all a misunderstanding. Parker can’t die!”

James shook his head. “Didn’t I warn you about her, too, Declan? I told you that she was talking too much with the cop. I bet she told him to come here. Bet she promised him that they could get a confession from you.”

Declan’s gaze darted toward her. She could not read his gaze to save her life.

“No.” Marley shook her head. She hadn’t tried to set up Declan. Wouldn’t.

“You can’t trust her! I told you, over and over. I warned you. She probablywantedyou to kill Glass just so she could get the confession—she and Parker are working to take you down. But I’m here to protect you. I’m the only one you can count on.”

Marley thought that she’d been cold in that den before. She’d been wrong. Absolute ice seemed to pour from her veins as Declan stood with James’s gun pointed at him…and a weak Parker still holding a gun behind him.

Either man can shoot Declan at any moment.

She stopped inching toward the couch. Screw that. She took a step toward Declan.

“Don’t.” A snarl from him. “Get the fuck out, Marley.”

Her eyes widened.

“I don’t want you here. You betrayed me, and we’re done. Get out,now.”

No, he didn’t mean that. “Declan?”

“Go,” he gritted. “Go now.”And emotion…emotion broke through those words. The faintest hint of…fear.

Her eyes widened. She started to run.

And James’s gun swung to point toward her.

Marley froze.

Hate glittered in James’s eyes. “Dammit, Declan, I knew you were getting emotionally involved with her. The man who pretends he doesn’t feel. Utter bullshit. You fell for her just like your father fell for your mother. Guess you could each love one thing in this world, huh?” He sent Marley a small smile. “You aren’t going anywhere. Because if you leave this room, you’ll just call for help. That’s not the way things are going to end. You don’t call in the cavalry. You don’t get to save the day again for him, PI.”

She put her hands up. It seemed like the right thing to do. To show she wasn’t a threat. To try and calm James down. “You don’t need to point that gun at me. I’m not armed.”

“Come here, Marley,” James ordered.

She didn’t move a step.

“Come here, or I will shoot you in the heart right here and now.”

“No!”A roar from Declan.

Marley sucked in a sharp breath.

But James smiled. Hesmiled,and she knew that he was going to pull the trigger, whether she came to him or not and she?—

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