Page 65 of Explosive Vengeance

He kissed the top of her head. “I wanted you to know.”

“I do know it.” She wound her arms around him and hugged him. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“A rock-climbing former PJ?”

She huffed out a laugh. “Well, okay, yeah. But I meant someone with your level of character. Like the way you tried to save Fleur yesterday. You dived into the water without hesitation and put yourself at risk by staying even when the cops were on the way.”

So had she. “I was just—”

“Being you. I know. And I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.” She swallowed. “I’m glad you were with her until she lost consciousness.”

Him too. “When did you two meet?”

“About a year ago. But when we were in contact working the shipments together, I felt like she understood me better than anyone. She was the most authentic person I ever knew—until I met you. And that’s why I’m going to rescue those women and get Dubois, to honor her.”

Heath didn’t like it. At all. But he understood it. “I know,” he said on a grudging sigh.

“Thank you.” She lifted her head to brush a soft, tender kiss across his lips. It eased him to see the shadows mostly gone from her eyes. And if he wasn’t mistaken, that was a distinctly mischievous glint in them now. “Can I see your butt tat?”

He let out a startled laugh. “What?”

“Your green feet. Come on, you said you have ‘em.” She reached down to smack his ass. “Lemme see.”

Chuckling, he eased away and rolled onto his stomach. “Have at ‘er.”

“Oh, I will.” She sat up, pushing her long, thick braid out of the way as she settled on her knees beside him, giving him a gorgeous view of her body. Her hands smoothed down his back, over his hip, and paused on his right ass cheek. “Hmmm, nice,” she murmured, bending to nip at the tat of the two green feet. “Verynice.”

Yeah, there was no way they were leaving this bed to go have dinner with the others.

Chapter Twenty-One

“Still nothing on the women. Sorry. I’m as frustrated as you,” Amber said to Chloe on the phone late that evening.

After spending most of the night wrapped up in Heath’s arms, first sleeping and then losing herself to more pleasurable things, Chloe had been hungry for something else—justice. She still hurt inside, but not nearly as much as she had been, and actively working on this with the others helped lessen the burden. She didn’t feel so alone anymore.

“It’s not your fault,” she told Amber. Dubois had moved the women when he suspected Chloe might come for them. “You’ll keep us updated if you find anything?” Amber was working on various things simultaneously. Locating the women—Dubois could have sold them already—finding Dubois, and looking for any possible signs of the missing Valkyries.

“Of course.”

Chloe had learned from Megan, and in her few dealings with Amber over the past few days, that Amber was the quieter, more serious of the sisters. Harder, more remote. “Thanks. Here’s Megan.”

Megan took the phone, talked for another minute, then ended the call. “Okay, so all dead ends so far. What’s the plan now?” She grabbed a piece of cheese from the platter on the table between them and popped it into her mouth.

“We need to find Dubois,” Heath said, nursing a beer in one of the easy chairs pulled up to the small coffee table in the center of their group.

Her chest hitched just looking at him, remembering what they’d shared together, the things he’d said to her. It was going to hurt like hell when he left, but she would never regret their time together. “Exactly.” She searched the platter of cheese, crackers, fruit and veggies for something that might tempt her. It was all so…healthy, and the only caffeine was the carafe of hot coffee. Making a face, she picked a cracker, put a piece of pickle on it and put it in her mouth.

“Way better than Pop Tarts, am I right?” Heath said with a knowing gleam in his eyes.

“Nope, not even a little. So. Dubois.” She would hunt him down and kill him. But with the trafficked women still unaccounted for, the focus of Chloe’s mission had changed. She wasn’t willing to kill him at the cost of losing those defenseless women. It would make Fleur’s death twice as meaningless.

No. Chloe would locate him, capture and interrogate him to find out what she needed to know. As soon as he’d given her what she needed, he would die.

Megan’s phone beeped. She checked it, smiled. “She’s here.”

A minute later, Chloe was face to face with the legendary Trinity Durant. The former Valkyrie was maybe five or six years older than Chloe, and gorgeous. Straight, shiny black hair cut into a sleek, chin-length bob, elegant makeup that emphasized her deep blue eyes, and clothes that hugged her curvy, knockout figure.

“Chloe,” Trinity said after hugging Megan. “So nice to finally meet you.”

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