Page 60 of The Devil's Ice

“So why do you carry the gun around all the time, then?”

“Well, partly habit, I suppose. I grew up around guns and I’m comfortable with them, and I can handle them pretty well.”

“I’llsay, baby.”

Vixen giggled. “And also for self-protection. Satan’s attracts more than its fair share of weirdos and sketchy types, and I’m not exactly a wall-flower, so I feel safer walking alone to my car and into my home with a bit of iron muscle in my purse. Besides, as we talked about before, The Road Devils have hadplentyof trouble over the past few years, and as someone in the MC vicinity and sphere – even if I wasn’t directly involved with whatever any of it was – I was worried about being collateral damage.”

“And then you were,” he said softly. “I’m really sorry about that Vix. We all are.”

“I know, babe. But I’d do it all again in a second to keep Keira safe, and I’m actually really,reallyOK. I know that I’ll recover fully in a few more weeks, and I don’t care as much about the scars on my face as I thought I would. When you first told me about them, back in the hospital, my first thought was that I wasnothingwithout my looks. They’ve opened doors for me, and they’ve kept the money coming in, and they’ve supported my whole life, and they’ve brought me male attention, which I enjoy. I truly thought that without my looks, I wasn’t worth much. Worthnothing, to be honest.”

“And what do you think now?”

“Now?” She smiled. “Now I’m your girl… so as long asyouthink I’m beautiful, then I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

“Vix,” Ice said, his voice a low growl. “You are the single most beautiful woman that I’ve ever laid eyes on… and I’m not just talking about that exquisite face and killer body. I’m talking about the whole package, top to toe, inside and out. What you did to protect Keira, the guts that you’re showing in your recovery, the grace that you’ve given me, that youkeepgiving me. Pure beauty, baby, just breath-stealing fuckingbeauty.”

“Thank you.” She blushed, her face rosy in the firelight; she vowed there and then to never question if Ice was attracted to her, never again. “That’s all I need to know.”

“Speaking of things that you need to know,” Ice said, switching gears on her yet again, at the speed of light. “I need to talk to you about tomorrow.”

“OK,” she said cautiously, hearing something seriously disquieting in his tone. “What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Me and some of the boys are driving out to Salt Lake City in the morning. We leave at six o’clock.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Can you – can I know what you’re doing?”

“Part of it.”

“OK.” She took a fortifying swig of wine. “What part can I know?”

“If all goes well, then we’ll have Wolf, Hannah and Joe back. There’s a trade-off arranged for midnight tomorrow.”

“Trade-off?” Vixen echoed, her heart giving a huge leap of joy and hope. “What are you trading for their return?”

“That I can’t tell you,” he said. “That’s Scars’ call, and his decision in the end. What Icantell you is that the guy bringing them to us has a strong amount of self-interest in making the trade. If he doesn’t, he’s dead, so he’s pretty fucking motivated to giveuswhat we want, so we can give him whatheneeds… namely the ability to keep sucking in oxygen.”

“Right,” she said numbly, then a penny dropped. “Wait – you’re leaving at six a.m.? And the trade’s at midnight? I mean, even if you drive from Denver to Salt Lake City with your eyes closed, you’dstillbe there by two in the afternoon. Why do you need to be there almost ten hours early?”

“We have to do something else first.”

“Ah.” Vixen studied his face, saw that familiar prairie-distance in his eyes, saw the implacable chill settle over him again. “I don’t want to know, do I?”

“You do not,” he said. “I’ll tell you this much, though: it’s not me who’ll be doing it, but I’ll be right there, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the man who does, helping in any way that he asks. And I’ll take the whole sordid secret to my grave, with no doubts or regrets.”

“I understand.”

“Do you?” Ice gazed at her searchingly, really trying to read her thoughts and feelings on her face. “Can you truly be with me like this?”

“What do you mean? Like what?”

“I mean, with getting half-truths and partial information,” he said, then took a deep breath, determined to lay it all out to her, even if it meant the end of something that had barely begun, something that already meant a hell of a lot to him. “I mean, watching me just leave to go do some bad shit that you can’t know about, and maybe not coming back from it. You know that me and the boys have had to fight a lot lately, Vix, and you sure as fuck knowhowwe fight – you know that we take lives. You know that about me, right? About all of us?”

“I do.”

“Then you shouldalsoknow that things go sideways all the time, and when they do, they gofast. I’ve been pretty fucking lucky so far, and I’ve always come out on top, but luck always runs out. Can you – will you be able to be with me, with things like this? The fact that we’re attracted to each other, and we like each other is great – but is it enough? Enough for you to stay, knowing how I have to fight sometimes?”

Vixen looked at him seriously, seriously contemplated what he was saying, because Ice was right. They’d gone from just fucking in a bar back room, to telling each other some pretty intense home truths, to sitting here at this campfire with marshmallows and wine, under an achingly romantic sky of stars.

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