Page 69 of Atone in Darkness
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The knock at the door came as a relief. Ever since Tyson had checked her into this hotel, she’d been too wired to even sit down and watch the flat-screen TV. He’d promised to return later with dinner and an update on Chase’s condition. She had no intention of returning to the Paladin headquarters unless there was a setback in his recovery. That didn’t mean she no longer cared about him andhow he was doing.
She hurried over to the door and peered out through the peephole to make sure it was Tyson. He stood far enough from the door to make sure she could see him clearly. Her fingers fumbled a bit as she undid the dead bolt and the chain.
Tyson held a pizza box and cardboard carrier that held two soft drinks and two beers, but he made no move to come inside. There was somethingoff about the way he was acting. What had happened in the short time she’d been hiding here at the hotel?
The former guard’s expression softened just a little as he all but shoved the pizza and drinks into her waiting hands.“You’ve got my number if you need anything.”
She stared at his back as he walked away, still trying to make sense of what he’d just said. Had something happened he didn’twant to tell her about? Her pulse kicked up a notch. “Tyson, how is he?”
Tyson just kept walking but called back over his shoulder. “Ask him yourself.”
Then another man stepped into sight, and the world quit spinning.
She stumbled back into her room a short distance until she could lean against the nearest wall. Chase followed her, step for step, and then relieved her of the pizza box and drinks.After setting them on the nearest piece of furniture, he shut the door and then planted himself right in front of her.
“Didn’t you have something you wanted to ask me?”
She managed to nod. “How are you?”
He crowded closer, planting the palms of his hands on the wall on either side of her. “Fine and pissed, pretty much in equal measures. Want to explain what you’re doing in this cheap-ass hotel?And why you trusted Tyson to keep you safe, but not me? I thought I did a pretty good job of protecting you right up until I got shot.”
There was nothing she wanted more than to wrap her arms around his powerful body, still so strong despite everything he’d been through. But if she did, even caved that little bit, she would shatter if he walked away.
When he walked away.
“You did keep me safe,Chase, even though we both know you would’ve been better off leaving me behind. Once theenemy was taken care of, you immediately started protecting me from the people who really matter in your life—your friends and even your family.”
Her resolve weakened as she settled one hand over his heart. “You sacrificed another one of your chances for me. I won’t let you sacrifice anything else.”
If anything,he looked even angrier. “Are you done? Any other stupid excuses you want to make for running out on me?”
Her own temper flared hot. “That was low. They’re not stupid excuses.”
But instead of fighting back, he gently tucked a wayward strand of her hair behind her ear. “Stupid or not, they’re still excuses, Marisol. If you don’t want me in your life, all you have to do is tell me to walk out thatdoor. But I’ve got to tell you, the way you kissed me this morning in Dr. Young’s lab didn’t feel like you want me to disappear from your life. The way you held my hand and whispered to me all that time didn’t feel that way, either.”
“Anyone would have done that much.”
Chase snickered. “Sorry, but I don’t even want to think about Jarvis or Devlin snapping me out of the craziness with a big kiss.”
Then he leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. “I know we met under bizarre circumstances, and both of us have been through hell. That doesn’t make what we feel for each other any less real.”
Yes, it was real, but that didn’t make it right. She couldn’t find the words to convince Chase they’d be better off apart, not when she didn’t want to believe it was true herself.
He studied her for several seconds before speaking again. “I know you had a rough time of it as a kid. Anyone would have trust issues with parents like yours. I told you I was almost eighteen when I found out my father disappeared because he died in action. Intellectually, I understand he couldn’t help what happened. Emotionally, though, it still hurt. That my mother never got over him leavingher didn’t help matters. If I hadn’t had Gwen to hang on to, I’d be every bit as skittish as you are.”
Then he kissed her with just a hint of heat. “What I’m trying to say is even though your parents were idiots, you don’t have to keep everyone else at arm’s length. You can let me love you, Marisol, and you can love me back. We both deserve that kind of happiness.”
Another kiss, this one a lotlonger and a lot hotter. “Trust me with your heart. I swear I won’t walk away.”
God, she wanted what he was offering so much. “But your friends and family don’t trust me.”
“They just haven’t had a chance to get to know you, that’s all. They’re already starting to come around.”
Then he grinned. “Besides, it’s not like I wanted Gwen to hook up with Jarvis back in the day and was a real pain theass about it. Just ask them. The Regents, our bosses, also had real issues with a Handler like Dr. Young marrying a Paladin. Trahern broke all the rules by bringing Brenna into the Missouri headquarters without permission. The list goes on and on. The bottom line, if it worked out for all of them, it can work for us.”
She pushed against him, needing room to breathe, to think. He let her go thistime. She paced the length of thesmall room. “I’m not part of your secret world, Chase. What if they won’t let me be?”
