Page 65 of Forbidden Confessions: Vol. 2
I don’t know what I’m expecting. Maybe something more like the movies where Rush extracts a confession from the bad guy about how they’re conducting their nefarious activities and why before the villain pleads for his life. Then the hero relents because he’s the bigger man and the police take my attacker away once and for all. But that’s not what happens.
Rush just pulls the trigger.
Blood and brains splatter all over my bedroom wall.
I scream, then start to shake. Did that really just happen? Yes, and I feel like I’m going to throw up.
Then Rush takes my chin in his hand and forces my gaze to his, pinning me with his stare. “Are you okay?”
I give him a shaky nod. “I-I think.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“N-no.”
“Good. Stay here. Don’t look at him.”
I’ve barely registered the words when he releases me, then yanks the bent curtain rod from the slider’s doorframe and charges out to my back patio, weapon drawn. I see a puddle of blood on the cement and hear cursing, followed by what sounds like Rush dragging the man whose foot I shot across the patio.
Then he’s back inside my bedroom. “There were no others, right?”
“Not that I-I know of.”
The murderous rage slides off his face, and he comes to a skidding stop on his knees in front of me. “I’m sorry, little girl. So, so sorry.”
When he opens his arms, I launch myself into them, feeling safe and warm and grateful. He holds me close. Tears I don’t want come. I’m still trembling uncontrollably.
He gathers up my comforter and wraps it around me, cocooning me as he holds and soothes me, crooning to me like he would a child. “I’m here. And I’ll never let anything happen to you, Vanessa. You’re my everything. My world, the air I breathe, the heart beating in my chest. I’ll always keep you safe. You know that, right?”
I don’t know much right now, but deep down, under the anger I don’t feel anymore, I know that’s true. Rush just proved that he would move heaven and earth for me. “Yes.”
“Good.” He peppers kisses on my cheeks as he cradles my face in his hands and stares into my eyes. “And you know why I’d do that, don’t you? I said it this morning while I was still deep inside you. You remember?”
How could I forget? “Yes.”
“Tell me why. Tell me what I said.”
“You love me.”
“That’s right.” He caresses my face gently and presses a kiss to my lips. “And you love me, too, don’t you? I know we had a fight, and I’m sorry I wasn’t honest sooner, but I couldn’t be. I wanted to be, but Bryan Russell and his pal Harold Dunne have been using the hotel to distribute drugs and government secrets all across southeast Florida and beyond.”
“Our manager Bryan Russell?”
“Yes.”
If Dunne was inside with me, then… “Is that whose foot I shot?”
“Yep. You did great. You kept him from hurting you and from running away. We’ve been on the cusp of catching them doing something illegal for weeks. But I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t jeopardize the mission. And I didn’t want to scare you. You’re everything to me. Please believe me. I don’t want to be without you.”
“I know.” And I do. I feel that in the way he’s holding me and staring into my eyes as if nothing else matters.
“You still love me?”
My earlier anger is gone. Only truth lies in its place. “I’ve loved you since I was sixteen. I can’t stop. Even when I hated you an hour ago, I still loved you. I was just too hurt and scared to admit it.”
I don’t know how I’ll handle being in love with a spy, but I grew up as the daughter of one. I guess I’ll deal with it like I always have. One day at a time.
A big smile creases his face. “I think I fell in love that night, too, with that pretty little girl in a pink prom dress. And I’m going to love you until the day I die.”
