Page 43 of Nauti Kisses (Nauti 6)

His head rose then.

Sierra promised herself she wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t cry.

“I left Boston to give you time,” he finally admitted, those violet-blue eyes nearly glowing in his sun-darkened face. “I would have been back. I was afraid of what had happened that night, that perhaps I had hurt you, said something cruel out of my own stupidity. But I would have never let you go completely. Do you understand me? I would have been back soon. And I would have caught up with you. ”

“I wouldn’t have run again,” she admitted, fighting those tears. “I missed you, John. I missed you until a part of my soul was withering away without you. ”

“And there was no peace inside mine,” he confessed. “Because you weren’t here, baby. You weren’t in my arms. ”

“How fucking sickeningly sweet. I’m going to puke. ”

John froze at the sound of the feminine voice behind them. He felt Sierra still, felt the fear that suddenly transformed the relaxed, sated curves of her body.

Moving quickly, he jerked around, keeping Sierra close behind him as he faced Marlena and the weapon she held in her hand, aimed directly at his head.

Marlena smiled. “How careless John. Just because you lock the doors and set an alarm doesn’t mean it can’t be broken. When you have the right friends, you can acquire the most amazing little toys to access damned near anything you want. ”

Meaning those friends had given her the state-of-the-art electronics it would have required to get past his locks and security.

That gave him a chance, because it also meant the Mackays had been sent a silent alarm warning them of the break-in. He just had to hold out until they arrived.

“You figured it out, didn’t you, John?” Marlena sneered, her once pretty features twisted with such vile jealousy and greed that for a moment John wondered how he had ever believed the woman attractive. “That’s okay. You’re the only one. You and Miss Goody Two-shoes behind you. Bitch. ”

“Marlena, you’re making a very big mistake,” he warned her.

“No, darling, you made the mistake the night you fucked that little whore in Boston. ” She smiled with icy intent. “Because I simply can’t let that little slut win. I won’t let her get away with all the plans she destroyed. Which means now, both of you simply must die. ”

ELEVEN

Sierra stared back at the impeccably dressed Marlena Genoa and wondered exactly how such insanity could have been missed. Was it detectable in the genetic strand perhaps? Scientists should create a test for it to ensure that such children are carefully overseen and raised to control their own reckless impulses.

Then again, insanity born of greed, a lust for power, and overconfidence likely wasn’t truly part of the human genome. Too bad, because the world would have benefited had Marlena’s madness been detected.

Sierra stared over John’s shoulder with the faintest feeling of morbid curiosity, wondering what Marlena was actually going to do with that gun in her hand.

“Have you lost your mind, Marlena?” John’s tone seemed entirely too controlled for the situation. Yet Sierra knew this tone of voice. It had a hard, icy edge that concealed pure fury. He was in control. He was planning. And God help the person he was planning against.

Unfortunately that person seemed to have the upper hand for the moment. The gun she was holding trumped any amount of unarmed fury that John might possess.

Fortunately for them both, Sierra was rather confident of the fact that John was saner, and therefore, possibly had a much better chance of coming out of this. She just hoped he could pull both of them out of it alive.

“Really, John, did you truly believe I’d give up so easily?” Marlena propped a slender, graceful hand on a silk-clad hip, her nails tapping against the material of her white slacks as her gaze narrowed on him. “You know, I really thought you’d come to your senses, return home, and realize what an incredibly stupid mistake you had made. The advantages of marrying me were by far better than becoming some Kentucky hick bumming on a lake with his little whore. And a virgin to boot?” She laughed as Sierra flinched. “I returned to the penthouse, bitch, and found the bloodstained handkerchief. ” She glanced at John again. “You never even knew did you?”

“I’ve always known. ” The answer shocked Sierra. Was he saying that only to throw Marlena off, or did he truly remember?

Marlena shook her head. “What a mistake. ”

John’s shoulders were tense beneath Sierra’s hands. Whatever he was planning, he would move quickly, she thought. She dug her nails into his flesh. If he moved, Marlena would shoot. Sierra could see it in her eyes.

“And what mistake would that be?” The deceptive laziness in his tone was actually frightening.

“Leaving me, of course, especially for that little twit you’ve been screwing nonstop for the past few days. Are you two related to rabbits by chance?” There was genuine confusion in her voice. “Really, John, it’s disgusting how often the two of you have been fucking. It’s rather nasty, if you ask me. ”

The disgust in her voice, in her expression, proved she actually believed her opinion. The woman couldn’t have a truly sensual bone in her body. Making love with John was like flying.

“I don’t remember asking her,” Sierra pointed out, unable to keep her mouth shut at this point. “And since when does she find sex disgusting?”

Wow. This woman had been in John’s bed and she hadn’t even enjoyed sex? She and John were going to have to discuss this later.

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