Page 67 of Built of Illusions

He leaned back and framed her face again. His eyes shone with emotion. “I’m so in love with every part of you Josie. The thought that I’d lost you and had never told you how amazing you are nearly knocked me to my knees. I love you.”

She didn’t even try to stop the fresh tears at his words. “I love you too, Nico. So much. You’re the best man I know and I don’t want to ever lose you.”

His smile was quick and then he was kissing her with so much passion, she warmed up from the inside out. But he didn’t kiss her for long. Instead, he scooped her up and headed inside. “Let’s make sure you’re okay.”

She leaned into him and smiled. She was more okay than she’d ever thought she would be.

Chapter 22

Draw Blood

Nico didn’t want to let Josie out of his sight and he didn’t want Nelson anywhere near her. But Nico wanted—needed—to get face to face with the man. He needed to look into his eyes, hear his words, find out what made him tick.

At the same time, he wanted to carry Josie up to the bedroom and walk away from it all.

Mitch had cut away the fabric to inspect the wound on Josie’s thigh. Seeing the angry tear in the flesh and blood oozing had his anger soaring again.

Josie grabbed his hand and squeezed. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Either she was able to see through the careful mask he always wore, or the mask had crumbled away because he simply didn’t want to hide his feeling from her.

He lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I’m not. I’m so damn sorry you were injured out there.”

She smiled softly. “You tried to convince me to stay inside, but I insisted. I wanted to be there in case anything went wrong with the tech.”

Mitch snorted a laugh. “It’s Tansy’s tech. Nothing ever goes wrong. Now, hang on. This is going to sting.”

Josie’s hand squeezed his, but she didn’t make a sound as Mitch applied the antiseptic and made sure the wound was clean.

Mitch probed a bit, then applied a salve, gauze, and a large bandage. “Looks clean and the tear is probably too wide for stitches. You should probably have a doc look at it in order to add weight to the charges here. More proof the guy is out of control.”

Nico nodded. “Just the charges from today will have him locked up for a long while.”

Josie frowned at them both. “You’re saying you don’t think there’s enough proof for the murders?”

Nico shrugged. “We know it’s him. We don’t have anything other than circumstantial evidence at the moment, but we’ll get it. Even what we have will likely convince any jury.”

Josie nodded slowly but the frown didn’t disappear.

When Mitch moved away, they sat quietly for a minute. Her body slowly relaxed until she was leaning her head on his shoulder, their hands still gripped together.

She blew out a breath. “Let’s get that proof.”

He stiffened and turned to her. “What do you mean?”

She leaned back and smiled up at him. “I’m strong enough and I want to see this through. I want to know I did everything in my power to get that asshole locked up for the rest of his life. If he makes a confession in front of you, that’s evidence, isn’t it?”

He nodded warily. What was she thinking?

“I want to see him. Or more accurately, I want him to see me. Alive and well.” She shrugged out of her jacket. “I want to change first so he doesn’t know I’m injured. I want him to know he’s lost.”

When she started to stand, he squeezed their joined hands and waited until she looked at him. “Why?”

She smiled softly at him. “For so many reasons. One, to make sure he stays locked up. Two, to make sure he never hurts anyone again. Three, because despite everything, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I want him to see that, to know he’s failed in his mission. To know that he won’t get a chance to hurt anyone else again. Including his mother. I think if he sees me, I can goad him into confessing something you can use. Have someone record it. If he sees we’re happy and together, it might be enough to have him spewing his hate.”

No wonder he loved this woman. “You’re brilliant and brave.”

Tansy carried a tray of mugs and set it on the table in front of their couch. She passed a mug to each of them. “Of course she’s brilliant and brave. Glad you finally noticed, Nico. What’s the plan?”

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