Page 91 of Auctioned Surrender

the information that she’s been hiding, even from me. “I didn’t really resign. I left, walked out,

threw in the proverbial towel, and just disappeared. There was corruption, and there is in any job, but it was preventing me from finding my sister. I made sure before I got out that I had enough identity to disappear for good, but Maverick, one of the officers, saw me at the martial arts center. It spooked me, so I took off. The way things went down tonight, I won’t have to worry about that coming back to haunt me either. It’s finished. It’s done, Dereck. It’s hard to believe after all that has happened.”

I nod. “I put most of that together last night with my friend Murph, who didn’t quite appreciate his Q and A buddy all night.”

At last, Layla smiles, a small, timid grin first, but then it grows wider as she lets all that I’ve said settle. “You knew a lot more than me, and it was my job to know.”

I pull her close, pushing the mass of hair from her face. “No, princess, it was your desire

to know. The bad seeds scattered throughout your division made it impossible for you to know or

for you to do your job effectively, but that didn’t stop you. You were relentless in your efforts to

find your sister, and you did. That’s what matters, princess, that and the fact that you’re still

here, right where you belong. I always knew how you felt. I could feel it. That magnetic draw is

just as strong for me as it is for you, but trust takes longer. Trust is something someone earns, and

that doesn’t happen overnight. Even when I learned that not dancing topless was an issue, I knew

it was something we would overcome because, princess, you are mine, and I never had a doubt

that we would find our way in time.”

She gazes up at me with deep brown bedroom eyes devoid of concern, lies, or

worry. “I love you, princess, but you know that I still have rules,” I tell her, stroking her

cheek.

Layla smiles up at me as I wipe a single tear from right below her eye. “I love you, Dereck,

and every single one of your rules.”

One Month Later

I wake to Dereck’s warm body pulling me close, cradling me against the hardness of his chest and lower extremities. “I thought you were going to sleep all day, princess,” Dereck says, nuzzling his face into my hair.

“Mmm … I could stay wrapped up like this forever,” I tell Dereck, extending the fingers of my left hand to admire the sparkling princess cut diamond that gleams against the light coming into the room through the blinds and still relishing in the day-old newness of being Dereck’s wife.

“I loved your mom. Do you think she likes me?”

Dereck turns me to face him. “Princess, I could barely steal you away from her or the rest of my family! She’s already given me the lecture about traveling home more often.”

I smile. “Good, it was really nice to have all of your family and friends there,” I say, wishing my parents could have been part of such a happy day in my life, but knowing they were with me in spirit and would be pleased that their daughter had married such a good and caring man.

Dereck uses a finger to tilt my face. “I’m sorry you couldn’t invite all your old friends, Layla, and that your family wasn’t there.”

“It should probably bother me more than it does, I guess, but the friends I had on the force were more like acquaintances. After a day of police work, there wasn’t time to get together like in all the police shows on television. After a twelve-hour shift, we were all ready to go home and get some sleep before we had to do it all over the next day. I do wish my parents could have been there and that my family situation was different, but it’s not. I think all of your teammates' wives and girlfriends have taken me under their wings, especially Marenah.”

“Have you given any more thought to her offer? You’ve already been helping with the expansion efforts. Why not make it official, or would you prefer to do something different?” Dereck asks, stroking my cheek.

I smile up at him because even though I have a romantic dinner planned for just the two of us now that all the family is gone, the time seems so right. “Well, I could, but maybe not in the dragon slaying way that you’ve come to know and love, papi.”

His lip quirks up in a smile, and his eyes light up with amusement. “Oh, yeah. Did you buy a new weapon for the occasion?”

“No, you see, I have plans to have a family with you, papi, and to give your mama a little nieto, maybe even a girl after that. I can’t keep slaying down bad guys while I’m making our family, papi.” I place his hand on my stomach. “I wouldn’t want to put the child we’re making in harm's way.”

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