She looks up, those same wide eyes I remember from the first time I saw her, at the beach, boring into mine. “This was all a dream. I knew it the minute you told me who you are. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to people, you know? This fairytale stuff. I don’t believe in that shit. I knew sooner or later the bubble would burst, and I’d drop all the way to the ground.” She breaths a soft laugh. “And it’s pretty high up here.”

“I won’t let you fall, Ray.”

My girl. I said it, didn’t I? And I don’t want to take it back. Wouldn’t if I could, because she’s about to trust me all the way. I know it. I see it on her pretty face, in her wide gaze.

From the start I knew she wasn’t telling me everything. I can read her like an open book. Which is why I trust her more than my own life, and what’s more… I like her. More than like her.

“I lied to you,” she whispers.

I nod. Yeah, you did, baby. But that’s okay, as long as you tell me the truth now. “What about?”

She sits down on the bed where not even an hour ago I held her and pleasured her, where I buried myself in her before life kicked me in the nuts again. “About myself.”

The girl can’t hide from me, not for a second. She may think she’s kept secrets, but I know her. I can see right to her soul, and it’s bright like a star.

“Talk.”

She winces, and I want to start again, to take her hand and ask more gently, but I’m not sure I can. I need her to tell me and not run and hide anymore.

Not from me.

“Look, Storm. You don’t know me, okay?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ray. I do know you.”

“Stop. You don’t…” Her voice cracks. She shakes her head. “When I said I wasn’t part of the cons my dad and brother organized? That wasn’t true.” Her small hands clench on the covers. “I was involved. I was the decoy, and the lookout. After Mom died... ” Her voice cracks. “After that, Dad brought me into the loop. And for a while, I thought it was cool. I felt like I was part of the family. Until Dad screwed up.”

“Screwed up?”

Raylin’s soft mouth tightens, and there’s nothing I want to do more than rub my thumb over it and erase the pain.

“It was okay for a while, you know?” she says. “Petty cons, small things. But Dad was spiraling. He started drinking, gambling. Didn’t tell us about it until one day, a bunch of people came around to the bar where we were sitting, demanding money. He’d borrowed from the triad to cover his debts, and they’d come to collect.” She frowns. “He told them off, said he’d have the money for them soon.”

I ball my hands into fists to stop myself from going to her and pulling her on my lap. I need her to finish this. I kinda knew she was more involved than she was letting on, but the fear on her face is new.

“What happened, Ray?”

“My brother… He fired at them. They pulled their guns. Dad got between them. I…” She gulps and damn if those sparkling eyes aren’t filling with tears again. “I took a shot. Hit one of them. And then I ran.”

Holy motherfucking shit. “You killed one of them?”

She pales. “Clay, my brother, said their guy was dead. Said I should give myself up or the triad would kill them, too. But instead I ran. Never looked back. That was two years ago.”

Holy fuck, this can’t be happening. My stomach twists into a hard lump.

She wipes a hand over her eyes, and her cheeks glisten. “That’s why they’re after me. They want their money, and they want to punish me. And even if it all works out, if you manage to pay them off… They won’t let me go.”

Hot damn. I grunt and shake my head.

“This is the whole truth,” she murmurs. “That’s everything. Nothing left. I swear it.”

My heart stops for a moment, then starts again with a boom. I look down into her dark eyes and I don’t know what to say or do.

Fuck, I need to sit down. Suddenly everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours crashes down on me. My knees feel like water. I sink down beside her and rub my hands over my face.

So this is the truth.

Holy fuck, she killed a member of a triad. How am I gonna help her? How am I gonna save her?

“I’m leaving.” She makes as if to stand, but I grab her arm and don’t let her.

“No.”

“You can’t help me, Storm. I won’t—”

“I’ll fix this.” Somehow. Not sure how yet. But somehow.

“You can’t.”

“I won’t let anyone take you, goddammit.” I swallow desperately, my mouth dry like the desert. “I said I’ll fix this.”

“Or you can let me go,” she says.

“I can’t.” It’s clear to me now, and I know how stupid that is, but what the fuck, I don’t care. “I can’t let you go. I’ve tried. Please stay with me, Ray. I’ll kick Rook’s ass out of here. I’ll even get you a fucking cat. I’ll buy you ripped jeans and blouses with sequins. Whatever you want. Just stay.”

She says nothing, but her face crumbles. I open my arms for her, and she burrows in close. We cling to each other, her slight body shaking against mine. Her tears soak my shirt, and her small sobs are caught in my chest, in my throat until I can’t breathe.

I love her.

I don’t know when it happened, and I don’t fucking care. Even when I’m not sure how to save her, when I know I should keep her away for her own sake, when I know she will leave, sooner or later, I can’t shake off the truth of that feeling.

She belongs with me. And I’m not sure I can survive without her anymore.

***

Not sure which is safer—leaving Raylin at home while I go to the law office to sign the paperwork for my inheritance and then to the company to meet the Board of Directors, or taking her along.

A no-brainer in the end, because I can’t leave her out of my sight and not go insane with worry: she’s coming with me. The apartment is full of insurance people, and I don’t trust anyone right now.

Except Rook, a bastard though he is, whom I’d trust with my life.

“You don’t take your eyes off her, you hear?”

“I thought you didn’t want my eyes on her.” He grins and winks, and seriously, the guy is going looking for it.

“You want my fist in your face? Is that it? Ran out of whips to lash yourself with?”

That does the job. He shuts up. Looks like I’ve hit a nerve, because he falls silent after that and follows me sullenly to the elevator.

Fucking strange.

Rook, Hawk and I have traded insults and punches since we were toddlers. It’s part and parcel of our weird friendship. I wonder what put that carefully constructed, totally fake blank look on Rook’s face.

Filing that for future reference and investigation, I slip my arm around Raylin who’s been waiting for me, dressed in flared jeans and a white tunic, long hair loose on her shoulders, and step into the elevator.

Sweat is cooling on my back. My stomach is a hard knot under my ribs. This is it. I’m about to claim the Jordan empire, with all its perks, scandals and savage deals.

Fuck.

In a daze, I walk out of the elevator, through the lobby, my bodyguards closing in behind us. I’m vaguely aware of Raylin’s slim form pressed to my side, Rook’s solid form at my left, the car waiting outside.

A limo. Of course it is. Because when I told Rook we needed a non-descript car to ride in, he gave me The Look. The one that says I should shut up before they bring in the shrinks.

So it takes me a few precious seconds to realize he’s steering me past the limo to a forest-green Toyota.

“There you go,” he says, his expression still closed off, unreadable. “Your ride. Your driver is my best guy. Cross-checked hundred times over. That ought to put your damn mind to rest.”

The unexpectedness of it leaves me winded. “You’re golden, Rook.”

“Remember that.” He jabs a finger at me, avoids looking at Raylin. “See you at the office.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Nope.” He nods at the limo. “I’m taking your place.” He looks down at his dark suit. “Pretending to be you. Think I’ll pass the test?”