I was desperate to learn the connection between the two murders, and solve the riddle. My heart needed to know there was one less evil person in the world with my baby, but am I really driven by that anymore?
Hugo announces the food is prepared, and I help him carry everything onto the porch. We sit in the warm sun, me with my book, and Hugo with his. It's almost criminal how much I enjoy living in his orbit.
When my belly is full of salsa and guacamole, and my thirst has been quenched by the citrusy nonalcoholic margarita, I put down my book and climb on the swing bed.
Lying back on the pillows, with the afternoon sun tickling my toes, I say, "There's room for one more up here."
Hugo smiles, and makes short work of the distance between us.
We settle on the swing bed together, adjusting the pillows. My head tucks into the space of his neck, myright leg thrown over his thighs. His fingertips graze my back as we watch dark clouds gather in the distance.
"I noticed you weren't poring over that folder," Hugo says after a while.
"I'm conflicted," I admit.
"Tell me more," he says.
My hand finds his chest, runs over the soft fabric covering hard planes as I assemble my jumbled thoughts into coherent sentences. "I thought coming here and investigating, getting an answer once and for all, would be what I needed. But meeting you wasn't like I thought it would be. I thought I would be healed by facts. By truth. By justice. Instead, it was so much simpler than that." My touch leaves his chest, runs up his neck. I lean back so I can look at him. His strong jaw, his expressive eyebrows. Those soulful brown eyes gazing back at me. "It was a man on an olive orchard, with a heart just as broken as mine."
Fire lights in his irises, burns hot. "You're everything, Mallory. You take me out. You take me down." His hand runs through my hair. "I never saw you coming. Had no idea you existed. And now I can't exist without you."
He smiles at a tear that streaks from my eyes, flicks it away. My mouth closes over his, our lips yielding. Tongues tasting. My hand dips lower, slides into his sweats. I want this man. Every inch of him. I need him like air. Water. Food.
"Bed," he says on a groan. "Now."
"We're on a bed," I argue, delivering a few leisurely pumps.
"I'll bring you out here when it's dark, and I will fuck you ragged. But for now, I can't have anybody seeing you like that. You're mine." He nips at my jaw. "Nobody sees you being pleasured but me."
Well. That will do.
My hand leaves his sweats. We disentangle ourselves, and he helps me from the swing. On quick feet we hurry through the house, all the way to his bed.
It's there, with rain clouds approaching and Hugo moving inside me, that he dips his lips to my ear. Whispers, "I'm in love with you, Mallory."
Words that heal. Words that energize. From Hugo's lips, and his heart. It couldn't be more perfect.
Every emotion I feel for this strong, protective, generous man comes rushing forward. An intensity that overwhelms, makes me so ready, so happy to return the words. My fingernails rake his back, my face turns to capture his mouth. "I'm in love with you, Hugo. I think I have been all along."
Chapter 40
Mallory
The days turn into weeks,and the case file remains untouched.
I still want to know, I want to figure out what happened, but it doesn't feel like my ability to bring Peanut into this world is contingent upon one fewer bad guy existing in it. Especially now that I know one incredible man exists.
It's a good feeling, not being driven by something dark.
But there is still my podcast, and as they say in the entertainment industry,the show must go on.
Cecily's efforts have revivedCase Files.My listens and downloads have increased, as has the subscriber count.
I talk with Jolene and Cecily every other day, tweaking posts and captions, coming up with new ideas. So right now, when my phone lights up with Jolene's name, I don't think much of it.
"Hey," I answer on speaker, swallowing a bite of toast.
"Ohmygoshyou aren't going to believe what I'm about to tell you!" Jolene's high-pitched voice bounces around the kitchen.
