Sean had also left a message for a DEA agent in Chicago, and he’d fill them in later.Sighing, Brian prayed that Maura ...Moriah ...or whatever the hell her name is ...was not about to screw KC over.They could all be in serious trouble if she wasn’t telling them the truth.
The door to the room swung open, and one of the Field Training Officers walked in with a recent academy graduate.Standing, Brian gave both men a nod before heading for the door.His next stop was the District Attorney’s office, where he had a meeting to discuss yesterday’s road rage/armed robbery incident.At least, that would keep his mind off the mess Uncle Dan had brought to the family’s door—unintentionally, of course.
Damn that man and his fucking strays.
Moriah sat on her bed in silence, watching KC stalk back and forth across the room.He wasn’t just mad, he was furious.She could tell by the heat flaring in his eyes.It wasn’t from flames of passion like it had been that morning.Instead, it was as if his brain was about to spontaneously combust unless he calmed down.
Jeez, had it only been two hours since they had made love?
Finally, he stopped pacing and stood before her, arms crossed over his broad chest.She swallowed hard as his eyes pierced hers but refused to look away.He had a right to be mad, and she deserved his wrath.
“So ...do I call you Maura or Moriah?”Oh, yeah ...he was pissed.His anger was barely leashed.
She shrugged, and her gaze wavered, then dropped to his chest.“You can call me Moriah.It doesn’t matter now.You know who I am.”
“Do I?”She flinched as he spat out the words.“Apparently, I don’t know a damn fucking thing about you!”The volume of his voice got louder with each word.“You lied to me.You fucking lied to me from day one!And after we fucked around, you continued to lie to me!”
“I’m s-sorry,” she sobbed as she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.“I was scared.I-I didn’t know who I could trust.I was afraid of what would happen if I told you the truth.”
He recoiled like she’d slapped him in the face.“How could you ...how could you sleep with me if you didn’t trust me?”
His voice had dropped to almost a whisper, and she didn’t know if that was better or worse than the yelling.“No!It wasn’t like that!I swear!”
His eyes narrowed until the veins at his temples bulged.“It wasn’t?Then tell me what it was like,Moriah.”
Cringing at how he stressed her name, she wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand, wishing there was a box of tissues nearby.As if he’d read her mind, KC stalked into the bathroom, returned with a box, and handed it to her.She pulled out several tissues and blew her nose while he waited impatiently for her answer.
“A-at first, I didn’t trust you, not fully.But the more we spent time together and got to know each other, the more I realized you were a really nice guy.And, I swear, when we made love, I completely trusted you.”
“But not enough to tell me the fucking truth?You have a funny definition of trust.”
KC stormed out of the room, and Moriah burst into tears again, burying her face into a pillow so he wouldn’t hear.But he did hear.It tore at his heart to hear her crying, but as much as he wanted to go in and comfort her, he resisted the urge.He exited through the cottage’s back door and didn’t bother speaking to his uncle sitting on the porch.Instead, he descended the stairs and strode purposely toward the beach.Wisely, the old man didn’t try to stop him.
As soon as his feet hit the sand, he began to run.It always cleared his mind, so he ran until exhaustion finally hit him, miles down the beach, and he collapsed onto his back in the sand, trying to catch his breath.
How could he have been so fucking stupid?He was usually discerning when it came to people lying to him.It was part of his military interrogation training.Trust the wrong person, and you could easily wind up dead.But maybe, this time, he hadn’t wanted to see that Moriah wasn’t telling the truth.Why?Because he had wanted her from almost the minute he saw her, and he’d been thinking with the wrong fucking head.And then, after they had sex the first time, he let wanting more skew his thinking.
Oh, fuck!KC sat up with a start.
No!No!No!It couldn’t be!
But it was.
Damn it!
Somewhere in the past week or so, he had fallen in love with her.
Head-over-heels in love, you dumb fuck!
The thought slammed into him with the force of a freight train.That’s why he didn’t want to see through her flimsy story, and that’s why it hurt so fucking much to find out she lied to him.
Now what?
This time, instead of the horned devil on his shoulder, it was an angel dressed only in a white T-shirt, which came down to the top of her shapely legs.
Now, you do what you have to in order to keep her safe.Once that’s been taken care of, you can figure out what to do next.First, save the girl ...no ...first save thewomanyou love.
Chapter18
