He searches my face, but he doesn’t relax his own. “No more lies.”
“Okay,” I continue to whisper.
Reaching, he tucks a stray hair behind my ear. “What are you really doing here?”
Naked. Raw. Those are the things I wanted from him. Can I be the same? Can I strip myself bare in front of him?
Tears gather in my eyes again because this could go one of two ways. I could tell him, and that’s the end of us, and he lets me walk away. Or I could tell him, and he is forced to kill me.
Either way, it’s going to hurt.
“I’m undercover to bring down the sex trafficking operation.” My voice is clear and honest, and it’s enough for him to drop his hand and blink in surprise a few times.
“You know?”
I give him a small nod. “A dead body was discovered while being transported. I inserted myself into the business –”
“–into my life,” he interrupts.
“Yes.” It’s the only answer I give.
“You’re here to take it all away from me.”
“Yes,” I answer again, but by his look over my shoulder, I can tell he wasn’t talking to me. He was discussing his thoughts out loud. I press on, “I’m here to save the victims by getting to the head of the entire operation.” My words are enough for him to look at me again. “Your boss.”
He just stares at me for so long that I fear to breathe because of what might come next. I can almost read his thoughts, however, so I quickly say, “I didn’t – this isn’t – I hadn’t meant to fall for you. It just happened. Please, Nix, you have to believe me.”
“You’ve fallen for me?” A little anger has entered his tone again, but it’s better than the void of emotion it had a few seconds ago.
I snap my jaw shut then open it again. A frown takes over my face instead of uttering words. Any words. All words. Because I have fallen for him. “I’ve tried to protect you as much as I’ve been able to with my partner. I will continue to protect you. Please believe me that I’ll do what I can to get you . . .”
“What? A lessened sentence?” He chuffs softly. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Charlie.”
I raise my hands and scrub at my cheeks. “I don’t know. I don’t know! I –”
He reaches forward and snatches me into a kiss. I’m so taken by surprise that my eyes fly wide open. His brows are pulled together as he kisses me, and it’s over before I can even think of what that kiss means. He pulls away and murmurs, “You can’t save me from what I’ve done, from who I’ve become, but I can still save you.”
“What do you mean?”
“We will walk out of this house before anyone finds out who you are because, believe me, Charlie, someone will go snooping. Another star? Andre? Anyone. We will get in the car and I’ll drop you off near the police station. They can find you a new place to live, somewhere far, far away and –”
“And never see you again?”
“Yes,” he hisses with a pained expression. His thumb rubs across my cheek. “It’s the only way to make sure you continue to breathe.”
I shake my head. “That’s not going to happen.”
“It has to.”
“I’m not leaving you, and I’m not leaving the victims to die. Not when I’m close. Every day, I learn something new.”
“Stop!” He bends a little backward and growls. “You’re going to get us both killed, Charlie!”
I grab his elbow and force him to look at me. “Find out who you are,” I say, quoting him. “Is this the man you want to be, Nix? Is this him? Because I can assure you that, around me, there are parts of you fighting to get out.”
Our breaths are heavy from our anger, from our adrenaline. From our fear, even. He doesn’t answer me, so I press on, “Tell me it’s a lie. Tell me, and I’ll do what you say and pass the case to someone else.”
His jaw flexes, but he keeps eye contact as he murmurs, “No, it’s not a lie. God damn it!” He grabs the base of his skull with both hands. “I had one rule, and that was to never grow feelings for my employees, but then you walked in, and that went right out the fucking window! And now here I am, seriously considering putting this” – he gestures between us – “at risk so that I can become a better person? Do you know what you’re asking of me?”
