The soft, rapid knocking at my door sent me flying out of my bed. It was damn near time for the sun to rise and Caleb hadn’t texted me or called. He murmured something to the men outside my door as I unlatched the lock and threw the door open.
And the second I saw his face, I lunged into his arms.
“Caleb,” I said breathlessly.
He wrapped me up tightly as I jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. He walked us both back into my place before he kicked the door closed, then wasted no time in turning around to latch the lock back into place.
He settled us on the couch with me straddling his lap, and the poor man looked more tired than I’d ever seen him.
“You poor thing,” I whispered, cupping his cheeks.
He wrapped his hands around my wrists. “It’s done.”
I blinked. “It’s done?”
He turned his lips to kiss both of my palms before sliding my hands down to his chest. “Everything has been taken care of.”
“Do I dare ask?”
“If you want to know, you’re more than welcome to ask.”
I searched his face for a while before I finally found the courage.
“How did you take care of Blake’s body?”
Caleb didn’t hesitate to respond as he settled his hands on my thighs. “We had another corrupt, high-profile individual breathing down our necks.”
“Devil’s Rage?” I asked.
He grinned. “Now you’re getting it. We had to figure out what the hell to do with him anyway, so we pinned Blake’s death on him. Used Viper’s gun and everything.”
My jaw dropped open. “So, he’ll be prosecuted for Blake’s death?”
“Not exactly.”
I paused. “What does that mean?”
He shifted a bit, sinking deeper into the couch cushions as he leaned back. “We gave him a choice: we told him that he could either attempt to find his salvation on the stand while the Devil’s Rage gunned him down from inside gen-pop, or he could save us all the hassle and off himself.”
My jaw hit the floor. “He didn’t.”
“He really did. And if you’re worried about him being a good man, don’t worry about that. Viper’s girl? Lila?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“He was stalking her. Had been for years. Almost damn near killed the girl, too.”
I scoffed. “Then, good riddance as far as I’m concerned. I hope they’re celebrating her freedom tonight, too.”
“Which reminds me,” he said as he slid his hands all the way up to my waist, “how do you want to celebrate your freedom?”
I leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. “I mean, I had a few ideas on what to do…”
He slid his hand into my hair and gripped my tendrils before holding my gaze with his. The cheeky smile on his face slid into a chiseled look of seriousness, and my heart stopped in my chest.
“Caleb?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”
He brought my forehead to his. “I didn’t mean any of that bullshit that I said to you earlier. Absolutely none of it. I just wanted to protect you, Rose, and I thought the only way to really protect you from all of this was to make you hate me.”
