He was already settled, an ankle crossed over one knee, looking at his tablet. “I’m fine, Gina.”
She tipped her head and headed to the front of the plane to prepare for takeoff. My eyes bounced over to him, drinking him in like my own brand of whiskey. He was showered, dressed in a charcoal gray suit with a black dress shirt. No tie. He left the top two buttons of the shirt undone, teasing me.
I lifted the mug to my lips, taking a drink and biting back a moan at the taste. Goodness. Gina knew how to make coffee. Collin sighed; his brow furrowed at the scene in his lap.
We hadn’t really spoken since we left that office building. My demon left the man in pieces by the time he was done, making Nick take me to the car for that part. Nick didn’t hesitate. He took me back to the hotel and guarded the door. When I asked him why he wasn’t going back for Col, he smirked. “Mr. Stevens can hold his own, miss.”
There was no doubt about that.
He showed up twenty minutes later, drenched in blood, his blue eyes flaring when he found me curled up on the couch. How he got through a hotel full of people covered in blood and not having attention drawn to him was beyond me. But he was Collin and there were things about him that didn’t make sense.I stood and he came to me, his bloody knuckle brushing against my cheek. He didn’t say a word. Nor did I.
“Ms. Jones? Would you like me to warm that blanket for you?”
My eyes peeled away from the gorgeous man to my right to find Gina approaching me. “I’m sorry?” I asked.What did she say?
“You're shivering,” she noted softly, gesturing down to my body. Heat rose in my cheeks.
“Oh—no. I'm okay. Thank you,” I stammered as I felt Col’s eyes on me. She nodded and turned away, heading back into the cockpit.
When the plane took off, I settled in for the long flight ahead.
“How are you feeling?”
I turned my head away from the window to see him staring at me with guarded eyes, his thumb tracing over his bottom lip as he took me in. The tablet was still in his lap, but my heart skipped a beat that he was checking on me.
“I’m okay,” I said truthfully. I was content.Safe.
His hand fell away from his face then, dropping onto the armrest as he let out a sigh. “I shouldn’t have let you see me like that,” he said, after a period of silence.
“Col, I want to see you…all of you.”
“I scared you,” he said, his voice thick and filled with regret.
Is that what he thought? Had I been so wrapped up in my own emotions that I bypassed his? I shook my head, uncurling my legs as I leaned over to him. “You aren’t what scared me, Col. I scared myself,” I admitted.
He stared, his tattooed throat bobbing.
Fuck it.“What’s going to happen to us when this is all over?”
“Whatever you want,” he answered simply. My soul jumped for joy, because I wanted to be with him.Forever.
But was that possible?
We were two sailboats trapped in the middle of a hurricane, finding one another in the eye of the storm. The second half of the storm was upon us…
“What do you want, Col?” I whispered, my eyes scanning his handsome face.
He looked away from me then, his eyes focusing on the clouds passing by the small window behind me. “It’s been a long time since anyone has asked me that, Karina.”
A zap of pain shot through my chest at his words, followed by the heavy weight of dread on my shoulders. Collin had never had a life of his own. He had spent so many years justsurviving—not living. The realization had me scrambling out of my seat and into his lap. He sat frozen as my arms locked around his neck and I buried my face in his chest.
Guilt washed over me. He could have had a life…if he had known Ray Romano was his father.Kay, that man would have killed him. He killed Collin’s mom.
Haley’s voice of reason echoed in my mind.
He deserved to know the truth. If we were going to pursue this—
“Karina,” he said, his voice rumbling through his chest and into my skin, seeping into my soul, branding it as his.
