He shot up. “You’re going back? Now?”
Barely listening, but really choosing not to, she focused only on zipping her boots.
“What I mean to say then isdon’tgo back to him,” Adam said.
“Adam...” she said, kicking her feet on the ground to secure them in the boot.
He ran his hands through his hair. “You—you’re–” he said. “You’re giving me one night like that, then running back off again?”
She saw his pained expression. It was as if she could really see his beating heart laid bare on his sleeve. She smiled. “No, one night with you would never be enough.”
When he looked at her again, he was wearing that wicked look that she loved so much. It sent shivers down her spine. She moved to the bed and perched in his lap.
Stroking his hair back, she looked deep into his eyes, kissing him lightly as his arms wrapped around her.
She’d done it now, and it was scarier than she thought. If they were going to do this, really do this, then she had something on her mind. The bastard knew her too well, because he seemed to sense it.
“What is it?”
The words hurt, like fingernails breaking from tearing at the bricks she built around her heart.
“I love you,” she said. “I’ve always loved you. Every single day we were together. Every day for the past five years. Every day since you walked back into this city...I have loved you.”
His eyes beamed and his smile split his cheeks. He leaned in for a kiss but pulled away with a frown. Fuck knows what sort of look she had on her face. No matter how minor her emotion, he’d always pick it and pull it apart.
“And?” he said.
“And I need to do it right this time. I can’t have you die on me again.”
He sighed.
“We can’t let ourselves get distracted by this.” She gestured at the space between them as his hands tightened on her. “We have to keep focused on the goal. Kill Dorian Blake. Eyes on the prize at all times.”
He pulled her closer into him, holding her like he might not ever let go. She couldn’t see his face, but she could already sense the words he wanted to say.
“I meant what I said, if it comes down to it, I don’t want to be saved,” she said.
“Baby, that was before all of–”
“I don’t care,” she said, stroking his hair back from his forehead. “Promise me. The plan comes first.”
He shook his head, chewing on his lip.
“People have died for this, Adam. Died for us to have the chance to take down Dorian Blake. It’s not just us who needs this. There are far more lives on the line now.”
He was looking back in her eyes again, his face wrinkling like his gut was twisting on the inside.
“Promise me.” It wasn’t a question so much as a command.
“Fine, I promise,” he said, grimacing as if the words were acid. “Nothing comes before this plan.”
“Eyes on the prize at all times,” she repeated. He was fickle. She’d drill it into him with enough repetition to tire a schoolteacher if she had to.
“Eyes on the prize at all times.”
Looking away, his shoulders dropped, as if the weight of the promise sank him. “You know, none of that means that you have to go back to himnow.”
Frowning and ready to fire back, she turned to him, only to find him grinning again. She smiled with tight lips. It was a tease, a game, and he was ready to play.
