Page 92 of Unexpected Complication

“They’re so cute.”

“Yeah, so fucking cute,” he replied. “Pains in my ass too.”

I opened my eyes and caught his wink. I winked back, then allowed myself to drift off to sleep.

My family was here, Skylar was safe, and Orson was dead.

Nothing else mattered.

The next day, Skylar was down the hall, being “freshened up” with Julia when he walked in. Tall, with muscles that bulged under his T-shirt. I recognized the build but not the man. Gone were the scars, the dark eyes, and the ever-present scowl. Michael Clark was everything Rex was not. Blue eyes, with dimples so deep, it was as if divots had been carved into his cheeks, and a grin so wide and full of life, he was unrecognizable. His entire demeanor screamed easygoing, and when he spoke, his voice was deep and loud—not the raspy whisper I was used to hearing from Rex. He towered over my bed, his presence filling the room, but his handshake was gentle and his eyes warm as he inquired how I was feeling and where my little sidekick was hiding.

“She’ll be back. They let her have a bath.”

I was jealous. I wanted a shower, but they refused to let me until tomorrow. Skylar did promise a sponge bath later, and I planned on holding her to that.

“And Sean?”

“He’ll be back in a moment. He went for coffee.”

He sat down, the chair creaking under his large frame. “I’ve showered a dozen times since this ended. I can’t get clean enough,” he stated. “The feel of the water, the rush of air on my skin, is fantastic.”

I nodded in understanding. Sean told me Michael had worn his disguise twenty-four seven, including contacts, only able to remove either for the briefest of time periods. I could only imagine how good it felt not to be covered up. The cleansing feel of the water would be quite something.

The violence he had seen, that he’d been part of, would take far longer to be cleansed away. I knew I was going to have nightmares for a long time. I wondered if Michael would ever get over what this assignment had done to him.

We shared a looked that said it all, without a word passing between us.

“I need to thank you.”

He frowned. “For what?”

“Protecting Skylar.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “If I could have figured out a way of not bringing her to Orson, I would have—but I was trapped. If I didn’t, my cover was blown. I had to trust her, and the two of you, to figure it out and hope we all came out alive.”

“What the fuck was one of Orson’s guys doing in that area?”

“It was a total fluke. He was visiting his momma. He couldn’t believe it when he saw you. He called Orson right away.”

That explained the call Sean had witnessed.

“Orson had him follow you. Then he sent me to the farmhouse to see what you were hiding—he wanted to know why you had another place so far away and why the hell you weren’t at the club. He was pretty pissed you had slipped past his security.”

I smirked. “It was shit.”

“It was. I must have forgotten to mention the large holes he allowed in his so-called plans. He was so old-school. He ignored shit all the time, and I knew it would work for us.”

“Egotistical idiot.”

“Yep. So when Skylar opened the door, I knew. It explained so much. The reason you took her with you that night in the warehouse, the fact that she was still alive, meant two things.”

I arched my eyebrow at him.

He held up his finger. “One, she had somehow become important to you since you were hiding her presence from Orson. And two, if you were hiding that, you were hiding other things, which meant you were the one dismantling Orson’s empire. You were the missing link I couldn’t find.”

“I couldn’t find you either.”

He shrugged. “We’re both fucking excellent at our jobs. Skylar was your one mistake.”