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“It’s fake.”
“What?” She stepped closer. “How?”
“The Return of the Prodigal Son.” I told her, moving beside her. “Out of all the paintings that were in this house, that belonged to my father, this one was the only fake. He would buy the real deals and swap them out.”
“Give the buyer the fake and keep the real.”
I nodded.
“I don’t know why this one was so special to him.” I told her. “Or why he kept it. I used to find such beauty in it—the sadness of the story. But after it was proven to be a forgery—”
I sighed and walked away.
“Anurak?”
I turned to face her. “You will have to let this go.”
“How can I? He’s still out there.”
“And no doubt living his life with the millions he’s stolen from the people here.” She pointed. “Why should you have to carry that burden? Those are his demons.”
“How?”
“You have a Tex now.” She grinned beautifully at me.
“I can’t ask him to do that, Taz.”
“Sure, you can.” She stepped forward to press her perfect breasts against my chest. “He said it himself. You’re a part of this very elite family now. We have your back. We are slayers of demons.”
I smiled and kissed her head.
“We can decide what to do with this place later.” Taz kissed me. “Drop me home then meet with your captain.”
But I tarried—lingering in her arms and stealing her kisses until it was time to go. Once that moment came, I dropped her home.
“I’ll pack you a bag and you meet me at the vacation home.” Taz leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Deal?”
“Mm.” I moaned.
I watched her walk through the gates then turned toward one of the hardest conversations I would ever need to have.
“You don’t look any worse for wear.” The captain motioned to one of the chairs. “Everything went well?”
I nodded. “Had a few hiccups, but we’re back,P.”
“Good.” He told me.
I could tell he had questions but since Tex had stressed the wholeclassifiedthing quite heavily, that must have stopped him.
“You wanted to speak with me?” He asked, falling into his chair.
“I want off the Arintaraj 26.”
“You haven’t thought this through,Nong.” Captain leaned forward. “People would kill to get on. You did so with ease, hard work.”
I scoffed. “P,they don’t trust me. You know it. I know it. And deep down you knew I wouldn’t be going back—you handed me a partner.”
“The partner was temporary.” Captain pointed out. “You were to show him the ropes until—”