Page 109 of Sweet Deception

“Do you have any idea what you do to me? How much you’ve changed everything? My whole life, I’ve destroyed things. It’s what I’m good at. What I’m meant for. But you…” His thumbs trace my cheekbones. “You make me want to build something with you. Something real. Something lasting.”

My heart thunders against my ribs.

Is he saying what I think he’s saying?

“But for any of that to happen, you need to befucking alive, Nika.Which means no more solo suicide missions.”

“Darren—”

He plants his mouth on mine, hot and hungry, and draws back just as quickly. “We still have to save the others, so let’s go.”

“But how?”

“I brought reinforcements. They’re waiting on my signal.” His voice roughens. “I just need to set charges at key points. Be my lookout?”

I catch his hand. “Together?”

His smile is fierce and tender all at once. “Together.”

Chapter Forty

Darren’s movements are controlled and exact, like well-rehearsed choreography, as he places each charge around the perimeter of this giant auction venue.

His concentration is absolute, his fingers steady as he connects wires with practiced ease and efficiency. His artistry is a sight to behold. A deadly ballet.

“Stand back,” he orders. “These aren’t toys.”

“I trust you.” I stay safely behind him, shining the flashlight on his work.

I’m surprised the light isn’t shaking. Adrenaline floods my veins, and my mind whirs with the words Darren said just a few minutes ago.

“You make me want to build something with you. Something real. Something lasting.”I shove the thoughts aside. I’ll come back to them once we’re out of this mess, when the others are safe.

Unsurprisingly, Darren, Cian, Finn, and Rory were able to get their hands on a blueprint of this building, too, and Darren knows exactly where and how to set the charges to rock the foundation when the moment comes.

“Remember what I told you?” His voice grows distant. “About early on in my career. When I got cocky? I was trying to show off, but my timing was off by three seconds.” Darren fingers the edge of the explosive in his palm. “Three seconds. That’s all it took. A young couple was passing by. They weren’t supposed to be there. Weren’t supposed to…”

The raw pain in his voice cracks my heart down the middle.

I see it now—his reckless streak, the way he courts danger. It constitutes the slow dance toward an “accidental” death. He’s been blaming and punishing himself for that all this time.

“Darren.” I grasp his hand, forcing him to look at me. “It was an accident.”

“Doesn’t change what happened.”

“No.” I press closer to his back, wrapping my arms around him from behind. “But it doesn’t make you a monster. And…ending your life won’t bring them back. Won’t fix anything.”

He stiffens in my embrace. “How did you?—”

“Because I see you.” I rest my forehead between his shoulder blades. “The real you. Not the chaos agent or the weapons expert. Not the monster you pretend to be.” My arms tighten. “If you want to atone, then make your choices count from here on out. It’s as simple as that.”

Darren nods, and I release him.

He hurries to finish setting up and then texts Finn to let him know that he’s planted the explosives.

Finn confirms.

“Time for phase two.” Darren turns to me. “Let’s go find Lucy and get her and everyone else in this hellhole to safety.”