Page 46 of Toxic
“I want to make sure Sal’s dead, and there won’t be any blowback on you. Once I’m sure you’ll be safe, I’ll letyougo.”
The thought should have filled me with indescribable joy, but instead, I’m more conflictedthanever.
“Is that what you’re doing every day? Lookingforhim.”
He crosses to the window and leans a forearm against it. “Yes, I am looking for him. He’s gone to ground because he knows I’m looking for him, probably planning hisnextmove.”
He’s silent after that, and it affords me the chance to just look at him while I consider his words. He’s wearing jeans today with a button-up white shirt that’s rolled up enough to reveal the shadows of ink unfurling on his rightforearm.
I follow the dark pattern under the almost see-through material of his shirt, and my mouth goes dry as a wave of intense desire courses through me when I spot the outlines of twin metal rings in his nipples. When had he had time todothat?
I turn away, not wanting him to see just how badly I want to order him to take his shirt off so I can see them. My body still recognizes him on a primal level despite what it’s been through. It’s primordial, instinctual, and I can no more resist how much I want him than I can resist breathing. When had he become as essential to me as life itself? Reconciling needing him with what he’s done . . . I don’t know if it’spossible.
His feet come into view, and I look up to find him standing in front of me. “Come with me,” he says, and I frown as he leaves the room. I hurry to keep up with him, not wanting to be leftbehind.
“Where are wegoing?”
“I’ll explain when we get there,” he tells me as he leads me to a door that has been locked every time I’d jiggled the handle. He holds it open for me, and I realize why I hadn’t dared to force it open before. Rows of monitors line both walls with wide countertops in front of them. Two of his men sit in rollaway chairs and look up when weenter.
“You want out of here? Then you’d better pay attention,” he says. “Pay close attention. Do you want something from me? I want somethingfromyou.”
“What the hell do you want from me?” I hiss. “You have me locked up here like a good little pet. What more doyouwant?”
“Kiss me, Tessa,” he says. “One kiss, and you can go with me to track down those men whohurtyou.”
“You’re ridiculous! I don’t fucking think so. Didn't you already getenough?”
He nods to someone behind me, and the bodyguards I’d forgotten were there come up behind me. One of the big, beefy bastards grabs me by the arms, and I know I won’t be going anywhere. I want to scream infrustration.
“Fine! Fine! One. I mean it, Gracin. One kiss and nothing else or I swear to God I will kill you and they’ll never findthebody.”
“Don’t tease me,” he says as he jerks his chin to the bodyguards, who leave. He crosses the room as they shut the door behind them, leaving us alone in the smallspace.
“Well, let’s get this over with,”Isay.
“Soeager.”
“Less talking, morefocusing.”
He chuckles and tucks his hands under the fall of my hair. His thumbs nudge my jaw, and I lift, glaring at him as he drawscloser.
“Is it reallysobad?”
The truth is, no. It’s not. And that’s what makes me so fucking angry. I don’t get the chance to answer because his lips cover mine and scatter all rational thought like dandelion fluff in atornado.
My fingers clutchat the countertop behind me because if they weren’t occupied, they’d already be reaching for a part of him to touch. They’d be skimming along his shoulders and combing into his hair. He, however, has no such qualms about touching me. His hands drop to my shoulders before dancing over the neckline of my shirt and then down my arms, sliding along until goose bumps rise in their wake. On the upward movement, his hands round to my stomach where they trace along my ribs and skim to just underneathmybra.
As his hands are mapping my body, his mouth lays waste to the walls I’d carefully built since I walked away from him and my dead husband. When I can’t take it anymore, I release my grip on the counter and pushhimaway.
“Okay,” I say, a bit more breathlessly than I would have liked. “That’s it. I held up my end of the deal. Now you hold upyours.”
He steps back, his lips flushed pink and glossy, and I have to look away to keep from drawing them backtomine.
“So you have,” he says a bit dazedly before taking a key ring down from a line of hooks hanging by a door. “Thisway.”
“Where exactly are wegoing?”
“According to intelligence I’ve gathered, Danny and his friends like to meet up at a bar a few towns over. If we’re lucky, they’ll be there, and we can tail them to Sal’splace.”