“Couldn’t sleep. I was talking to my boss again for the umpteenth time. Ryan’s still okay. There are agents outside his house, but I can’t ignore it anymore. I have to talk to him. Take care of things before Martin Chilani does.”
“What does that mean? Tell me the truth. Don’t ignore it. The plain truth.”
He squeezed her hand. “I think you know, but for some reason, you just need to hear it. Why?”
She shoved him hard, laughing, even though it wasn’t funny. “Dodging again.”
He righted himself before he fell off the bed, laughing with her. “You punch hard. You push hard. You probably even lo—” His face fell into a frown. “Ryan has to make a choice. Mine’s already made. I’m leaving. Starting over. He needs to make the same choice. Martin Chilani won’t stop until he’s dead. You don’t cross that man and get away with it.”
“And Lily?”
“That’s Ryan’s decision. I can’t make that for him. She’d have to give up everything she knows. Her family. Her life. Her friends. He’d have to tell her the truth about her father. Do you think she can handle that?”
She glanced away. “Do you want to ask me to give everything up?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want.”
The bed dipped. Panic started to well inside as he walked toward the door. He was leaving. Just like that. Without even answering her question with honesty.
“Where are you going?”
He gripped the door handle. “The agents outside his house said Lily left. I need to go over there while she’s away. I’ll be back.”
“But for how long? And leaving without saying goodbye again?”
He stalked over to the bed, leaning until he was inches from her face. “I’ve never left without saying goodbye. You were sleeping, but I still said it.”
“You didn’t just now.”
“Do you know how hard it is to leave you?”
“Probably as hard as it is to watch you leave or wake up knowing you’re already gone. I truly hate that, Dax.”
He slammed his lips across hers, demanding entrance. Their tongues tangoed, danced, and almost promised there was more to come. That was a lie. He was leaving.
He broke the kiss, framing her face in his hands. “Stay home. Don’t let anyone in. I’ll be back soon and we’ll talk.”
A lame laugh came out. “Like we just talked?”
“Real, honest to goodness talking. Your patience will be worth it. I promise. I will talk.”
She nodded, afraid to say anything else. No lies this time. She could see it in his eyes. Although, she was nervous to talk now. In all likelihood, she wouldn’t like what he had to say.
“Sarafina, I—” He kissed her hard again. Stalling his words for the second time that morning. “Lock the door. Stay inside.”
He let her go and walked out of the room before she could offer any words of safety. He had to be careful as well. He had to stay safe. In her arms.
Darnation. He should’ve never left.
14
Ryan shoved his hands in his hair and groaned. Loudly. The sound mimicked an animal in agonizing pain as if it were stuck in a metal trap, imminent death looming when the hunter would arrive.
“I’m sorry, Ryan.”
Ryan looked at Dax and swore viciously. “Sorry that you ruined my life, or that her father wants to kill me? Sorry that you were right and he’s that cruel of a man? Sorry that he wouldn’t hesitate to destroy his daughter’s life to save his ass? What the hell are you sorry for?”
“Everything.” Dax leaned forward on the couch, clasping his hands. “How long will Lily be gone? I don’t want to be here when she gets back.”
“Can’t look her in the eye, huh?”
“More like, I want it to be your choice, your decision. Do you want to ask her to give everything up? Do you want to tell her what sort of man her father is?”
Ryan shrugged, sinking back into the chair. “Fina is absolutely sure she heard everything correctly?”
“Do you honestly doubt Sarafina?”
“She’s the most honest person I know. The sweetest. You love her, don’t you?”
Dax sunk back into the couch and shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Of course, he loved her. He almost blurted it out this morning. The terror running through his veins of leaving had almost sucked the words out of his mouth. Yet, he couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t ask her to give everything up for him.
Damn, her sweet, innocent words this morning. Do you want to ask me to give everything up? Hell, yes, he wanted to. But he wouldn’t. She deserved better.
“What happened to you, Dax? You used to be full of life. Now all I see is a hard, difficult man.”
“When your life gets turned upside down, it’s pretty difficult to stay full of life.” He leaned forward again. “My parents were killed in a bank robbery gone bad. Life changed for me after that. It’s changing again. I’ll adapt. I’ve done it before. You never have. This is your life we’re talking about. Lily’s life. Can you live without her?”
Ryan leaned forward as well. “Can you live without Fina?”
Dax stood up. He could barely handle the internal war raging inside. There’s no way he could handle one out in the open.
“You have to make a decision. And quickly. We have agents outside your house, but I guarantee Martin Chilani’s men are right in the mix as well.”
“I’m sorry about your parents. I would’ve been there for you if I had known.”
Dax nodded. “You were there for me. Trust me.”
“I love Lily. I love everything about her. Her father’s willing to kill me without so much as blinking an eye. I find it hard to believe he wouldn’t hurt her for some reason.”
“What are you saying?”
Ryan stood up, his stance a little wobbly. “I’m saying I need my best friend here when I ask my wife to run away with me because her father wants to kill me.”
Sarafina paced the living room as the clock ticked mutinously away.
Two hours. He had been gone for two long, terrifying hours already. No phone call. No word. Nothing.
He was a trained agent. She knew this. He could take care of himself. He had for his entire life. But the thought something terrible happened wouldn’t go away.
She felt like the worst friend ever as well. Lily had called an hour ago wanting to pack up her room again. She was already at her parents’ house. Having to utter the word no had been difficult. Heartwrenching.
How could she tell her best friend that her father wanted to kill Dax and her husband? How could she live the rest of her life looking Lily in the eye and keep that from her?
Maybe she wouldn’t have to. Ryan loved Lily. He loved her so much. It was hard to imagine he wouldn’t ask her to go with him. Wherever that would be.
Would Dax ask her to go with him? And if he did, what would she say?
She had a family. Not a huge family by some people’s standards, but big enough. A brother. Her parents. A sprinkle of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her best friend Dominic. Could she leave them for one person? A person she met less than two weeks ago. A person that stole her heart away with little effort.