Her apartment was not empty.
She side-stepped the stack of boxes blocking her view of the futon, then froze.
A human shaped lump draped with a blanket lay stretched out on her futon. Since she hadn’t yet gotten around to buying a bed, it was the pain piece of furniture in her place.
And someone was lying on it.
After all she’d been through, now she had a squatter to deal with?
Ivy dropped her bag with a heavy thud.
The figure moved.
“What the hell are you doing here?” She stalked across to the living room, ready to kick someone’s ass.
The figure sat up.
A sliver of morning light coming in through the patio glinted off sandy brown hair.
She gasped and froze halfway to the futon with her hand hovering halfway to her mouth.
Her unexpected guest squinted at her as the blanket fell to his waist, revealing bare chest, a large bandage on his side and ugly bruises that went from ribs to forehead.
“Piers?” She stared, not ready to believe her eyes.
Had she come home and passed out only to have this dream?
“Hey.” His voice was gravelly. Too rough to be made-up.
She covered her mouth, holding the sobs in.
This couldn’t be real.
It wasn’t.
But this was too absurd to be her brain.
Right?
Did she dare believe this was real?
He winced and touched his side.
That was not the kind of face she’d imagine. Not with the bruises or cuts. She’d picture him as he’d been on that first day.
Ivy staggered to the futon. Her legs were too weak to hold her. All the weight she’d carried with her the last few days seemed to crush her all at once.
Piers held out his hand to her. “Hey? I’m not dead or anything.”
She slapped it away, her anger spiking. “I thought you were dead! You let me think you were dead, you asshole.”
Ivy wanted to kiss him, strangle him, hold him, teach him a God damn lesson about scaring her like that. Deep inside, a tiny bit of hope blossomed. He was alive. Really alive and in her apartment. That meant there was a chance, wasn’t there? Even if it was a short-lived one, at least she’d know he was out there.
“Ivy.” He swung his legs over the side, moving slowly.
Another damn sob shook her. She wanted to be done crying. It wasn’t like her. This was exactly why she hadn’t let Merida come in with her.
Ivy sank to her knees next to the futon. She reached out a trembling hand and smoothed a bit of the tape holding his bandage against his side.
Piers wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him.
He was real.
He was there.
She buried her face against his neck and breathed in. Under the familiar scents of disinfectants and ointments was his smell. The one that had intoxicated her. The one that told her this wasn’t a dream.
Piers was alive. Really alive, and in her apartment. She didn’t know how or why, and in that moment it didn’t matter. He’d come back from the dead for her.
THURSDAY. IVY’S APARTMENT. Seattle, Washington.
Killam curled his fingers into her hair. For some reason, feeling the silky strands made her seem real. He hadn’t been all that certain when he’d woken up that she hadn’t been a dream. A very good dream, but a dream nonetheless.
Ivy sat back on her heels, her color-shifting eyes going green then blue.
She hauled back and smacked his left thigh hard enough the sound startled him.
“Ow, hey.” He rubbed the sting.
“What the hell?” she demanded. “Where have you been? What happened? And did you really drive your damn car into the river?”
“Jesus,” he grumbled.
His phone began to beep, reminding him that he needed to take the round of morning medications.
The worst part about getting shot wasn’t the pain. It was all the pills he had to take to function. Antibiotics. Painkillers. And whatever else he’d been prescribed.
He grasped Ivy’s chin between his fingers and ducked his head, brushing a kiss across her lips.
Even that slight bending made pain shoot up and through his chest.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He pushed to his feet.
She rose with him and put a steadying hand on his arm.
Did he look that bad?
He shrugged. “I got shot. That’s all.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s all? Were you in the car when it went...?”
Killam grimaced. “Remind me to never do that again.”
“Deal.” She shook her head. “What the hell, Killam?”
“You’re saying that a lot.”
“Yeah, well, you aren’t exactly giving me answers here.”
He shuffled toward the kitchen and where he’d last seen his pills.
“What are you doing in my apartment?” Ivy followed along behind him.
“Seemed like the best place to wait for you.” He braced a hand against the counter and was glad to see he’d left an opened bottle of water next to the lineup of medications he’d been given. “Wasn’t all that certain how we’d be received by your people. I figured you’d get free and end up here, eventually.”
Ivy picked up one bottle and frowned at it. She shook her head, opened it and fished a pill out. He took it while she read the next.
He was glad for the momentary respite to just watch her.
There were dark circles under her eyes and somehow she seemed gaunt. How did a person change so much in just a few days?
Had she really been worried about him?
He’d wondered if waiting for her was foolish, but he hadn’t been able to make himself leave her. Now he wished he’d taken the risk and found her in DC.
“Killam.” Her brow furrowed and she looked at him with worry in her eyes.
“I’m fine.” He lifted his arm and gestured to the bandage. “It was a clean through. Bled like a bitch.”
She gripped the edge of the counter. Knowing her, it was, so she didn’t strangle him.
God, he’d missed her.
“Can you please tell me what the hell happened?” she asked.
He nodded. “Um, Miran. I think I killed him.”
“He’s dead,” she confirmed.
“Good. His brother?”
“He’s in custody. I really wanted to kill him.”
“Well, it’s good that you didn’t. That’s what I always tell myself.” Killam leaned against the counter. It felt good to be upright. “He had a remote. I never got the chance to disarm the thing.”
“Miran?”
He nodded.
“I was thinking about that.” Ivy’s gaze was focused on him. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You didn’t know how to take the thing apart, did you?”
“Not really, no.”
“Then...what were you going to do?”
He shrugged. “Wing it, I suppose.”
“Killam.”
He winced. “Not so loud?”
“What the hell?”
“You had time to do two out of three. That third one was on me. I figured if I couldn’t damage it enough, water was the next best thing. I never got close to the car. Miran was on me. Then he used the remote and I didn’t have a choice. The river was my only idea.”
“So you just drove off a bridge?”
“Didn’t exactly have a lot of time to plan.”
“How did you get out? When? I was in that river looking for you for...an hour?”
Killam grimaced. “Turns out my friends were closer than expected. I checked in with him before, when I thought things might go sideways. Just so happened he was close enough to get in the water just after the crash, pull me out and get away.”
“And you never thought to, I don’t know, call me?”
“I figured my name would be all over this. That I’d
get blamed. The logical thing for me to do was keep my distance. Maybe then you’d be the victim in all this and not an accessory.” Leaving her behind had been damn hard. Not that he’d had any choice, seeing as he’d blacked out then drugged while his wounds were tended to.
Ivy’s lips parted and her shoulders relaxed.
“I didn’t mean to leave you. I just figured this was the safest place to meet back up.”
“We didn’t exactly cover what happened after all that, did we?”
“No.”
She blew out a breath. Her face scrunched up. “Your friend was just right there?”
Killam chuckled. “You haven’t met my friend.”
“What kind of friend is this?”
“A very good one who isn’t going to let me forget this happened.” He pressed his hand to his side.
“I guess I owe this friend a thank you.” Her face was solemn.
“I’d offer to introduce you, but we don’t exactly see each other very often. I’m not really the group project kind of guy.”
Ivy chuckled.
He loved that sound.
“You think?” She smiled.
“Trying not to.” He saluted her with the bottle of water before draining it. “When I got the feeling things were going sideways I updated them and kept them in the loop. They were too far away to be useful in our plans. I didn’t honestly think they were there yet.”
“You sneaky bastard. Were you ever going to tell me?”
He opened and closed his mouth.
How did he begin to tell her? Where did he start?
“If you were anyone else, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now,” he said slowly. “A man in my position could get a lot of use out of a presumed death like this. But, I don’t think I was ready to say goodbye to you.”
He still wasn’t.
Ivy blinked a few times and her lips parted. That statement seemed to have an impact. Was it a good one? A bad one?
She turned her head, staring past him into the living room.
What was she thinking?
“What now?” she asked. “Are you going to just leave? Or what?”
“I liked the idea of the two of us spending some time together.” He’d given up on the idea that he could work her out of his system. Now it was about getting his fix for as long as possible.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Her voice was strained.
Maybe he should have contacted her somehow. He’d told himself that desire was his selfishness, but maybe he’d been wrong?
How did he tell her what he wanted? Should he?
“God, Piers. I thought you were dead.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “I cried. I hate crying. And I cried.”
“Hey?” He reached over and took her hand. “I’m sorry.”
He’d made the wrong call.
She edged around the corner and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He closed his eyes and breathed her in.
If he could go back and do things differently, there were a hundred things he’d change about himself, the decisions they’d made. One thing he wouldn’t change was falling in love with her.
For a moment they stood there like that. The weightlessness from the pain killers was settling in. Soon he’d fall asleep again. There was so much to say before that, though.
He bent his head and kissed her cheek. She lifted her chin and brushed her lips across his.
How was he going to live without that? Without her?
“The meds are going to kick in soon. I’m either going to pass out or say a lot of shit I’d rather say now.” He leaned back a little so he could get a look at her. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to you, and that’s a first for me. Normally I’m ready to be done with people before I meet them. The more time we spend together, the more I don’t want you to leave. Or me to leave, I suppose.”
He splayed his hands on her back. His heart rate kicked up, but that could be the drugs. Or his nerves.
“That’s kind of sweet.” She clasped her hands together behind his neck. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Glad enough you’d let me stay on your futon a little while longer?”
“Someone should look after you.”
Killam wanted to leave it at that. Small steps. But the truth was that he wanted more. And while he wanted it all, she should know what she was getting into. Her team hadn’t done that for her, but he could.
“Here’s the deal...” He swallowed. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Ivy blinked a few times. This close, he could tell the difference now. The fake lashes she’d had glued on were gone. She was Ivy and nothing more or less. To him she was perfect.
She opened her , but no sound came out.
He stroked his hands up and down her back. At least she wasn’t pushing him away yet. “That’s sudden, I know, but either I say it now or when the pain killers kick in, I say it and sound crazy.”
“You love me and you let me think you were dead? That’s a real dick move.” Her voice was pitched higher.
He didn’t know what that meant, but he mentally braced himself.
Ivy stared into his eyes. “You can’t just say something like that.”
“I mean it.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
Ivy shook her head. “Dark chocolate and raspberry.”
“What?”
She chuckled. “Nothing.”
“I say, I love you, and you say, dark chocolate and raspberry?”
Her gaze narrowed. “Uh, you didn’t say, I love you. You said I’m falling in love with you.”
“Same thing.” For some reason, saying those words out loud released something inside of him. It was as though a band around his chest had just snapped free and he could breathe again.
“No, not the same thing.”
“What does dark chocolate and raspberry mean?”
She leaned against him. “It means, I think I love you, too.”
Killam stared at her, stunned. That was not how he’d expected that to go. And now he didn’t quite know what to think.
Ivy saved him from having to say anything. She went up on tip toe and kissed him. He turned, capturing her between the counter and him.
“Okay, but what does it mean?” he asked. Her answer wasn’t right, despite it being what he ultimately wanted to hear.
Ivy smirked. “Maybe I’ll tell you in two weeks?”
He lifted a brow. “Two weeks?”
“Yeah. If you still love me in two weeks, and if my feelings haven’t changed, then I’ll think about telling you.”
“Your feelings, huh?”
She lifted a hand to his jaw, but went no further. The mass of bruises still throbbed and he knew it was pretty ugly.
“When did it happen, you think?” she asked.
He had a pretty good idea what she was asking. “What?”
“The falling?”
Honesty.
“The kiss changed everything.” He was pretty certain that kiss was all lust, but it had led to more.
“Yeah.” She smiled. “Me, too.”
He bent his head and kissed her tenderly.
Ivy ran her fingers through his hair. “I think I’m in love with you, too.”
“You think?” he whispered back.
Everything inside of him tightened.
This moment mattered.
She smiled up at him, this time with a mischievous light in her eyes. “Let’s give it two weeks. See what happens.”
Two weeks, two months, two years, two lifetimes? He’d take it.
Killam had never found home before this moment.
Ivy was where he belonged.
Epilogue.
Two Weeks Later. Task Force Headquarters. Washington, DC.
Kelsey frowned at her phone.
She could get Ivy to reply to texts all day long, but a simple phone call?
Something was up. She was worried about Ivy and the effect of undercover
work on someone untrained. What was worse, Kelsey seemed to be the only one worried about Ivy.
What was the point of Kelsey being here if these people weren’t going to use her?
Joining the Task Force had been an accident, pure and simple. Her investigation into a terrorist kidnapper had crossed paths with Logan’s team. Kelsey and her two FBI handlers had been absorbed. But she didn’t really do anything.
Maybe she should take some time. Get away from all this.
She slid her phone back into her pocket. In half an hour or whatever Ivy would text that she’d set her phone down or something and was sorry she’d missed the call.
Bullshit.
Kelsey had tried calling right after getting those messages and Ivy still wouldn’t answer.
The break room seemed to get colder all of a sudden.
The hair on the back of Kelsey’s neck rose.
She knew without turning around he was there.
She sucked down a breath, then turned around.
Logan-fucking-Muller.
How did a man so infuriating get to be so damn handsome?
His dark gaze bored into hers.
The room and everyone eating lunch at the small tables faded from her awareness until it was just him.
“Afternoon,” Logan said as he grabbed a cup for the water cooler.
“Have you heard from Ivy?”
“Hm? No.”
She sighed, ready to dropkick his tight ass.
Men.
Logan turned to face her. The cup looked absurdly tiny in his big hand. “When are you going to stop that?”
“What?”
“Having a bad attitude because I didn’t think you were right for the job?”
“I do not have a bad attitude.”
He merely raised a brow.
There had never been a man born more infuriating than this one.
“Then what’s your problem?” he finally asked.
“You. You’re my problem.” She knew her answer was petty even as she said it, but her fucks were all spent.
“What did I do?” He asked the question so level headed and calm like.
“Kelsey. Logan. Hey!”
They both turned toward Jamie Silva. He clapped his hands together and smiled at them far too brightly.
Behind him, the rest of the break room watched with wide eyes.
Kelsey groaned inwardly.
“Forget this,” she muttered and stalked out of the room.
Necessary Risk (Aegis Group Task Force Book 4) Page 29
