Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen THE next morning, the sound of boots on the pier in front of the cabin broke the swamp’s silence. Stone’s eyes flew open. Dawn slanted through the bedroom window. Lily lay sound asleep, naked and warm, beside him. Someone uninvited had come. Stone rolled out of bed and jumped into his pants, then grabbed his phone and rummaged around for Lily’s gun. Who the fuck knew where he and Lily had hidden? Jack hadn’t advised that he was coming out with more groceries this morning. Could Canton possibly have found them? If so, then goddamn it, they had a mole somewhere in the inner circle. Who? Jack would never sell him out. Neither would Thorpe or Sean. Maybe you shouldn’t have opened your mouth to One-Mile, fidiot. Gritting his teeth, Stone stepped out of the bedroom and crept down the hall. The sounds of footsteps outside grew louder as they approached the front door. He heard low conversation, so more than one guy waited out there. Shit! Stone braced himself against the wall at the end of the hall. In the wide-open space inside, he couldn’t find decent cover between there and the door. Judging from the sound of the boots, it was too late to slip out the side entrance and intercept them out front. He hoped that whoever had staged their attack out there didn’t have the key code to open the door, but that probably wouldn’t stop them from busting it down or smashing in a window. The door handle jiggled. When it didn’t give, whoever stood outside pounded on the door. What the fuck? Were these intruders so cocky that they no longer bothered with stealth? He needed backup—and he needed it fast. Yanking his phone from his pocket, Stone tapped in the security code with his free thumb, still gripping the semiautomatic subcompact nine millimeter with his other hand. Before he could even call Jack, a message from Thorpe jumped out at him. Axel woke in the middle of the night and started driving your way. Sorry. I didn’t realize he was gone until now. Dominion’s owner had sent the message thirty-eight minutes ago. So Axel was probably one of the men on the porch. Who had come with him? “Sutter, I know you’re in there. Open the fuck up.” Yep, that was Axel. Letting out a breath, he pocketed the phone again but left the firearm in hand. It was better to have Axel creep up to his door than Canton, but not by much. No doubt, shit was going to hit the fan—and splatter back hard. As Stone tiptoed closer, he calculated the odds that he could wake Lily and, with her, sneak out the bedroom window, then make their way back to his truck while Axel and his buddy barged in the front of the cabin. Before he could decide whether it would work, Axel squashed the idea. “C’mon, Sutter. I didn’t come alone. We’ve got the place surrounded. Open up and let me see Sweet Pea.” Son of a bitch. Wanting to pound in the asshole’s head, Stone stomped to the door and yanked it open. “Her name is Lily. I’m taking care of her from now on, and she’s fine. Why the fuck are you here?” Axel stood about three inches taller and outweighed him by thirty pounds. Despite the fact that the big guy could assuredly beat the pulp out of almost anyone, Stone stood his ground. This was his plan, damn it. She was his woman. “I say she’s okay once I’ve seen and talked to her and I’m convinced, not before.” Stone’s entire body clenched with a surge of fury. “She doesn’t belong to you anymore.” Axel raised a skeptical brow. “And you think she belongs to you now?” “Yeah.” Stone stared him down. “In fact, I don’t think. I know.” The guy scoffed. “You’re a con man who has a hard-on for her. She is never going to choose a criminal with a record.” That comment dug under Stone’s skin, mostly because he worried that Axel was ultimately right. Lily might trust him with her body and she might let him give her pleasure. But if they could ever live that normal life he’d fantasized about just yesterday, would she really choose a man whose every job application would read ‘felon’? Probably not, but Stone refused to let Axel take her without a fight. “You didn’t even know her real name, asshole. You didn’t know all the details about her past.” You didn’t get to blindfold her or make love to her on top. “She kept secrets to protect me. I’ve always known that. I dug enough to be sure she was all right but not enough to invade her privacy. Where the fuck do you get off trying to keep me at arm’s length from a sub under my protection?” “You released her,” Stone reminded Axel, who had conveniently forgotten. The big guy’s jaw worked with anger. “I will always care about her and her well-being. I don’t give a shit whether she’s formally my responsibility or not. So unless you’ve slapped a collar on her or an engagement ring on her finger, your ‘claim’ isn’t more important than the nearly three years I spent with her, and you can fuck off.” When Axel shouldered his way through the front door, Stone scrambled back and pointed the gun in his face. “No. You will not upset her. You don’t get to hurt her anymore.” “What does that mean? Everything I ever did for Misty—Lily—I did to help her.” “You made her feel like a science experiment, like a broken fragment of a woman. She needed love, not training. She needed a friend more than a Dom.” “Fuck you,” Axel spat back. “I love that girl. Maybe not romantically, but I’ve always loved her. She’s one of my best friends. I held her when she seemed down. I listened when she felt like opening up. I gave her vanilla sex when she wanted to feel ‘normal.’ I couldn’t force myself to be in love with her but I tried to anticipate her needs and provide her with whatever I could to help her feel whole. Who the hell are you to judge me for it?” “Because she was still broken and bottled up when I took her away. She—” “Yeah, that’s something else I want to talk to you about. You took her—abducted her—without consulting Thorpe or Sean or—” “Oh, excuse the hell out of me for deciding to get her away from the car bomb rather than stop and ask everyone’s permission like some pansy ass. I think Canton was watching her that day. That moment. If I hadn’t tossed her in the car, I really don’t know what would have happened. If the guy could see her, did he have a high-powered scope zeroed in on her too, in case the explosion failed? I didn’t know, and I didn’t hang around to find out. Besides, Lily isn’t a wilting flower. She pulled a gun on me.” That made Axel grin with pride. “I never said she was weak. I said you didn’t have permission to take off with her. If you hadn’t saved her ass, I would have you drummed up on kidnapping—” “Why do you hate me? I thought you were happy with your fiancée.” Stone’s eyes narrowed. “But you sound like a jealous prick.” Axel reared back. “Fuck, no.” “He’s an overprotective older brother—and a wanker at that,” said another guy who walked around the corner and entered the cabin, then stuck out his hand. He looked to be a few years older than Axel. He sounded very British. “Heath.” Yeah, Stone remembered seeing the guy’s face the night he’d first met Lily. At least he sounded more reasonable. “Stone.” He shook the man’s hand. “Trust me when I tell you that Axel and Mystery are quite happy. Every time I stay near them, I inevitably hear precisely how happy they are from the next room. He makes sure of it. I’m a bit surprised he doesn’t simply piss on her.” Axel turned to Heath with a scowl. “Don’t make me regret bringing you along. You wanted something to do? Help me get Sweet Pea away from this dude and out of here.”

* * *

AWAKENED by shouting, Lily rolled over to find Stone gone. His side of the bed was still slightly warm. She frowned, bleary-eyed. He’d kept her awake half the night making love to her over and over. He’d never let her far from his side, always wanting to touch her somewhere, in some way. He’d melted the rest of her defenses last night. But now she was wishing she’d gotten more sleep because she couldn’t remember if Stone had been expecting company, nor could she think of anyone who would want to shout at him. The decibel level of the voices outside the solid bedroom door increased but she couldn’t make out the words. Lily frowned. What if someone had come to threaten them? What if that someone was dangerous? What if Timothy Canton had found them? The last vestiges of her sleepiness fell away. She shoved the blankets off, eased to the floor, and tiptoed across the room. The old cottage had beautiful original hardwood floors, but they creaked. Doing her best to ignore the squeaky floorboards, she crept closer to the door. A quick search revealed that her gun was gone, and she already knew that nothing in the bedroom would make an effective weapon. Instead, she paused, trying to detect the threat level, and pressed her ear to the door. That voice, the loud one, sounded like Axel’s. Shock pinged her. Wasn’t he in London with Mystery? With a frown, she donned a pair of yoga pants and an old oversize T-shirt, then eased the door open. Not that anyone could possibly hear the slight squeak of the door over their shouting. Then a vaguely familiar voice reached her ears, this one British. Heath? Had he come from the UK with Axel? What the heck was happening? “. . . help me get Sweet Pea away from this dude and out of here.” Axel? Lily frowned. Who was he talking to and why did he think she needed to leave Stone? “Don’t be a fuckwit. He loves her.” That voice belonged to Heath. “I don’t believe that for a second.” Yes, that was Axel. When had the two men flown to the States? And why did he sound so pissed off? “Then you’re an idiot.” Lily smiled at Stone’s voice. He sounded honest and a bit snarky, but she heard the tenderness under it all. Maybe that made her sappy and lovesick, but that man did it for her. “You set me up with that first meeting—” “Because you extorted it from me. If I hadn’t needed that information, I would never—” “But you used me to get it because you wanted to find Mystery,” Stone cut in. Lily was shocked. That’s why Axel had allowed them to meet? So he could pursue another woman? She tried not to feel hurt . . . and she mostly succeeded. But she did feel a bit second-class. “And you knew I was hot to meet Lily.” She heard the accusation in Stone’s tone, as if he was angry with Axel for using his desire against him. It warmed her heart a little. “So are we going to stand here and argue about what’s best for her? Or do you want to help me protect her?” Okay, that warmed her heart even more. Stone wanted her. He always had. And he was willing to mend fences with Axel for her sake. “I won’t argue about what’s best for her because I already know,” Axel shot back. “Bullshit.” And now the two of them were going to make this a pissing match? She started to exit the bedroom, shaking her head. Then Axel scoffed and spoke again. “You think you know her but you only know the information you’ve managed to worm out of her. I know that woman deep down, all the way to her soul. I know how she thinks. I know what she enjoys doing in her spare time. I know her quirky habits. And I know how she’s going to react when she finds out you schemed to romance her so you could exchange her testimony for your freedom.” At Axel’s accusation, Lily froze. A chill spread through her blood. Stone had made a deal to get out of prison if he persuaded her to testify? Was that true? Could he have lied that terribly? She pushed out of the bedroom and stood in the hallway, her gaze finding Stone. He zipped around and stared back. She knew her face must be begging him to defend himself and refute Axel, to rewrite that insidious version of events with some other story. Instead, Stone winced. Lily’s stomach dropped to her knees and she clutched herself, fighting the urge to throw up. “Is Axel telling the truth?” The other men swiveled in her direction. Heath rolled his eyes. “And now you’ve unleashed the kraken.” “Baby . . .” Stone tucked the gun into the small of his back, then took hesitant steps in her direction, clearly uncertain of his welcome. “Don’t ‘baby’ me. I want answers.” Stone cursed under his breath. A guilty flush ran up his face. A hundred alarm bells pealed inside her head. Axel started plowing across the room in her direction, looking grim and determined and furious. “Every word is true.” She took a step back and held up her hands to ward both men off, her gaze bouncing back and forth between them. “Stop there.” They halted, glanced at each other to ensure each intended to honor her request, then turned their gazes back to her. “It’s not what you think.” Stone sent her an imploring expression. He wasn’t denying Axel’s claim. He wasn’t insisting on his innocence. Stone was guilty as hell. That realization hit her like a physical pang. “Don’t let him tell you any more lies,” Axel reasoned. “He sought you out because the feds offered him a chance to commute his sentence. All he had to do was get you to agree to testify against Canton before the dude runs for governor.” Lily had already pieced that together but when she heard the words, they stabbed her in the heart. They made her curl her arms around herself and want to fall to her knees in agony. Stone hadn’t loved her; he’d used her. Everything between them had been a lie. “How did you find out?” she asked, hoping that Axel had gotten it wrong or misunderstood or somehow twisted the facts. But in her heart, she already knew that wasn’t the case. “Thorpe. He knew. Sean knew. Jack, Logan, Hunter—they all knew.” Axel gritted his teeth. “Hell, they all helped him prepare for this con job. And no one told me because they knew I’d object like hell. You’re not a pawn, goddamn it.” So nearly everyone in her life had betrayed her? Nearly everyone she’d ever trusted had played a part in manipulating her to testify and hadn’t cared if Stone broke her heart or Canton ended her life? Why? “Is this all true? I want to hear it from you.” She turned to Stone, feeling as if she were breaking apart inside. Her composure was cracking with every labored breath. Her chest hurt more with each second. The silence was terrible. “The feds offered me this deal after I’d begun working for Jack because Canton had no reason to associate me with you, and if he managed to somehow connect the dots and wanted to take out a threat to his organization, I’d be expendable. No one cares if a convict dies and—” “Answer the question! Did you seduce me with all your bullshit tenderness and lies so you could get out of prison?” She managed to shout the question, but she had no idea where the energy had come from. She really wanted to curl up into a ball and rock back and forth while trying to understand why everyone she loved, especially Stone, had so completely betrayed her. Maybe this was karma repaying her for what she’d done to Erin. Stone opened his mouth, like he intended to say something, but he didn’t speak. Worry crossed his face. Then regret. Lily felt as if her world tilted, threw her off balance, then dropped out from beneath her. She was in free fall, her stomach sickly tense and unsettled. Pain lanced through every vein. Her heart felt ready to explode. Oh god. “So it’s true. I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re a nobody and I don’t deserve love. Of course you know all the reasons why.” “Baby . . .” Stone started toward her. “I care about you, not the deal.” God, how stupid did he think she was? “Don’t touch me,” Lily hissed. “You must really have been fist-pumping and mentally high-fiving yourself when I said last night that I would testify.” She shook her head in self-loathing at her own idiocy. “You were damn good. I didn’t just reluctantly agree, no. I volunteered. So cunning and clever, I’ll give you that. You mentioned it, pointed out all the reasons it made sense, then let me stew on the idea while you plied my body and unhinged my mind with pleasure. You’re a brilliant man. I wish I’d listened to my logic in the first place and stayed away from you.” “Baby, I turned the deal down last night,” he swore. Stone looked so earnest. Then again, he must be one hell of an actor if he could sleep with her to earn his freedom. He’d been lying to her from the start. Why should she just believe him? “So you can prove that to me right now?” “Not this instant. I called my FBI contact, Bob Bankhead, and I expect he’ll come after—” “If you can’t prove it, I don’t believe it.” “Let me call him.” He patted his pockets. Finding them empty, he looked around the room for his cell. “I can prove it if you let me call him again.” “You know what? Forget it. I don’t believe anything you say anymore.” Axel reached out, coming toward her again, his big face full of empathy. No, pity. “Come here. I’ve got you.” Stone whirled on Axel, blocking her former mentor’s progress with his own body. “Stop trying to come between us, you meddling prick. Leave her alone.” “Oh, I have a feeling she’d ten times rather come with me now than be anywhere near you.” Lily stared, dry-eyed and stunned. Her entire world was falling apart, and they were sniping at each other? “I’m not a thing or a possession. Or a trophy,” she hurled at them. “I’m a woman with a heart that used to beat.” She pressed a fist to her chest. “And now . . .” “Sweet Pea,” Axel called softly. Lily shook her head. She wasn’t that woman anymore. “Why did you come here?” “Because I worried about you after Thorpe told me someone had rigged your car with a bomb. As soon as I found out you were hunkered down with a convict you barely know and I heard about his scheme, I came to rescue you.” “Why? You agreed to introduce us in the first place. Oh, but you only did that so you could get together with Mystery. I was a good bargaining chip, but you didn’t care enough to tell me that you weren’t actually sanctioning Stone for me. And now you’re going to throw him under the bus for using me, too.” Axel flushed, and Lily couldn’t think of a time she’d actually seen him rattled. “It wasn’t like that. I never said Stone was good for you. I intended to stay around that night Stone came to meet you, but Mystery ran off from Dominion and—” “You left me to him. But suddenly I matter now?” She cocked a fist on her hip, disillusion wiping away everything except the worst pain and a resolution to shove them both from her life. “Thorpe told me you’d refused to see him all summer. I didn’t think—” “About me? You didn’t. In my book, you’re guilty of the same sin as Stone. Go back to your fiancée, Axel. Leave me be.” “I left Zeb to monitor you that night because I knew he would bust Stone’s balls if the bastard did anything untoward. I left you in a protected environment and I came back. That’s totally different than you jumping into a car with a convict, crossing state lines, and shacking up with him.” “Don’t call me that again,” Stone warned. “And don’t make her feel stupid for trying to stay safe when you weren’t around to do the job. She’s an adult with a good head on her shoulders and she did what she thought was best in the situation. Why don’t you back the fuck off?” “Are you hoping that if you suck up to her enough or sound like you’re on her side she won’t refuse to testify and dump your ass back in prison?” “Shut up!” she shouted, her vocal cords rattling in a growl. “Just shut up. I’m leaving now. Don’t stop me. Don’t try to find me. Don’t say another fucking word to me. I’m done.” She turned to Heath. “Will you get me out of here?” “No!” Stone and Axel both yelled at once. Then they looked at each other as if they were shocked they finally agreed on something. “You’re not leaving.” Stone crossed his arms over his chest and blocked her path to the door with a challenging glare. Axel stood beside him, their poses almost identical. “What he said.” It would have been funny if her heart weren’t breaking into a million pieces. “Neither of you own me. I’m not a child. I’m not a burden.” She cast a pointed glare at Axel, then sent a deadly glower to Stone. “And I’m not a fool.” “Of course you’re not,” Axel said in his “patient” voice. “No one said you were.” He didn’t mean it to sound condescending, she knew. But it felt that way and it made her want to grit her teeth and punch him. After nearly three years, she’d thought they were friends at least. She’d believed that he cared. Yeah, he’d traveled here from London to see her but now she wondered if he’d done it more to assuage his overdeveloped sense of guilt than because of any real attachment. “Baby, you can’t leave. It’s too dangerous.” Stone clenched his hands into fists. Anguish furrowed his brow, and she would have sworn he was swallowing down pain. “I don’t want to lose you at all but I especially don’t want to lose you to Canton. If you leave when you’re unprepared and emotional—” “Don’t say another word, either of you,” she hissed. “You both lost that right when you deceived me. Axel, I’ll probably forgive you someday because you sold me out to follow your heart. In a weird way, I get that.” She turned to Stone and shook her head, the tears she felt desperate to shed clinging to the edge of her lashes. She’d almost be amazed if she weren’t so crushed. “But you . . . you used me. And it had nothing to do with your heart.” “That’s not true,” he swore. “You stopped being about my freedom a long time ago. I took one look—” “And fell in love?” she scoffed. “The me of thirty minutes ago would have believed that and thought it was so damn sweet. That girl would have thanked her lucky stars that someone so kind could love her. God, I was stupid. But I know better now. I just wish I hadn’t told you every single one of my secrets.” Axel sidled closer. Wisely, he didn’t touch her. “You’re angry. I completely understand. I’m so damn sorry if I hurt you. But don’t risk your life because you’re pissed off. Canton is out there. Two minutes before I walked in the door, I got a text that police in Iowa found Reaper’s body overnight. Someone put a bullet right between his eyes about eight hours ago.” Lily wasn’t shocked at all, but knowing that told her one important fact. “If Canton was in Iowa eight hours ago, he can’t be in the swamp right now. Give me my phone and gun,” she said to Stone. “I’m taking my belongings and going.” Axel cursed and looked ready to break the furniture. Stone paced, then roared as he approached a wall and punched it. He shook his hand, and Lily winced. That must have hurt. Already she could see that his knuckles were bleeding. But damn it, he didn’t care about her pain. She shouldn’t care about his. “I’ll take you into town, if you like,” Heath offered. “We’ll talk about your plans from there.” “I don’t need a babysitter.” She marched toward the bedroom to gather the clothes and the personal items she’d scattered around. “So you know where you’re heading?” Heath called after her. “No,” she admitted. “But anywhere is better than here, and Canton should have no idea how to find me. So I think I’ll be safe.” “You have money, then?” “Some.” She did a quick mental calculation and realized it wasn’t much but it was loads more than she’d left California with at sixteen. “I’ll get by.” Just before she rounded the corner into the bedroom, she cut a glare back into the living room. The men all exchanged glances. None of them wanted to let her leave, and they were speaking that silent man language and communicating a plan. No idea what, and she didn’t care. She was going to live her life on her own from this moment forward. When she’d first arrived in Dallas, she’d let Thorpe take her in, a bit like an adoptive father. He’d passed her to Axel, who’d been like an arranged husband. He’d taken care of her, but his heart hadn’t really been in it. Stone . . . Well, he’d come at her like a lothario, preying on her desire for love and acceptance for his own gain. Lily wasn’t sure what hurt worse, that he’d done it intentionally or that she’d been naive enough to let him. “Lily, baby.” Stone shook his head. “Don’t risk yourself. Please.” She swallowed back her anger. He pretended to care because if she walked out the door, there went his meal ticket. Fuck him. Still, she saw how this was going to work. They were three strapping men, all protectors by nature. They could—and would—physically hold her here unless she pretended to concede that they were right, she was wrong, and of course, she was helpless without them. “I’ll have Heath with me,” she reminded. “On the way to town, he can help me figure out how to slip away from Louisiana undetected. I’ll start over. I’ll be fine.” Stone barreled toward her. And he wasn’t stopping. Lily retreated with every step he took, scrambling away until her back hit the doorjamb. Without preamble, he wrapped strong fingers around her nape and tilted her head, crushing her lips beneath his. The feel of him taking her mouth, plunging inside to claim her, was a shock. Her senses registered pleasure and safety and love. Her heart wanted to throw her arms around him, melt into his solid warmth, and hold on forever. Her head knew better and revolted. Lily shoved him away. “Don’t.” “I will fight for you,” he vowed. “I will do everything in my power to keep you. I love you and I don’t want to let you go.” His dark eyes pinned her in place with conviction and sincerity and devotion. He really should win awards for his performance. In the back of her head, she wondered if, by chance, he was serious. Lily grimaced. Nope. No more of this giving-him-the-benefit-of-the-doubt shit. She refused to be gullible again. “You’re wasting your breath, Stone. I’m done. It’s over. See, you—and everyone in my former life in Dallas—decided I was weak. They coddled and deceived me. None of you realized that I don’t have to be loud to be strong. I have survived more in a few years than many do in a lifetime. I admit I have feelings for you. I believed I was in love with the man you pretended to be. He was a mirage. Yeah, my heart is broken. But it won’t break me. I refuse to be a victim again. Now give me the goddamn gun.” No one said anything for a long moment. Lily could almost feel the moment he realized that he couldn’t prevent her from leaving. “I’ll watch over her,” Heath promised. Which was, no doubt, code for “Heath wouldn’t let her out of his sight until she either saw reason or Stone found a way to persuade her back into his arms and bed.” Fat fucking chance of that. But Lily played along to get away from the million memories of Stone’s seeming tenderness—all a lie. “Let go,” she demanded in a hoarse whisper. Slowly, Stone released her and stepped back. Reluctance stamped itself all over his face, and he looked as if he wanted to grab her, caveman-carry her to the bedroom, and screw her until she was too sated to care. What did it say about her feelings that she was a little bit tempted? Before her hormones and her heart took over, she held out her hand for her weapon. With a sigh, he pulled it from the small of his back, checked the safety, and set it in her palm. “You never took the gun-safety class. If you don’t know what you’re doing, at least let me take you out this afternoon and we can practice—” “No.” Because that sounded as if he was stalling for a way to keep her there so she could cool down while he used his masculine wiles on her. “Please get out of my way.” Stone made a great show of agony and regret as she marched down the hall and back to the living room with a growled curse. As she gathered up her belongings and tossed them back in the suitcase, she could hear the men talking among themselves in low tones. Scheming bastards. Still, a fresh cleaver of pain threatened to split her chest in two. How could any part of her still love a man who had deceived and used her? Who had plotted to do whatever it took to turn her into a lovestruck idiot, willing to risk her life so he wouldn’t have to return to prison? Lily knew that if she testified, Canton might finally pay for what he’d done to Erin and her family. She’d love to see that sick sociopath put away for good. But would her testimony be enough? What if Canton went free? She would have gained nothing. And even if she got on the stand and held her hand to a Bible, it wouldn’t bring back anyone she loved. It might curb any potential future violence, true. But it would sure as hell benefit Stone most of all right now. She refused to stay another minute so he could find a new vulnerability in her soft underbelly to use against her again. Time to finally let go of the past, both distant and recent, and start over—this time alone and standing on her own two feet.