Chapter 35
Vic lifted her face to the Texas sun. It felt so good on her skin. She hadn’t thought she missed Texas at all, but she’d been wrong. She was finding she missed it quite a bit.
“How’s my girl today?”her father asked as he came to lean on the fence next to her.
“I’m doing well, Daddy. How about you?”Her father had aged since she’d left. There was gray at his temples now and lines on his face, but his eyes were clear and full of love for his daughter. They’d had a lot of long talks over the last couple of months. It was good to clear the air. She admitted to her mistakes and her parents had each admitted to theirs. Now they were working together to rebuild a relationship.
“Honey,”her father started in a tone that she recognized as his precursor to a small life lesson coming.
“Yes?”
“I love having you here. Your mother is thrilled. It is the joy of our lives to have you back… But…”he said as he touched her shoulder with a sigh.“You aren’t happy here. There’s something missing. I see sadness in your face. At first, I thought it was about your uncle but I’m starting to see it’s something else. Who is he?”
She let out a laugh and then swallowed a sob.“That obvious, huh?”
“Yes.”
“I met him in D.C. But we wouldn’t work. We have such different lives. Different goals.”
Her father shook his head.“So, you’ve decided that already, have you? Did you talk to him about it before you left?”
“Well…sort of.”
“Sounds to me like maybe you owe the man a conversation. If nothing else, do it to give yourself closure.”
Vic’s heart lurched in her chest. Maybe her father was right.“I guess I could call him.”
“No, baby girl. This type of conversation needs to happen in person. I can’t believe I’m saying this but take the jet. I loathe to use the thing but it does come in handy when it comes to courting support for the solar farm. You take it. We can afford to buy extra carbon credits to offset the emissions. Go to D.C. Talk it out and come back when you’re ready.”
She glanced over at her father and cocked her head.“When did you become so smart?”
He laughed.“It took a lot of years of missing you.”
* * *
The jet touched down a little after ten. Vic’s stomach was a mess. Her knees were practically knocking together. She called Archer and made sure that Ryker would be in D.C. He was supposed to be home tonight so she would go straight over there. She couldn’t wait until morning.
The captain opened the door, and she thanked him, then stepped out of the plane. She started down the stairs and almost tripped. Ryker was leaning against an SUV with his arms folded over his chest. He looked so damned sexy in his jeans and light blue button-down. Her nipples puckered immediately at the sight of him. She gripped the handrail and, miracle of miracles, made it to the bottom without falling, or her knees giving out.
She paused for a moment and then squared her shoulders.“You can do this,”she murmured to herself. She started forward.
Ryker eyed her as she approached him. He didn’t move. His face was in shadow from the harsh lights of the airplane hangar behind him.
“Ryker,”she breathed as she came up to him.
“Vic.”
“How are you? How is your back?”
“Fine. And you?”
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“So where do you want to go, Vic? Archer asked me to make sure you were safe while you were in town.”He turned to open the door for her but she stopped him. If she didn’t do this now, she might lose her courage.
“Ryker. I…I’m sorry for the way I ran out of town. I deserted you when you had just saved my life. I?—”
“You’d had a traumatic experience. Another one.”His chuckle was gentle.“It was smart to go see your folks. Texas agreed with you, by the way.”
She glanced down at her faded jeans and deep green blouse. She’d gained a bit of weight and she filled things out better than she used to.“Thanks. But seriously Ryker. I want to explain.”
“No explanation needed, Vic. Where do you want to go?”
She frowned. This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned.“Ryker, I need to explain. I was so…overwhelmed by what happened. By my uncle’s behavior. The bomb. Losing Marilee. It was huge and I needed a minute to process it all. To come to grips with it, you know.”
Ryker had gone back to leaning against the SUV, his arms crossed over his chest. He had an almost bored expression on his face.“It’s all good. I get it. We’re good. You don’t need to explain.”
She was so fucking frustrated she wanted to stomp her foot Why was he doing this? Why was he being so damn casual, like she didn’t mean anything to him? He’d said he loved her. Was it a lie? Did he say it in the heat of the moment and it wasn’t true? The thought had crossed her mind plenty in the past few months, but she couldn’t believe that. She wouldn’t. Ryker didn’t say things in the heat of the moment. He was always careful with his words.
“So, one more time, where do you want to go?”
“Bloody hell, Ryker, stop it!”she yelled.“Talk to me like normal.”
He stared at her, his face a blank mask.“Why did you leave me money in your will?”he asked in a quiet voice.
She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.“Money in my will?”She frowned.
“Hawk mentioned it,”he added.
“I…I know you and Archer wanted a way to get access to my uncle, but I brought you in and you…you ended up killing a man. I just…I didn’t know what else to do to apologize to you. I thought if I didn’t make it, then at least you’d be rich and you’d never have to work again. I didn’t want that to haunt you.”
Ryker stared at her.
Finally, he shook his head.“Vic, I kill people all the time. He had a gun and drew it on me. It was me or him. I’m fine with it. And I don’t need your money. I’ve got plenty of my own. I haven’t needed to work in years.”
She stared at him. Why were they discussing this?“I see. Well, it’s moot anyway. You saved my life.”
“Right.”He straightened.“You have to pick a place, Vic,”he said as he turned toward the car.
“Fine,”she sighed.“Your place. I want to go to your place, Ryker.”
He froze, his hand on the door handle. He met her gaze for a long moment.“I don’t think you want to do that, Vic. I’m not some kid or wet-behind-the-ears congressman. I’m a stone-cold killer, honey, and I’m not about to change. I don’t want a one-night stand with you, and I have no time for games. You said nothing was keeping you here. And you left. I accepted that. You can’t come back because suddenly life in Texas is boring and you need some hot sex and a boy toy.”
“Boring? Boy toy?”she burst out laughing.“When have I ever said anything about a boy toy?”
“You got what you wanted from me, and you left. That pretty much sums up boy toy, doesn’t it?”
Suddenly she understood. From his perspective, it was totally different.
“No,”she breathed.“No, no, no. It wasn’t like that at all. Ryker”—she reached out and put a hand on his arm—“I’ve wanted you from the moment you walked into my apartment that first morning. I’ve been half in love with you since you drove me to work for the first time. You were the only thing keeping me sane the entire time everything was unfolding. I needed you. I needed your strength, I needed to be with you to feel safe. You were…are…everything.”
He stared at her.“Then why did you leave?”
She bit her lip.“I was terrified. Everyone in my life that I’d trusted had betrayed me or I’d betrayed them. I didn’t think I could trust myself not to mess it up. I just couldn’t open myself up to more hurt. It took me a while to realize that it was too late. That I already loved you and that being away from you was more agonizing than anything else. I’m sorry it took so long, Ryker, but I love you. I’m in love with you. Stone-cold killer or not, I don’t care. I just want to be with you.”
There, she’d said it all. Laid it all on the line. She bit her lip and waited. If he turned her down, she was getting on the jet and flying to Europe or Asia, or wherever the farthest part of the world was, so she didn’t ever have to see him again. She couldn’t take seeing him if she couldn’t have him.
Ryker stared at her and then looked away. He closed the back door with a small click. Then he advanced on her until he was nose-to-nose with her. Her heart hammered on her ribcage. A million butterflies took flight in her stomach. She bit her lip.
“If you ever walk away from me again Vic, you’d better run like hell because I will not go through the torture of being without you ever again. Do you understand me?”
Vic stared. He was telling her he loved her, right? Was that what he was saying in his own Neanderthal kind of way?
“You love me?”Her voice broke on the last word.
“Yes, Invicta, I love you.”He wrapped her arms around her and captured her mouth in a scorching kiss.”
The End.