Chapter 14 #2
He dropped the dress and it fell to her feet again. He gripped her hips. “Be good, naughty girl. You can be naughty later. Saxon’s here to discuss things about a different case. I’ll be outside.”
He slid out of the change room and Haven let out a shuddering breath. God .
Gia reappeared. “You need the right underwear to wear under that fabulous dress, and to drive a certain Norcross brother wild.” She hung a multitude of scraps of silk and lace on the hooks on the wall.
“Thanks.” Haven studied the lingerie and smiled. She’d get her own revenge on Rhys.
The curtain twitched again. “Oh no, Rhys, you’re not—”
Leo stepped inside.
Haven gasped. “You can’t be here.”
His nose was swollen and he had bruises under one eye. “Haven, please—”
“Just leave me alone, Leo.”
He drew in a shuddering breath. “I know you don’t want to see me, but I do love you.”
“If Rhys sees you, he’ll take you down. He’s not a big fan of yours.”
Leo’s face twisted. “That dress for him?”
“No, it’s for me. So I can sneak into a fancy party and find the painting that you had stolen from my museum.”
Leo’s face darkened. “Haven, look—”
The curtain wrenched open. All Haven saw was Rhys’ hard face, Saxon standing behind him.
Oh, shit. “Rhys—”
Her cry was cut off as Rhys grabbed Leo and yanked him out of the cubicle.
Leo yelled, and Rhys shoved him to the ground.
“Don’t hit me,” Leo cried.
“Rhys,” Saxon warned.
Haven raced out and saw startled, half-dressed women all looking out from the change rooms.
“Rhys.” She hurried forward. “He’s not worth it. Please.”
Rhys shifted back, and wrapped an arm around her. Saxon stepped forward and pressed a knee to Leo’s back. “Don’t move.”
“I’m sorry for everything,” Leo spluttered. “I wanted to try to make it better. I wanted to tell you that I have a lead on the painting. They found a guy to authenticate it. I know who he is.”
“God, I can’t believe this!” Anger spurted inside Haven.
Rhys tugged her back. “Stand down.” He looked at Leo. “Name.”
“Arthur Irvine.”
Haven gasped. “But Mr. Irvine’s a lovely old man. He’s retired.”
“He does off-the-books jobs,” Leo said.
“I think Becker needs a visit to our holding rooms.” Saxon yanked him up.
Gia appeared. “What is—?” She stared at the scene. “The douchebag ex, I presume?” Gia patted Haven’s arm. “You totally traded up, girlfriend.”
“I’ll take Becker into the office,” Rhys said. “Sax, take Haven back to my place?”
Saxon lifted his chin. “Sure.”
God, Haven’s stomach turned jumpy. Was it a good idea to leave Rhys alone with Leo?
“Rhys, why doesn’t Saxon—?”
Angry brown eyes cut back to her. He was beyond pissed.
“I have a few things to make clear to Becker,” Rhys said, tone deadly.
“I love her,” Leo declared. “And she loved me—”
“Actually, I never loved you, Leo.” Everything that had happened, everything that was going down with Rhys, it had her questioning everything she’d ever known.
Something rippled over Leo’s face.
“The past is done, Becker,” Rhys said. “It was my cock she came on this morning, and last night. She’s mine.”
The raw words made Haven jolt. Wonderful, Rhys had just told the world that they were having sex. A lot of it.
Leo scowled, fury burning in his eyes.
Rhys spun, wrenching Leo’s arm up behind his back. “Let’s go. Feel free to cause trouble and make me punch you.” Rhys looked at Haven. “I’ll see you at home, angel. Stay with Saxon.”
She nodded.
Gia slid an arm around her. “Come on. Get changed, and we’ll buy that dress.”
Haven pulled in a breath.
“It’s a killer dress,” Saxon said. “I’m partial to green.” His gaze shifted to Gia’s green shirt.
“Shoo.” Gia flicked her fingers. “We don’t need you hanging around, and Haven needs to change.”
Sliding back into the change room, Haven put her clothes back on. They paid for the dress, and she said goodbye to Gia. Her friend and Saxon traded a few glares, then Haven headed with Saxon to his SUV.
It was a quiet ride back to Rhys’. She was worried about him.
“Rhys will keep it in check,” Saxon said. “The man is the king of control.”
He wasn’t so controlled when they were in bed together. She licked her lips. “I just want this over with. I finally had my life on track, a job I love—”
“Rhys will help you get there.”
“After this, Rhys and I will be over, too.”
Saxon laughed. He had a deep, sexy one.
“What’s so funny?” she demanded.
“Rhys isn’t going to let you go.”
“He’ll lose interest.” She looked out the window. “He’ll move on.” She hunched her shoulders.
“We talked a lot on missions.”
She glanced over and saw that Saxon’s handsome face had hardened.
“Some missions can push you to the edge, past your limits. Once, I was shot up badly.”
Haven gasped. She hadn’t known. She wondered if Gia knew.
“We were far from help. We got an evac point, but it was ten miles away. I could barely walk, and we had a bunch of bogeys between us and the helo.”
Haven twisted her hands together.
“Rhys carried me. He carried me every step, while Vander and the others on our team provided cover. He talked to me the entire time to keep me conscious. Said he hoped everything he did in service to his country earned him something sweet. Said that when he found the right woman, he’d burn the world down to hold on to her and keep her safe and happy. ”
God . A burn started inside Haven’s chest.
“He also said he was happy to have a shit-ton of fun until he found her.” Saxon glanced over. “He’s one of the best men I know, Haven.”
She just stared. So many emotions writhing inside her.
Then her ringing phone cut in and she blinked. She looked at the screen. It was Rhys.
“Hi,” she said.
“Angel, just wanted to tell you that I got your ex in the holding room. No blood was shed.”
Her fingers squeezed on her phone. “Okay. Good.”
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, baby.”
There was a long pause. “Baby. I like that. See you soon.”
“Rhys… Thanks. For everything.”
“You never have to thank me, angel.”