Chapter 28 #2
“Of course, not. She’s the victim.” His phone rang. A loud, insistent chime. Atlas pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen. Odd. This was his personal line, and the call was from a number that he didn’t recognize. Spam calls weren’t typically a problem for him.
“You’re really gonna get that?” Gage demanded, as Atlas swiped his finger over the screen. “Now?”
“We’re done here, aren’t we?” Atlas asked politely.
Gage whirled away.
Atlas put the phone to his ear. “Who the hell is this?”
Gage looked back.
“Atlas Bennett?” A man’s voice. “This is Warden Lawrence McHurley, from the Julia Tutwiler Prison For Women. I believe we need to talk.”
Gage was still watching him.
“This isn’t the best time. How about I call you back? Very, very soon.”
She wanted to see Atlas. She needed to see Atlas. And if she had to stay in that little office at the FBI’s Dallas field office for another moment—
The door opened.
Lily surged toward it but quickly caught herself. That wasn’t Atlas in the doorway. It was Gage.
A Gage who looked…
Tired. Grim.
Apologetic.
“I’m sorry, Lily.”
She didn’t move.
“Sorry you were taken.” He took a step toward her. “Sorry you were hurt. Sorry that…hell, sorry that I ever doubted you.”
What was this about? Unease settled like a knot in the pit of her stomach.
“I know you didn’t kill David Warren.”
Uh, she had killed him. She’d planned out his murder in meticulous detail. Executed it. Gotten rid of the evidence.
“It was Magnolia. I…” A rush of breath from Gage. “You might want to sit down, Lily. I know you’ve already been through a lot today.”
Yes, she had. And she wanted to get out of there and find Atlas. Where is Atlas?
But she sat down in the nearby chair. Gage crouched in front of her. He took her hand.
She immediately wanted to snatch her hand away from him.
“I thought it was you. I doubted you.”
She was more than aware that he thought she was a killer. Guilty.
“I didn’t see how it could have possibly been Magnolia. She was locked up. You had to have done it. You had to be the one to kill David Warren.”
“I’m really tired,” Lily began. And David Warren’s death was attributed to natural causes. Why can’t you just let this go?
“But the doctor is dead, too. Dr. Francis Locke.”
Lily shook her head.
“Do you know him? Even recognize the name?”
Yes, she recognized it.
Gage must have thought she didn’t, though, because he explained, “He’s a doctor from Baton Rouge who was exchanging messages with your mother.
A lot of messages. He even went to her prison in order to visit with her.
He wanted to marry Magnolia.” His hold tightened on her hand. “He’s dead. I suspect poison.”
“That’s…unfortunate.”
“I’ve checked this out. I’ve investigated thoroughly. You were in Dallas when he died. You didn’t kill him. I know that she got to him. Magnolia. She did it. Or she arranged for it to be done. I talked to a guard at the prison…he said she has so many fans—followers—who do what she wants.”
“Friends. Magnolia has a lot of friends.”
“Lily, I think your mother got someone to kill Dr. Locke. And to kill David Warren. And I’m so sorry that I suspected you.
I see the truth now. You aren’t like her.
You aren’t a killer. I was wrong.” He leaned closer.
“I want another chance with you. You don’t belong with someone like Atlas Bennett.
He will never understand you. He will always try to pull you down into the dark with him. He won’t—”
“Knock, knock,” Atlas said from the doorway.
Lily’s stare jumped to him.
Gage didn’t move.
“FBI Special Agent Emerick, please tell me that you are not proposing to my Lily. To my fiancée. Because it looks as if you are down on one knee in front of her…” Silky. Menacing. “And you’re holding her hand with a very pleading look on your face.”
Lily pulled her hand away from Gage. “He isn’t proposing. He’s apologizing.”
Atlas leaned against the doorframe, arms crossing over his chest. Acting as if he didn’t have a large bandage on his shoulder from where he’d been shot. “Do tell,” he encouraged. “Why is he apologizing to you? Is it because he used you to advance his career? Because he was an ass to you?”
She rose.
So did Gage.
“Gage doesn’t think I’m a killer any longer,” she informed Atlas. “Seems my mother has been pulling strings from prison.”
Atlas’s thick eyelashes flickered. “How interesting.”
“Gage believes she murdered David Warren and a doctor named Dr. Francis Locke. I’m no longer under suspicion in his mind. I’m not some evil murderess.” She tried to step around Gage.
But he blocked her path. Blocked her from seeing Atlas.
“Lily…” Emotion—desperation—deepened Gage’s voice. “You need to make the right choice. I’m a Fed. My job is to hunt criminals. To stop predators. We can hunt them together. We can be on the right side of the law. I love you. I can say that. Say it without hesitation because I know how I feel.”
Oh, really? And he’d loved her when he’d thought she was a killer?
I am a killer. Right.
“Can he say the same?” Gage wanted to know. “Has Atlas Bennett ever said he loves you? Do you think he ever will love you?”
A low growl came from Atlas. Then the floor was creaking as he approached. “Move, Agent Emerick. Now.”
Jaw tight, Gage stepped to the side.
Atlas was now in front of Lily. Tall. Strong. With those brilliant blue eyes blazing at her. No sign of his dimples. No taunting smile. Just…
“What do you want, Lily?” Atlas asked her. “Because I will give you anything in this world. Even if what you want…isn’t me.”
He was telling her that she could walk away.
“Ask him if he loves you,” Gage snapped.
Ah. Gage. Thinking he had such insight into Atlas. Thinking that he knew a psychopath and a psychopath’s capabilities…and limitations. But Atlas wasn’t like that. Gage was wrong.
So many people were wrong.
“I don’t have to ask him,” Lily said, completely certain. She reached out for Atlas.
He caught her hand. There were bandages on his fingers. Bandages to cover the wounds he’d gotten while saving Carl, so she touched him very carefully.
“I know how he feels.” She did.
Despite the bandages, his grip tightened on her. “Lily…” Atlas said her name like it was a prayer.
“I’m ready to go home, Atlas. Take me home?”
A jerky nod. Then he was pulling her close, tucking her against his side, holding her so tightly, as if he’d never, ever let go. They were almost to the exit at the FBI office when—
“Lily!” Gage’s choked voice. “Why?”
She glanced back. He’d followed them.
“Why?” Gage asked again.
Because Atlas takes me as I am. All of me. He always has. And because he risked his life to save me. He would do that, again and again. And if that’s not love…
Then she didn’t know what was. She opened her mouth to reply—
“Because I love her, dumbass. Every single part of her. And don’t go expecting an invitation to the wedding. You will not get one.”
Shocked, she looked back at Atlas. He was staring at her, jaw locked, appearing disgruntled, and he’d just said that he loved her. He’d called Gage a dumbass, but Atlas had said he loved her and—
Lily laughed. Joy just surged inside of her, and light laughter rang out. Warm. Free. Happy.
Benedict Swain was gone. She and Atlas were safe. He loved her. He understood her. He accepted her.
“That’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard,” Atlas whispered.
No, it wasn’t. But she’d just heard some beautiful words from him…
I love her, dumbass.
“Take me home.” She needed to get away with him. But, the truth was, even as they left the station, even as they entered the dark SUV that was waiting—with Atlas’s guards on the side, with Desmond watching protectively—she knew that Atlas was her home.
With him, she’d finally found a place to belong. She’d found a protector. A safe haven.
A partner who would treasure her. Accept her.
Love her.
A lover who would kill for her and show no hesitation.
That was fair because she would certainly do the same for him. Protect him. Fight for him. Kill for him.
With no hesitation.