Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Luna
I bury my face in his chest and hold on for dear life. He’s alive. Safe.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispers against my hair.
“You’re sorry?” I tilt up my head in confusion. “For what?”
“For not listening. For not believing you when you said something was off.”
“We had altered security footage. I feel like an idiot. I’m supposed to be one of the world’s best hackers—an elite hacker back in the day—and I didn’t realize that my own security system had been hacked.”
“None of us even thought to check.”
“Thank goodness Jonas figured it out.”
“You didn’t tell me you kept a copy of the list,” he says under his breath, eyes searching my face.
“It was something of a back-up plan, just in case anything happened to me. I have a will and there are instructions in it on how to get to the list and release it to the public. But I never told anyone, not even Daniil. I hoped I would never have to use it.”
“What’s stopping you from releasing it now?”
“The fact that a member of the President’s cabinet, two United States senators, and a member of the British royal family would all probably come for me.
” I hesitate. “The truth is, I don’t know if my cover is blown.
If I have to go back to witness protection and start over again, as someone else, somewhere else. ”
“That’s not going to happen,” he says firmly. “And if it does, we get married and I go with you.”
I stare at him. “You’d leave Shadow Security? Grim?”
“I don’t have any answers yet but yes, I’d give up everything to be with you. I love you, Luna.”
I bury my face in his chest again, tears squeezing out of my eyes. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”
“There’s plenty of blame to go around.” He runs a hand through my hair. “No need for self-flagellation.” He trails fingers down my back. “Did he hurt you, princess?”
“A little. I might need some stitches in my foot, but it can wait.”
“No, it can’t.” He starts to tug me toward his SUV.
“Rage. Stop.” Silver stands in my path. “We have to dispose of the body and make sure there’s no trace of what happened or any way to link it to you.”
“Do what you have to do,” Elliott says quietly. “Daniil will square things up with you.”
He hesitates. “The last one was a freebie because it was my daughter. This one is free because…” He makes a face. “I mean, a fucking website to teach men how to rape? I can’t with that shit.” Then his expression hardens. “But if there’s a third time—we’ll have to talk.”
“If there’s a third time, I hope it has nothing to do with me,” Elliott says quietly.
“Let me take Luna to the hospital,” Grim says, joining us. “You need to get cleaned up and can join us there. You’re covered in blood.”
“Take off your clothes,” Silver says, turning to Nitro. “You have anything he can change into?”
Nitro laughs. “Not that’ll fit his big ass.”
“I have clean clothes in my truck,” Rage says.
“Take off everything, even your skivvies, and let me have them.” He hands him a bottle of water. “Try to wash off as much blood as you can. Then go to your hotel and shower.”
He nods. “Got it.” Then he looks at me. “You’ll be okay for a little longer?”
“I’ll be fine with Landon.”
He kisses me, hard, and then turns and walks over to his SUV.
“Let’s go.” Grim touches my arm. “You need to have that foot looked at.”
I don’t want to leave Elliott, but I know this is what we have to do to make sure he doesn’t get arrested.
I watch for a minute as he pulls off his shirt, his sweats, his socks and shoes.
This is a little intimidating and now that I know he’s safe, I’m starting to crash, the last twenty-four hours finally catching up to me.
And the moment I get into Eric’s SUV, I’m out.
Between stitches, a tetanus shot, and an IV of antibiotics, I spend several hours at the hospital.
Landon comes up with a story about me being clumsy that seems to satisfy hospital personnel, and I manage to doze on and off until Elliott arrives.
He sits beside me without saying much of anything until I’m finally released.
It’s late in the day and I’m starving but far too tired to go anywhere, so we swing through a drive-through and I eat my chicken sandwich in a handful of bites.
Then I nibble on fries as Elliott heads for home.
I had Landon text him that I wanted to sleep in either his bed or mine tonight, not a hotel, so he packed up our things and brought them with him.
And now we’re on our way to Temecula. Home.
I don’t know if we’re going to his place or mine, and I don’t care.
“You want to talk?” he asks as he merges onto the highway.
“It depends on what you want to talk about.”
“Us.”
“What about us?”
“The fact that I told you I loved you and you didn’t say it back.”
I hesitate.
I know what he said, but it was an emotional moment. I don’t expect him to run away with me if I have to start over again.
“I love you, Elliott, but I don’t think it’s realistic for you to go into WITSEC with me.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” I can’t really think of a specific reason why. I can think of twenty random reasons but they all sound dumb even in my head. “You’re a part owner of Shadow Security.”
“So are you.”
“Daniil and I have a contingency in place for something like this.”
“Then he and I will work something out too. I own two houses I can sell so we’ll have plenty of money to start over.
I’ll re-invest the money I invested in Shadow Security into something else.
I could get my PI license and do that for work.
You could probably tell the program you want a teaching degree and you could teach computer science at a high school or something. ”
“Have you actually put thought into this?” I demand incredulously.
“Of course. Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“I thought it would be easier if I didn’t drag you down with me.”
He reaches across the center console and grabs my hand. “Luna. Would you please knock it off? I’m a grown ass man who’s lived a lifetime. I can decide how I want to spend my future.”
“You’d be miserable without Grim.”
“I’d be more miserable without you.”
I don’t know what to say to that so I just squeeze his hand. “I love you,” I whisper. “More than anything. That’s why I don’t want to ruin your life.”
“The only thing that would ruin my life is living it without you.”
“I love you,” I say again. “More than anything.”
“I love you too, princess.”
“I don’t want to have to start over,” I admit softly. “I want to fight to stay.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. And I promise—Daniil won’t be willing to let us go without a fight.”
“But what if they come after me?”
“There’s a copy of the list in the vault at the royal palace in Limaj.
I think we have some pretty serious evidence that they don’t want released.
My guess is, Daniil is going to have a conversation with Director Marchmont.
Anything happens to you and me, that list goes public.
He leaves you alone, we leave him alone. ”
“You think that would work?” I ask.
“If anyone can make it work, Daniil can.”
I close my eyes and send up a soft prayer into the universe.
I don’t want to leave the wonderful life Elliott and I have started to build at Shadow Security, and I sure as hell don’t want to start over again.
“Get some rest, princess. Everything is going to be okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”