“Ditto in double for you.” She winked his way, then leaned in, resting her head on his chest.
Sean wrapped his arms around her and just felt her heart beat against his for a long, silent second. He didn’t expect their near future to be full of peace, but he drank in this moment when most was right with his world.
“You know, I should be more put out with you.” She sighed. “A houseboat? Really?”
He chuckled. “I had to be sure you weren’t going to get away from me, and I can’t watch you twenty-four seven. Since you don’t swim, bringing you out on the lake was the next best thing. In the middle of the week with winter closing in, I think we may be the only boaters out here.”
“Sneaky.” She said it almost like a compliment. “But I guessed that after the computer in the pizza box.”
“I liked that myself.” He grinned. “But if you want to talk about sneaky . . . what was in my wine?”
“Ambien.”
Callie was the only woman he knew who could wince and flash a smile at the same time and somehow make it look adorable.
“Minx.” He shook his head. “Don’t do it again or I’ll have to paddle your ass but good.”
The mischief on her face was like a flirtation all its own. By all rights, he should at least need a good shower and a decent meal before he wanted to fuck her again. But no. He was already contemplating whether the kitchen counters were the right height to spread her legs and plow between them.
“If that’s supposed to be a deterrent, it’s not working,” she whispered.
Sean laughed out loud. This was something else he loved about Callie—her playful side. He’d been so damn serious for so damn long. Not much to joke about fighting crime on a federal level, but somewhere along the way, he’d forgotten to stop and smell the roses. Callie’s life had been far more dangerous and stressful than his own, but she still found ways to smile. He admired her grit and intelligence. If his grandparents were still with him, they would have loved her.
“You know we’re going to have to talk about everything, don’t you? The night your family was killed, anything you can remember that might be relevant? Who came after you as you moved around—anything that might help us pinpoint who wants you dead.”
“Yes,” Thorpe said, entering the kitchen wearing only a pair of trousers and looking freshly showered. “As much as I’ve enjoyed being distracted by your beautiful body and the incredible sex, now we have to tiptoe through your past.”
THORPE sidled closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Then he tipped her chin up to him so he could look into her eyes. “I always hoped I’d get to ask you questions so I could truly understand you, pet. But not in circumstances like this.”
Callie ached to ask why he’d never told her that he knew her true identity. But she couldn’t, not anymore than she could be greedy and demand more from him if he wasn’t prepared to give it. Besides, it was more important to focus on whoever was chasing her. She might not be able to stop them, but finding out who it was would definitely help her evade trouble in the future. Thorpe wasn’t going to suddenly and magically fall in forever love with her. Contrary to what Sean thought, Thorpe wanted her; he worried about her. He cared. And that was it.
“I’ve thought about that night over and over. Everything seemed normal until I heard the gunshots downstairs. I thought my dad was in bed, so I was just about to sneak out the window and meet Holden.”
Thorpe actually growled. “I’m going to find out where that prick is now and repay him for what he did to you.”
He was such a protector, and it was one of the things that drew her. He’d always been ready to tear the head off anyone who hurt her. When he was around, it was so easy to trust that he had everything absolutely under control. Sean reminded her that there was tenderness in the world. He’d made her believe that she mattered to someone. He was her pillar of strength. And her tomorrow.
“Actually, I think justice is being served.” Sean grinned.
She sent back a wobbly smile. “I agree.”
“You know?” His blue eyes glinted with surprise.
“I’ve tried to look him up every now and then, when I could make my way to a public computer at a library so that nothing could be traced back to me. I really do think he got his just rewards.” She faced Thorpe. “His parents moved to Kentucky about six months after he bailed on me. Within a few months, he’d gotten some girl pregnant. She had no money and a really mean father. They got married not too long after that, and I’m pretty sure it was at the business end of her daddy’s rifle. After three kids and seven years, she left him and took everything they had. He was too stupid to hold down a job, so he robbed a convenience store with a handgun. He’s all locked up. He was always pretty, so I’m betting he’s really popular in prison.”
Thorpe seemed to turn that story over in his mind. “I wish I could have gutted him myself, but we have bigger fish to fry now. Let’s go back to the night your father and sister were killed. Is there any way Holden could have been involved?”
Callie shook her head before Thorpe had even finished the sentence. “He’s far too dumb to be that stealthy. He wasn’t violent, just greedy. I know now that he was more interested in my family’s money than in me. He always wanted whatever he didn’t have to work for. If he had broken into our house with a gun, he wouldn’t have shot my family, taken a swipe at me, then fled. He would have stayed to rip off whatever he could. He got caught at the robbery because the cashier, who looked like a female sumo wrestler, decided that she wasn’t going to take his shit and tackled him. She pinned him down and called the cops. Besides, that night . . . witnesses placed him a few streets over, and there’s no way he could have done all the shooting, then beat me back to his car without being winded or having blood splatters.”
“What about his friends? Would any of them have helped?” Sean asked.
She shook her head. “He didn’t have any guy friends anymore. He’d slept with all of their girlfriends or sisters at some point. He was universally regarded as a douche.”
“And you liked him why?” Thorpe looked like he was grinding his teeth.
“He was cute and had really pretty eyes. When you’re sixteen, that’s important.” She shrugged.
“Did he sleep with your sister?” Sean asked.
Callie let her eyes slide shut. “I don’t know.” She drew in a deep breath and forced herself to face them again. “Right after school started that year, I came home from cheerleading practice early one day and found Holden there with Charlotte, supposedly waiting for me. She looked flushed, and he seemed winded. They told me they’d just come in from outside. The temperature was still hot. I wanted to believe them. Knowing what I know now about Holden, I’m sure he tried to seduce her.”
The guys exchanged a glance, and a gong of foreboding rang in her stomach.
“What? Spit it out. What do you know?”
Sean sighed. “According to Charlotte’s autopsy record, she was nine weeks pregnant when she died.”
A wave of incredulity overcame Callie. Tears stung her eyes. She had a hard time breathing. In some ways, she was too shocked to be anything but numb. But as if she couldn’t stop the march of time and emotions, a blade of betrayal stabbed her right in the heart.
“Then it had to be Holden. I knew she had a crush on him. I won’t ask what he was thinking; I know. He must have laughed at taking the virginity of two sisters. But what the hell was Charlotte thinking?”