last time they’d been alone in this room was thirteen years ago on the day Luke had shown up to haul Rayne off to Parris Island. They’d made love here, right up against the wall where a beach scene painted in oils now hung.
Had sex, she corrected, remembering how fast and ferocious it had been. So much anger and pain and love, all mixed together. Need and apology and that intense, insatiable hunger no one had ever been able to quench in her. But Luke could, and he always had.
He’d been her first lover and the love of her life, 56
Absolution
and no one had ever touched her heart since him.
For all the pleasure they’d given, the other two men she’d slept with might as well have not touched her at all. Through no fault of their own. Her body wanted Luke, and would never be satisfied with anyone else’s touch.
Staring up at him, she couldn’t help but think of all the other women he must have been with over the years. Luke was an intensely sexual man. He wouldn’t have gone too long between lovers. She pressed a hand to her middle to stem the violent roll of her stomach that thought caused.
While the memories swirled between them in the suddenly heavy air, she couldn’t break his gaze.
For a split second she caught the unguarded regret in his eyes before he masked it and came to sit on the corner of the desk exactly as Rayne had done.
Even their mannerisms were alike.
His dark stare was so penetrating she had trouble meeting his eyes. “How you feeling?” he asked in his low drawl that made her think of sweat-dampened sheets and tangled limbs.
“Fine.” It was her standard answer, and all she could say at the moment.
Luke folded his corded arms across his chest.
“Rayne talk to you?”
She frowned. “About what?”
“I’ll take that as a no,” he muttered, regarding her in silence for a moment as though trying to figure out the best way to break bad news to her.
“All right, then you tell me.” She braced herself.
He hesitated a moment, assessing whether she was up to it. Then, “You know about the man I’ve been trying to capture?”
“Tehrazzi.”
“Yeah. Know what he looks like?”
“Yes.” A handsome man in his mid-thirties with brown hair and green eyes. The furthest thing from 57
Kaylea Cross
what she imagined a fanatical terrorist would look like. She’d sought out everything she could find on the internet. All part of a pathetic need to know what Luke was up to once she’d found out about the terrorist that had captured Bryn. She’d learned about that incident the same way she’d learned everything else about Luke’s work—from CNN and BBC.
Watching her closely, Luke nodded. “You know he targeted Bryn and her father, then Neveah and another of my team members.”
She put a hand to her throat. Samarra, Neveah’s cousin. “Yes.” All women, and all connected to Luke.
“You see what I’m getting at?”
Unfortunately, but she was still incredulous.
“What, you think he’s going to target me next?”
“It’s a logical conclusion, and even though it’s unlikely given all the security agencies looking for him across the globe, I can’t rule it out. Nobody knows where he is right now, and that’s got a lot of people in the business scared shitless. There’s a slim possibility he could even be stateside.”
Emily stared. He was serious. “Why would he come after me? We’ve been divorced for almost twenty years.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
It didn’t? “If he’s trying to get to you, targeting me doesn’t make any sense. We didn’t even have contact until recently. I’m nothing to you anymore.”
The words hung in the air between them, and something undecipherable flared in the depths of Luke’s eyes. Did he remember saying he loved her when she’d called him in Basra? With the severe concussion he might not have realized he’d said it, but she’d hoped...
“He knows me, Em. Knows me as well as you do, secrets and all.” He
Had sex, she corrected, remembering how fast and ferocious it had been. So much anger and pain and love, all mixed together. Need and apology and that intense, insatiable hunger no one had ever been able to quench in her. But Luke could, and he always had.
He’d been her first lover and the love of her life, 56
Absolution
and no one had ever touched her heart since him.
For all the pleasure they’d given, the other two men she’d slept with might as well have not touched her at all. Through no fault of their own. Her body wanted Luke, and would never be satisfied with anyone else’s touch.
Staring up at him, she couldn’t help but think of all the other women he must have been with over the years. Luke was an intensely sexual man. He wouldn’t have gone too long between lovers. She pressed a hand to her middle to stem the violent roll of her stomach that thought caused.
While the memories swirled between them in the suddenly heavy air, she couldn’t break his gaze.
For a split second she caught the unguarded regret in his eyes before he masked it and came to sit on the corner of the desk exactly as Rayne had done.
Even their mannerisms were alike.
His dark stare was so penetrating she had trouble meeting his eyes. “How you feeling?” he asked in his low drawl that made her think of sweat-dampened sheets and tangled limbs.
“Fine.” It was her standard answer, and all she could say at the moment.
Luke folded his corded arms across his chest.
“Rayne talk to you?”
She frowned. “About what?”
“I’ll take that as a no,” he muttered, regarding her in silence for a moment as though trying to figure out the best way to break bad news to her.
“All right, then you tell me.” She braced herself.
He hesitated a moment, assessing whether she was up to it. Then, “You know about the man I’ve been trying to capture?”
“Tehrazzi.”
“Yeah. Know what he looks like?”
“Yes.” A handsome man in his mid-thirties with brown hair and green eyes. The furthest thing from 57
Kaylea Cross
what she imagined a fanatical terrorist would look like. She’d sought out everything she could find on the internet. All part of a pathetic need to know what Luke was up to once she’d found out about the terrorist that had captured Bryn. She’d learned about that incident the same way she’d learned everything else about Luke’s work—from CNN and BBC.
Watching her closely, Luke nodded. “You know he targeted Bryn and her father, then Neveah and another of my team members.”
She put a hand to her throat. Samarra, Neveah’s cousin. “Yes.” All women, and all connected to Luke.
“You see what I’m getting at?”
Unfortunately, but she was still incredulous.
“What, you think he’s going to target me next?”
“It’s a logical conclusion, and even though it’s unlikely given all the security agencies looking for him across the globe, I can’t rule it out. Nobody knows where he is right now, and that’s got a lot of people in the business scared shitless. There’s a slim possibility he could even be stateside.”
Emily stared. He was serious. “Why would he come after me? We’ve been divorced for almost twenty years.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
It didn’t? “If he’s trying to get to you, targeting me doesn’t make any sense. We didn’t even have contact until recently. I’m nothing to you anymore.”
The words hung in the air between them, and something undecipherable flared in the depths of Luke’s eyes. Did he remember saying he loved her when she’d called him in Basra? With the severe concussion he might not have realized he’d said it, but she’d hoped...
“He knows me, Em. Knows me as well as you do, secrets and all.” He
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