I used my lover's slumber to my advantage and parted his robe, checking his body for more injuries. His left shoulder sported a thick white bandage, and he had an a.s.sortment of bruises across his chest. Other than that, he appeared fine.

Winding one arm around his waist, I used the other to cut the bonds at his wrists. His weight immediately hit me, and I eased him to the ground as gently as I could.

G.o.d, I'd missed him. I traced a fingertip over his stubbled jaw. This man had believed in me when my own father hadn't. He might have lied to me about his reasons for becoming my partner, but in the end he had believed enough in me to let me work without trying to shield me or keep me safe at home.

Without any prompting from me, Devyn cut down the rest of the sleeping slaves. When he reached a curvy blonde, he glanced over at me. "We bought this one, didn't we?"

"You can't keep her," I replied on a strangled laugh.

"You're keeping that one," he said, motioning to Lucius with his chin.

"Yeah, but he's willing to be kept."

He looked at the blonde, then back at me. "This one might be willing, too. I just need five minutes alone with her."

I shook my head. "You can ask her if she wants to spend five minutes with you, but you can't force her."

He pouted.

Michael and ten other agents burst into the warehouse moments later, pyre-guns drawn. When they realized everyone was sleeping, they lowered their weapons but remained on alert.

"Over here," I called. Two agents reached me before Michael. "Take this man to a medic, then to my apartment." I gave them the address, and they nodded.

Together, they lifted Lucius into their arms. He moaned, the sound one of pain.

"Careful," I snapped. "He's injured."

"Take him to my house," Michael interjected. "I'll have our doctors patch him up there."

"Take him to a medic, then to my apartment, or I'll introduce both of you to my knife."

They looked fearfully to Michael, because they knew I'd do it. He gave an abrupt nod. "Do what she says."

As the men tromped off with Lucius, I faced my father. Our gazes met, locked. We still had business to settle. "Everyone on the scaffold was kidnapped by EenLi to be sold as slaves. There are a few on the ground, as well."

"And EenLi?" he asked.

I stood, shrugged. "Dead. By my hand."

His shoulders relaxed, and he ran a hand over his ragged features. "Then it's over."

"Yes."

"I'm proud of you, Eden." He reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "I don't tell you that enough."

"You're proud, yes, but do you finally believe in me?"

"I've always believed in you."

I brushed away his hold. "You paid men to look out for me, Michael. You never trusted me to do it on my own."

"I was scared for you. There's a difference." He rubbed his temples. "Let's get you home. You can write me up a full report in the morning. We'll have breakfast and then you can get started on your next job. I've already got one lined up-"

"I told you I don't work for you anymore."

"We both know you didn't mean it." When I didn't say anything, he kicked sand with the tip of his shoe. "Fine, if you don't want to work for me, you don't have to. Claudia Chow has been worried about you and has been calling me for two days. You can always go back to her and continue being her interpreter."

I wasn't going to do that, either. I didn't know what I was going to do, actually. Biting my lip, I stared down at my boots and tried to prepare myself for the conversation I was about to start. Bringing it up was harder than killing a target but if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't.Just say it. "EenLi mentioned something about my parents. You and I never talk about them, but I need to know if you ever found out who killed them."

He didn't say anything. And as the moments ticked by, guilt washed over his still handsome features.

I blinked over at him. "Michael?"

"Eden," he began before cutting himself off. "I'm so sorry. So sorry. I've wanted to beg your forgiveness for so long, but I couldn't bring it up. I just couldn't."

In that moment, I realized it was true. EenLi hadn't lied. Deep down, I think I'd expected Michael to tell me EenLi had done it. But no, Michael had actually dealt the death blows. A sharp pain lanced through my chest, and I almost moaned. He'd never told me; he'd kept it secret all these years. Hadn't trusted me to love him anyway. To forgive.

With the realization, something inside me snapped, released. Anger and impotence for all the years I hadn't talked about my parents because I'd a.s.sumed Michael didn't want the reminder that he wasn't my biological father.

I backhanded him. His head whipped to the side. Slowly he faced me, rubbing his now-bleeding lip.

"I deserved that," he said calmly.

I stared into his face, the face I loved and had worshiped for so long. "Tell me why."

"They were a job, sweetie. Only a job. They might have loved you, protected you, and treated you as a precious treasure, but they still sold drugs. Drugs that killed humans. I did what I had to do, what I was paid to do. How many parents have you killed?" he asked quietly, darkly. Pointedly.

Low blow.So low. My knees almost buckled as his words slammed into my mind, echoing over and over. The truth was, I didn't know the answer to that question. The most likely answer was many.Many . I didn't know how many parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, and uncles I'd killed over the years. Perhaps I hadn't let myself consider the possibility. I'd always embraced my job-just as Michael did.

"Eden, I-" He reached for my hand.

I slapped his wrist. "Save it. I can't talk to you right now. I'll forgive you, yes, and I even understand, but I just can't talk to you right now."

I turned away from him then and helped the other agents separate EenLi's men from the slaves and auctiongoers. The guards would be kept alive for another day or two and questioned, just in case there were any other humans stashed away. Then they would be killed. I didn't know what would happen to the auction bidders. At this point, I just didn't care.

Michael worked alongside me, silent and brooding. He loved me. I knew he did. And that made the torment inside me even worse.

Devyn worked with me, too. Michael ignored him, most likely still upset that I'd enlisted the king's help instead of his. Lord, I felt so raw. I needed Lucius. His strength. His comforting arms.

When we finished clearing out the warehouse, I pulled Devyn aside. "Will you drive me home?"

His wrapped an arm around my waist and gave me a comforting, brotherly squeeze. "Of course."

I walked out of the building without a backward glance. I felt Michael's gaze boring into my back.

Dawn would arrive soon. At last the air was cool, but it smelled of loneliness and despair. Or perhaps that was me. I was shutting down. This was all too much. My legs felt tied down, my shoulders too heavy. My neck protested the weight of my head. I had to force one foot in front of the other until I reached Devyn's Jag. I plopped inside ungracefully as he settled into the driver's seat.

"Do not worry about the nights you owe me," he said. "I will come back when you are better rested."

I leaned back and closed my eyes. "I'll give you your nights, Devyn. You more than earned them. But you know what? I don't think you'll claim them. You're a man of honor, and you know I love another man."

Silence.

Silence that lasted a long, long time.

"d.a.m.n you," he finally muttered.

I was close to breaking completely, and I didn't want it to be here, with this man. I wanted Lucius.

Devyn drove me to my apartment building. Finally. Home. When he reached the building, I trudged out of the car, and the door shut with a snap. The air was cooler than it had been all week-more fragrant, less dry.

The window eased down with a quiet whoosh. "Eden," Devyn called.

I don't know what he planned to say, but I spun around and reentered his car. I owed Devyn everything, yet he was getting nothing in return. He truly did possess too much honor to hold on to me. Without a word, I leaned into him and brushed my lips against his. Softly at first, then I increased the pressure. When his mouth parted, I swept my tongue inside. Again I tasted his warmth, his masculinity.

It didn't last long, only a few seconds before I pulled away. I watched Devyn lick his lips, savoring my taste. "Thank you for everything."

"I hope we meet again," he said, his amber eyes glowing. "And I hope your human is worthy of you."

"He is," I said. I knew this one thing for sure. "He is."

Chapter.

30.

Bandaged and medicated, Lucius was sleeping soundly in my bed. I showered, the dry spray washing away the horrors of the night. Clean at last, I curled into bed beside him. His warmth seeped into me. A tear rolled down my cheek, followed quickly by another. Down, down the golden droplets fell until I was sobbing, shaking, convulsing. I sobbed until my eyes swelled shut, sobbed for the family I had lost, both my parents and Michael, sobbed for the things I had done.

While I had probably destroyed families, I had also rid the world of evil. People slept peacefully because of the kills I had made. I had to be content with that knowledge. And know that Michael had done the same.

Finally, I drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke, the surroundings were unfamiliar to me at first. It seemed like an eternity since I had gazed at this room, and it took me a minute to recall that I was inside my new apartment. The canopied bed, the coffee-colored walls. Lucius was still asleep, was still beside me.

I lumbered off the mattress and stumbled into the kitchen, where I fixed myself a gla.s.s of sugar water. I drank deeply. I was just refilling my gla.s.s, with every intention of dumping the contents in Lucius's face to wake him up, when he raced into the kitchen, a wild glaze in his ice-blue eyes. He stilled when he spied me.

"I now own you," were the first words out of my mouth. "You're bought and paid for."

"My G.o.d, Eden. I nearly killed myself with worry about you."

"I know the feeling."

He stalked toward me, and his hard expression was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Something I couldn't read glowed in those electric eyes of his. My heart thumped in my chest as he jerked me into his embrace.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said roughly. Rawly. He pushed me to arm's length. "Where the h.e.l.l have you been? What happened?"

"I-"

His gaze went to my mouth. "Explain later. I've missed you too much." Then he was kissing me.

We didn't make it to the bed. We just pulled off each other's clothes and went at it on the self-warming kitchen tile. I couldn't touch him enough. My hands were all over him, and his were all over me.

We strained and moved together, and when he entered me, I screamed with the force of my climax. His soon followed mine. And this time, we let the walls reverberate with the sounds of our pleasure.

In the aftermath, we lay together, panting. I explained what had happened to me after the sale. I even told him about Michael killing my parents.

His arms tightened around me. "I didn't know," he said. "I'm so sorry, baby."

"That's cookie to you." I brushed aside the pain inside me and smiled playfully. "And I'll get over it. I need time, that's all. Michael's a good man, and he loves me."

"He loves you a h.e.l.l of a lot. Maybe not as much I do, but he loves you all the same."

I jolted up and spun to face him. He'd offered the words so casually, I was afraid I'd misunderstood. "What did you say?"

His gaze bored deeply into mine. He didn't pretend to misunderstand. "I love you. I have for a while."

A weight lifted off my shoulders, and I suddenly felt lighter than air. I felt my mouth curl into a wide grin. "Well, I love you, too."

"Maybe now you can stop trying to prove yourself all the time." He cupped my face in his hands. "I know how great you are. There's no one better."

His words touched me,freed me somehow. I had his love. I'd closed this case and killed my target. Ihad proved myself. Iwas a success. "You're pretty amazing yourself, you know that?"

With a gentle tug, he urged me on top of him. "What did the Targon mean, that you'd made a bargain with him to free me?"

"I kissed him," I said. "Twice. And I'm not sorry. I would have given him everything to save you."

"h.e.l.l, I would kiss him too if it meant saving your life. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. You're mine."

I loved hearing those words.You're mine. "I'd believe you," I said, biting my lower lip and forcing an expression of desolation. "Except..."

"What?" he asked, frowning. "Except what?"

"I don't know your real name." I stroked his abdomen...then his c.o.c.k. "Tell me, and I'll let you come." I squeezed him. Tight.

"Phineas g.a.y.l.o.r.d Hargrove," he said on a moan. "Now what the h.e.l.l does theF stand for?"

"Wait." My hold on him loosened. "Did you say Phineas? Phineas g.a.y.l.o.r.d? You're kidding me, right? Trying to get me to tell you my deepest secret?"

"It's the truth," he growled. "That's my name, so put your hand back where it was."

I laughed until my side hurt. Now I knew why he'd guarded his name so zealously.

He sat up and tapped his fingers against the tile. "I believe you have something to tell me, and I'm tired of waiting."