I glance up at Rick. He grins. “I told him if I ever brought a woman home, her name would be Candace. If I ever married a girl, she’d damn sure be Candace.”
“Been telling me that every time he drank for three years,” Randy assures me.
“Damn vodka,” Rick murmurs.
Damn my heart, is more like it, I think. It swells with just how much this man kept me in his heart. Emotion overwhelms me. “Rick,” I whisper.
He catches my hand and kisses it. “Let’s go see what you think of the apartment.” He eyes Randy. “Can you—”
“Bags on their way up now,” Randy says, giving me a nod. “Welcome to the building.”
“I’m so very glad to be here,” I murmur. “Thank you, Randy.”
Rick slides his arm around my shoulders, and we walk to the elevator. Once we’re there, and our floor is punched in, Rick pulls me to him, holding me close. His hard body next to mine is all it takes to have hell become heaven and fear become anticipation.
When the elevator halts, he catches my hand. “Ready?”
“So very ready.”
I’m smiling when he leads me down a hallway to pause at our door. He unlocks it but before he opens it, he says, “Remember. We can sell this place and pick something of our own.”
“Just open the door, Rick. I can’t wait to see this part of your life.” I reach for the door and he captures me from behind to lean in and murmur, “I can’t wait for you to be a part of my life.”
“You don’t have to wait. I’m already here.” I twist around to face him. “And I’m not going anywhere.” I smile. “Except inside.”
“I’ll carry you and we’ll go straight to bed.”
The elevator dings and a big bulky man exits and charges toward us. Is he another killer like Alejandro? I suck in air and reach for the door, eager to be inside the apartment but my hands won’t work. Rick opens the door and I hurry inside. Rick doesn’t follow. Why isn’t Rick following?
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Candace
I wait a few seconds, willing Rick to appear in the foyer of the apartment but he doesn’t.
I’m in a hallway and that’s all I know. I’m here. He’s not.
This time I will not be stupid. I reach for my purse, and my gun, but suddenly he’s walking inside and setting down our suitcases. He kicks the door shut and locks it before he catches my waist and steps into me.
“What just happened?”
“I don’t know. What just happened?”
“Ned, our neighbor rushed by our doorway, and the doorman brought our bags. What did you think happened?”
“Ned?”
“Ned,” he confirms. “Our neighbor who was running late to a meeting after staying the night at some chick’s house. He was rushing to change.”
“Oh.”
“What did you think happened, baby?”
“I think I’m seeing assassins everywhere.”
His expression tightens. “I’m an assassin, Candace. I don’t know if I say that to offer you comfort or if that just fucks with your head all the more.”
I bristle. “You are not—”
“I was. I was and I am. I killed Tag without a blink. I killed his men with even less of a blink. They were all assassins, paid big money for their skills, and they were dirt under my shoes. Right now, I need you to use that knowledge to feel safe. I will not let anyone, no matter how skilled, hurt you.”
“I’m fine. It was a weird moment. This is new to me and I—you’re not a damn assassin.” I try to turn away from him, to focus on the apartment, but he catches my hand and pulls me back to him.
“Do you know why Kane Mendez owes me a favor?”
I hold up a hand. “I don’t want to know.”
“You need to know who I am before you tell me you love me again.”
“Do not start this again. I’m here, in New York. I am not going to listen to you try to scare me off. I can’t even take that. It freaks me out. It makes me feel unsteady. I love you. I said it. I love you, Rick Savage.”
“Pocher had his woman raped, and she was supposed to be killed, too. She survived, but she was a liability, so Kane flexed his muscle. He made Pocher think that his brother was kidnapped by a rival of the Mendez cartel. Pocher had to go to Kane for help. Kane agreed to help if Lilah was off-limits. I was the rival cartel. I kept Pocher’s brother prisoner and I cut off his damn finger and sent him back to Pocher that way.”
I’m bristling all over again. “Pocher had her raped and wanted to kill her. Was the brother the same monster as Pocher?”
“Yes, but—”
I cut him off. “No but. You don’t kill or hurt good people because damn it, Rick Savage, you’re a good person.” I poke his chest with those words.