Wicked Dirty (Stark World 2)

For the first couple of days, I'd been hounded by reporters, but after a while they got bored with my repeated, "No comment."

"Do you want me to come over this weekend and help you pack? I was talking with Joy and Nessie at Blacklist the other night, and they're both down for a packing maratho

n."

"Not really, but you probably should." I sigh heavily. "I have two weeks before the court rules, and then I'll probably have a few weeks after that before I have to actually vacate."

"It'll suck worse if you wait and do it all at the last minute."

"I know. I just hate believing it's real, even though I know it is." I flash an ironic smile his way. "I guess I have one thing to thank Lyle for. Everything with him has totally kept my mind off my impending homelessness."

I punch in the code for the front door. "I just miss him," I say as I open the door--

--and see that he's standing right there.

Right in the middle of my living room, looking at me and holding a rose.

"Hey," he says with a small smile. "I brought a peace offering."

I take it, my pulse fluttering, and raise the petals to my nose.

"Hi, Greg," he says. "Do you think you could--"

"I'll go," Greg says, then turns to me. "You do want me to go, right?"

I nod.

"Then I will, but before I go, I just want to say that I hope you're here to try to work this out. Because I swear, if you hurt her, I'm going to string you up by the balls and then drywall over you. It'll be a century before they find your body."

"Noted," Lyle says, without cracking a smile. "As far as I'm concerned that's completely fair."

"Well, all right then."

I give Greg a hug and promise to call in the morning. Then I shut the door behind him and turn back to Lyle.

"Thanks again," I say, lifting my rose. "I should go put it in water."

"Wait." He grabs my wrist as I try to walk by him, and I have to close my eyes in defense against my reaction. It's been days since I've seen him, and the feel of his skin on mine has fired my senses. It's hard enough to think standing this close to him. With physical contact, it's damn near impossible.

"Please." I gently tug free. "I can't do this if you're touching me. I need to be able to think."

"What do you need to think about?"

I shake my head. "I don't know. And I guess it doesn't matter if you touch me or not. The truth is that you're all I think about, anyway."

He reaches for me, and I flinch back. But he holds me steady, then gently brushes my hair behind my ear. "I'm so sorry. I'm so goddamned sorry."

I close my eyes fighting tears as darkness seems to settle over me. Because I know what that means.

That means it's all over.

"It should never have taken me so long."

The words sink slowly into my mind, and I open my eyes to see him smiling.

"You're the one who pulled me back from the dark. Who made me see what's important."

"Did I?"