“I don’t think there are enough stars in the sky to count how many times a day I fall in love with you all over again.”
Lake sidled next to Luke, sliding her arm around his back. He hugged her to him.
“Here.” She pulled one of the white roses from the bouquet and handed it to her brother. “It should have been Jess’s, but she gave me an early birthday present. Marry her, Luke. Marry. Her.” She reached up and kissed him on the cheek then hugged Jessica again before twirling off to the dance floor.
“Not even close to enough stars in the sky.” Luke shook his head and tucked the rose behind Jessica’s ear as he pressed his lips to hers. “Race you to the lake,” he whispered over her lips, smiling so big his face hurt.
He backed slowly toward the door. Jessica remained statuesque, lips parted. Her whole face spelled shock. Luke nodded his head toward the exit. With a deep breath, a smile grew along her lips as her eyes gleamed with excitement.
The second he stepped outside he made a dash for the lake, knowing she would be not more than a breath behind him.
“Jones!” she squealed, chasing him down the tree-lined path to the lake.
Jacket, tie, shirt … he tossed them to the wind. The adrenaline-fed insanity made him feel more alive than he ever imagined possible. He took a quick look over his shoulder as his legs continued to propel him forward. Long dark hair flowed behind his living dream. Her shoes tossed to the sand, and with each step she ran right out of her dress. Stopping at the water’s edge, he slipped out of the rest of his clothes.
Jessica flew into his arms, sending him stumbling back into the cool water. It engulfed their tangled bodies beneath a star-studded sky—so many stars.
They emerged breathless, her body wrapped around his. “Luke …” she rested her forehead against his. “Thank you.”
“Thank you?”
She smiled. “William Arthur Ward. ‘God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one of them to say thank you?’”
He closed his eyes as his heart swelled even more.
Never. Enough. Stars.
*
Knight
“Thank you? Okay then, Dr. Jones. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Through a haze of smoke, Knox smirked around his cigar, taking another slow draw, a slight squint to his already beady, dark eyes. He looked at his watch. “If all goes well, we’ll have you home by curfew.”
“What about Jessica? She looked miserable … not like a woman living of her own free will.”
Snuffing the end of his cigar in the ashtray, Knox looked at Luke with a hint of pleasure in his eyes. “The guy she’s been fucking is dying. Cancer … a real bitch.
Luke closed his eyes. Numb.
“Now. You’re going to wake up in your own bed tomorrow morning feeling much like you did when you arrived here—groggy and disoriented. That blow to your head earlier is going to give you one hell of a headache. I’d suggest taking something for it as soon as you wake. Once your mind stops spinning and the memories from today start to fall back into place, you’re going to have the urge to tell someone—friends, family, the police. Don’t. Everyone you tell dies. Any questions?”
Luke stared at the table. Someone brought Jessica back to life just to kill her in front of him. Another man. She was with another man—a man who was dying. The pain seeped into his chest like poison.
His body stiffened, rejecting Knox’s condescending hand that landed on his shoulder.
“If it were me, I’d get drunk off my ass, stick my dick in as much pussy as possible, burn everything that bears her memory, and get on with my fucking life.”
Knox opened the door and nodded. Two men stepped in the room. One of them handed Knox a syringe. He pulled the cap off with his teeth then spit it on the floor.
“Are you ready to go home, Dr. Jones?”
“Why fake her death?” Luke continued to stare at the table as Knox held his head to the side with one arm while pressing the tip of the syringe to his neck with his other hand.
“Nobody looks for dead people.”
Stick. Burn. Black.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Knight
Thanksgiving was two days away and for the first time in her life Ryn had no plans. Her parents, not knowing about Jackson’s it’s-not-you-it’s-me breakup, decided to take a cruise assuming Ryn would be with him since Maddie would be with Preston. Ryn dropped the restraining order and if her stubborn daughter would have answered her calls or listened to her messages, she’d have known that. Instead Ryn was on her way to clean AJ’s house per Jillian’s request and then Jillian and Jackson’s place. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Jackson since their breakup the previous week.