Alpha One (Shadow Agents 1)

As if he’d ever leave her to that hell. He’d been ready to bring that whole place down, brick by brick, in order to get her out.

“John...asked me if I’d ever been in love.” Her laugh was brittle. “That’s one of the things you think about before death, right? Did you love? Are you dying without that regret?”

That knot was getting bigger every moment. “You told him that you loved me.”

“I even gave him your name,” Juliana admitted in a sad rush. “With his connections, it would have been so easy for him to do a check on you and to—”

“Find the cabin under my name.” Hell. The pieces fit. And that sure explained how Guerrero’s men had tracked her so quickly.

“When you got me out, I didn’t think what I’d said mattered.” Sadness trembled in her tone. “I mean, I’d told him how you felt so I never expected—”

Logan caught her hands, pulling them away from her body. The tumble of her words froze and she stared up at him with parted lips. “How did I feel?” It scraped him raw on the inside to think that she’d been talking with Guerrero, laying her beautiful soul bare.

Juliana swallowed. “I told him that you didn’t love me back.”

His focus centered only on her. On the rasp of her breathing. The scent of vanilla. The ghost of pain in her eyes.

“So I thought he’d know there was nothing between us. I never thought he’d go into your life or that he’d—”

Logan put his mouth on hers. His tongue slipped past her lips. The

kiss was probably too hard, too rough, but so was he right then.

I told him that you didn’t love me back.

Her hands rose to his shoulders. Her mouth moved against his, gentling him.

After a few moments, Logan forced his head to lift. He stared down at her. “You didn’t...you didn’t do anything wrong.” His voice came out as a growl.

She gave him a faint smile. “Yes, I did. But I won’t make any more mistakes again. I promise.” Then she turned, pulling away. With slow steps, Juliana headed back to the bedroom.

But she had it wrong. The fault wasn’t hers. He was the one who’d screwed up. The one who’d never told her the truth.

“Logan...come back to bed with me.”

His head jerked up. He’d been staring at the floor. At nothing.

Now he saw that she’d looked back over her shoulder at him. Her hand was up, reaching for him.

He should tell her the truth. She wasn’t a kid any longer. Neither was he. He would tell her. Because of Susan, he’d have no choice.

If he didn’t tell Juliana about that dark night, Susan would.

Guerrero will. The guy would be digging into his past, learning every secret that he could. And he’d try to use those secrets against her.

Maybe Juliana thought that Logan didn’t care, but Guerrero...

“Logan?”

Guerrero would figure out the truth.

He rushed to her. Took her hand. Kissed her.

I loved you back.

Juliana might have gotten over him. She might just be looking for pleasure in a world gone to hell, but she mattered to him.

Always had.