Page 38 of Royal Salvation

“I’m so sorry. You did a good thing, an honourable thing, and you got punished instead of commended.”

Reaper shrugged as she leaned on his arm, kissing his shoulder. “It’s fine. I came to terms with it and found my place with Shadow. They’re a true team. They’d die for me, and I’d lay down my life for them.”

“They’re good people.”

He nodded slowly. “They are. Not in the conventional sense that society dictates but yes, they’re good people.”

“So, you think this man is targeting me, but why?”

He shook his head, none of the searches had come back with any leads. “I don’t know but you’re a threat to him in some way.” His head dipped to hers and he kissed her hair, loving the scent of the sea and her shampoo when his lips touched her head.

“Have you any idea?”

Lucía shook her head. “No, I figured I was a target for who I was, not what I had seen but there is one thing. A photograph I took a long time ago, but I don’t have a way to identify the man in the image and nobody would print it.”

Reaper sat straighter, his gut telling him this was important, and he angled toward her, gently grasping her biceps. “Where is it?”

“On a thumb drive. I keep it on my key ring.”

He shook his head at the naivete of doing such a thing, then wondered if she wasn’t right to keep it close. “Do you have it with you?”

“It’s back at the house. Why? Do you think it might be important?”

“I don’t know but I think it’s worth us taking a look. We can have Watchdog go through and see if it’s linked in some way.”

Lucía jumped to her feet and began packing up her stuff, looking down at him as she paused. “Come on, we need to go.”

He stood and helped her pack up and shot a text to Bishop that they might have something and to wait for his instructions. The reply was instant.

“I thought someone lit a fire under your girl.”

“She ain’t my girl.”

“You sure about that? Because if Bás saw what I did, he’d have your balls in a vice.”

“It’s not his business or yours, so butt out.”

“Roger that, pretty boy.”

Caleb had luckily brought his own car, so Reaper shot him a quick text to let him know they were headed home. His hand on Lucía’s back, his body alert for any danger, he walked to the car. Suddenly it felt like the outside world was crashing back in and he knew why he’d put off this conversation with her until she brought it up. It was because he didn’t want to find a reason to cut what they had short.

Chapter 16

Lucía felt a sense of urgency in the pit of her stomach that mixed with a sudden feeling of dread. The minute she’d mentioned the photograph that had shaped her career, the reality of her life had become real again, this vacation from the real world ending abruptly. Rushing towards the bag where she kept her keys for the cottage, she rooted around inside and grasped the bundle. Justice stood at her back, his large body covering hers, the awareness from earlier still thrumming through her blood, and he touched her shoulder as if grounding her.

She dragged the keys out and shoved them at him as he frowned at the fluffy teddy keyring. “Here.”

“What’s this?”

His confusion would’ve been comical if not for the seriousness of the situation. Lucía took the keys from him and began to unscrew the teddy bear’s head to reveal a USB drive.

His eyebrows rose and he took it back. “Ingenious.”

She smiled at his back as he headed for the door. She followed as he went to his room and logged into his computer, which had been secured by Watchdog so it was safe to use.

His fingers were swift over the keys, and she wondered if there was anything this man couldn’t do. Her body heated with the memories of what those hands had done to her and how much pleasure he’d given her.

“Password?”