Page 60 of Perfect Vengeance

He began thrusting, slowly at first, then increasing the pace until their bodies slapped together. The sofa shook beneath them. Then her entire world shimmied as the most fantastic orgasm blasted her from the inside out, and she screamed her release.

Jack groaned again as he thrust twice more, arching against her, his biceps and pecs bulging.

Their breaths came harsh and raspy. Slowly, he lowered his weight on top of her. Wordlessly, they lay that way for several minutes as their heart rates slowed.

Eventually, Jack eased out of her, then stood and disappeared. A light came on at the end of the hallway. Her bedroom light. Just like that, it was over. A feeling of heaviness settled over her. What have I done?

She’d wanted it hard and fast, and that’s exactly what she’d gotten. That and the most amazing orgasm of her life. So why did she feel so alone at the prospect that he would, once again, walk out of her life?

“Hey.”

She opened her eyes to find him standing beside her. He’d ditched the condom and was still gloriously semi-erect. She’d expected him to be dressed and beelining for the door. Instead, he slipped one arm behind her back, the other beneath her legs. He swung her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

The light was on, and he’d already pulled down the duvet on her bed. He laid her on the mattress, then came around the other side and slipped in, tugging the duvet over their bodies. Leaning on one elbow, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The look on his face was so tender it stole her breath. When he skimmed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek, her heart did a little somersault.

“Let me stay the night,” he whispered as he trailed sweet, gentle kisses along the curve of her neck.

No, her mind screamed. This can never be. Yet she wanted it to be. Whatever it was with Jack, she wanted to find out. “Yes.”

* * *

What am I doing?

Jack kissed the hollow below Gina’s ear. Even as he dropped more kisses on her smooth skin, warning flags snapped wildly in the back of his mind.

He’d gone soft. Marshmallow soft. For one naïve moment, he’d thought he could resist her. When she began kissing him, her sugary vanilla scent filled his lungs and every pore of his body until he’d lost all control. And every stitch of common sense. Then he’d gone and opened his big mouth. Spending the night? An even bigger mistake.

What he ought to do was bolt out the door. From the look on her face moments ago, that was exactly what she’d expected him to do, but he couldn’t. More importantly, he didn’t want to. Why, he didn’t know. The only thing he was certain of was that he cared for Gina. A lot. There’d been something electric crackling between them since day one.

The timing sucked, and one thing he had no time for was complication. He had to finish his investigation before even thinking of getting involved with anyone. Then again, he was already involved. He could easily get uninvolved by getting dressed, walking out the door, and never seeing Gina again. The thought had his gut clenching with… Fear. Fear of missing out on something good in his life.

As he inhaled her scent deeper into his lungs, he held back a chuckle. If nothing else, he could justify sticking close so he could keep tabs on her. Keep her safe. Unlike what he’d done by sending her into Psycho’s house. Making decisions that led to someone dying filled him with the kind of desperate fear he couldn’t live through again.

He pulled away as a not so deeply embedded suspicion crept into his brain.

Big, soft, brown eyes peered up at him. “What?” she asked. He didn’t answer right away—couldn’t—because damn. His throat was clogged with six kinds of emotions he couldn’t name. Didn’t want to name. “Ah, I see.” She nodded and rolled her lips inward. “You regret what we just did.”

“What?” he blurted out. “I not only don’t regret it, I’m thinking about us doing it again.” Even as he said the words, his dick began springing back into full fighting form.

“Then why do you look like you want to vomit?”

He hadn’t realized he had any look on his face. Except worry, maybe. “There’s something personal going on with you and Franco. What is it?”

She tensed. “He’s a mobster. A criminal posing as a pillar of society. Showing up at our fundraiser was an insult to all of us.”

Her gaze was rock steady, and he already knew she wasn’t a good liar. Every fiber of his being sensed there was more to it. Her reaction to Franco had been off the charts. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

She took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. “Nothing I want to talk about. Please, let it go.”

It was the pleading tone in her voice that got to him. “Okay.” For now. Eventually, he’d get to the bottom of why she’d gotten so stoking hot. “My investigation aside, I’m worried you and your friends will get hurt.” Or worse. His stomach rolled at the idea of Gina or one of her friends lying dead in a cornfield.

When she refused to look at him, he had the answer to at least one of his questions. She’d never stop. “You know I can arrest you if you impede my investigation again.”

“Jack,” she said, a grim expression overtaking her features, “there are women and children out there who will suffer if we can’t get more money.”

“How much does each person need to get set up somewhere?” He honestly didn’t know. Kyle probably did.

“A lot. Discretion and secrecy are expensive.”