Maya Banks - Sweet Surrender

“You what?” Connor demanded.

He ignored Connor and looked Pop in the eye. “I care about your daughter. I’ve tried my best not to. I’ve tried to stay away from her. I’m the reason she took this damn vacation. I upset her, and now it’s time for me to make things right. I can’t make it right if I’m stuck lying to her some more.”

Pop didn’t so much as flinch. He met Gray’s stare with a steady gaze. “You can make it right when the bastard who is threatening her is behind bars. There’s no sense upsetting her needlessly. Her mother has caused her enough grief. If she knows what her fool mother has done, you won’t be able to keep her away from here. She’ll worry that Celia is in trouble. It could be days before we catch this guy. There’s no sense in having her worried sick the entire time.”

“I don’t like it,” Gray said.

“I’m not that crazy about it either,” Connor muttered. Gray noticed the sideways glance Connor threw at Pop.

“She’s not a child,” Gray pointed out.

“You didn’t seem to have any problems keeping the truth from her when it suited your purpose,” Pop said, anger rising in his voice again.

Gray looked up at the ceiling in frustration. They were wasting so much valuable time in a ridiculous pissing match. He needed to find Faith and make sure she was protected. He returned his gaze to Pop. “Look, when I got here, I had no idea if Faith was innocent or not. How was I supposed to? For all I knew, she was completely aware of her mother’s situation. I didn’t know Faith. I had to treat her like any other potential suspect. I know now that she’s not involved, and I don’t like lying to her any more than I already have.”

“And I don’t want her hurt,” Pop said quietly. “She’s my daughter. I love her. If I can keep the knowledge that her mother was willing to allow her latest boyfriend to harm her own daughter over money, then by God I will.”

Gray closed his eyes. “All right. Fine.”

What an impossible situation. His mind raced to find a way to make everything work. How was he supposed to just show up, crash Faith’s vacation and act like he didn’t have an ulterior motive for being there? He doubted she’d be overjoyed to see him. He imagined being able to level with her but instead he’d be going to her with more deceit.

But everything else would have to be real. He’d have to show her what was real. And what was real was his attraction to her, his need to see if they had any shot at the kind of relationship they both wanted.

Could he pull that off as the real reason for tracking her down? That part wouldn’t be a lie. He’d very much wanted to level with her and then pursue this thing between them. Only now, he’d have to go about it bass-ackwards. Pursue, then level.

Hell.

The office building resembled the monthly meeting of the SWAT team just an hour later. Policemen, friends of Pop’s, littered the offices of Malone’s, and the buzz of a dozen different conversations reverberated through the building. Amid the chaos Micah walked cautiously in, a bewildered expression on his face.

“What the fuck is going on?” he asked from the doorway of Pop’s office.

All four men turned around, their cell phones to their ears. Pop tossed his aside. “Do you know where Faith is?” he demanded.

A peculiar look crossed Micah’s face. “Uh, why do you ask? What’s going on?”

Gray rose and walked over to where Micah stood. “If you know where she is, tell me. She’s in a lot of danger.”

Micah’s gaze sharpened. He lowered his voice so only Gray would hear. “She’s at Damon’s beach house.”

“Who the fuck is Damon?” Gray growled.

“He’s the manager of The House, the guy who set Faith up to visit. You probably saw him when you went to get her.”

“Yeah, I saw him,” Gray muttered. What the hell was she doing with the sex club guy?

“She’s alone,” Micah said as if reading Gray’s thoughts.

“Would you two care to share with the rest of us?” Connor demanded. “Micah, if you know where Faith is, then you better spill it.”

“I know where she is. Now who’s going to tell me why our office looks like a policemen’s union meeting and what that has to do with Faith being in danger?”

Gray quickly related the story to Micah. Micah frowned and glanced over at Gray. “So all this time you were jacking us around?”

Gray sighed. “I had a job to do, man. You were a cop. You understand.”

A dull shadow crossed Micah’s eyes. “Yeah, I do.”

A commotion in the hall had them all looking up. A few seconds later, Mick came barreling past several policemen. He hadn’t shaven in at least a week, and he looked like hell.

“Damn it, Mick, what are you doing here?” Gray demanded.

“Where else would I be?” he ground out. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

Gray sighed. “I can’t be involved in this, Mick, and neither can you. I’ll give you the key to my apartment. You can go stay there. The police will notify you when an arrest has been made.”

“The hell you say! And where the hell are you going?”

“I’m going to make sure Faith stays out of harm’s way,” he said evenly. “Hopefully this will all be over quickly.”

“You’re leaving?” Mick asked incredulously. “You’re going to let some piece of ass deter you from catching your partner’s—your brother’s—killer?”

In a blur, Connor flew past Gray and shoved Mick against the wall, his hand twisted in Mick’s shirt. “Listen to me, you son of a bitch. That’s my sister you’re talking about. Why don’t you do what Gray told you and get the fuck out of here.”

Pop strode over and pulled Connor away. Though he appeared calmer than Connor, his eyes blazed with anger. “Back off, son. Me and Mr. Winslow here will have a little chat. And then he’s going to clear his ass out of my office.” He turned to Gray. “You need to get on out of here. You’re supposed to be protecting my daughter.”

Gray started to dig around in his pocket for a key to his apartment, but Pop waved him on. “I’ll take care of making sure Mr. Winslow has a place to stay. You focus on your job, and we’ll do ours. I’ll be in touch and let you know how things are going and when it’s safe to come back home.”

Gray nodded then turned to Micah. “I need you to tell me where.”

Micah walked out to the front with Gray and picked up a tablet of paper and a pen and jotted down an address. He tore off the piece of paper and handed it to Gray. “Just head straight down Seawall Boulevard out of town. You can’t miss it. Just about the time you think you’re going to fall off the other end of the island, you’re there.”

“Thanks,” Gray said. “Look, keep me posted okay? You weren’t here this morning, and the guys are pretty pissed over this. I don’t blame them, but I need to be kept in the loop, and Pop is adamant that Faith not know any of what’s going on. If I had to guess, he’s not going to be calling much.”

Micah nodded. “Will do, man. Let me know if you need anything.”

By the time Gray arrived at the beach house, it was close to sunset. He pulled onto the paved circle drive and parked outside the steps leading up to the front door. As he got out, he eyed the bags he’d packed but decided to wait and bring them in later.

He jogged up the steps and tapped at the door. Déjà vu settled over him as he recalled doing the exact same dance at her apartment earlier that morning.

This time when she didn’t answer, he didn’t waste any time letting himself in to make sure she was all right. He stepped into the spacious living room and took in the masculine decor. Definitely a bachelor pad. Didn’t have a woman’s touch at all. He briefly wondered if Damon had planned to join Faith here and scowled at the thought.

When his gaze lighted on the French doors leading out to the deck, he saw an arm draped over the side of a lounger. Faith’s hand dangled and brushed the floor.

He hurried, and when he got close enough, he could see that she was curled up asleep. Quietly, so as not to wake her, he eased outside, closing his eyes in appreciation when the gulf breeze blew over his face.

But as his gaze lowered to Faith’s sleeping form, his appreciation only grew. She looked beautiful. One hand dangled from the lounger, the other curled underneath her chin. Her chest rose and fell gently with each breath, and the breeze lifted the blond strands of her hair and blew them around her face.

All the way down here, he’d convinced himself that he’d tell her the truth no matter what Pop wanted. But now that he looked at her, so fragile and innocent, he understood why Pop wanted to protect her. Hell, he wanted to protect her. Wrap her in cotton and make sure nothing ever hurt her.

She wanted to be taken care of, and what man wouldn’t want to? She was sweet, soft and delicate in all the right places. As he stood watching her, she stirred and moved restlessly on the lounger. Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked as she looked at him, and then her eyes widened in surprise.

“Gray?” she asked sleepily. “What are you doing here?”

He bent and ran a finger down her arm. “I hope you haven’t been lying out here all day. You’ll burn.”

“Was in the shade most of the day,” she mumbled. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?”

She shifted and sat up in the seat and continued to regard him with sleepy eyes.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he said simply.

Her expression was disbelieving.

“I know I’ve acted like an ass,” he said. “The fact is, Faith, you threw me for a loop.”

He knelt on the wood deck, shifting his weight to alleviate the discomfort on his knees. She placed a gentle finger over his lips, and he was shocked into silence.