Page 91 of The Complete Truth Duet
I leaned down, squinting to make him out in the light of the dashboard. “Depends on who’s asking.”
His hand appeared at the open window, five one-hundred-dollar bills fanned out between his fingers.
That was the right answer.
“I am now,” I chirped, dropping my cigarette, not even bothering to toe it out before taking the cash and climbing into his car. “So where you taking me tonight?” I asked seductively, tucking the cash in my bra.
“First?” he growled, locking the doors. “Rehab. Then I’m taking you back to where you belong.”
My head swung in his direction.
Furious blue eyes I’d recognize anywhere glared back at me, but just as quickly, they softened. He snaked a hand out and gave the back of my neck a squeeze as he whispered, “God, it’s good to see you breathing again.”
I gasped, tears filling my vision. “Penn?”
Penn
One minute before I lost her…
A hotel room. That’s where I was leaving Cora.
A fucking hotel room with shitty commercial carpet that made my skin crawl. Sure, it was a nice place with full-time security, and I’d made sure we were on the top floor, but the idea of leaving her in a goddamn hotel room had turned my blood to sludge.
It was the only way. I needed her out of that apartment building for a night—and then forever.
I stared at the side of her face, her lips parted in slumber, and committed each and every curve to memory. Her smooth skin, her long lashes, even that tiny mole below her lip.
All of it was mine.
She was mine.
And in order to save her, I had to let her go.
I could give her the money. I had enough. But as long as the Guerrero brothers were still sharing the Earth’s oxygen, she’d never be free.
They would find her, manipulate her, punish her, and I had not one doubt they would ultimately kill her.
And while I was out exacting revenge for a woman I’d loved but hadn’t been able to save, the cycle would repeat itself.
We all had choices in life.
I could have stayed.
I could have kept Cora.
I could have taken her and River away, put them up in a fancy house with private security, but they’d always be looking over their shoulders.
That wasn’t freedom. That was moving them from one prison to another.
And it would have solved nothing.
Thomas Lyons, the very man who had ordered my wife’s death, was a part of Cora’s world. From what I could tell, she was helping his wife, Catalina, and his daughter, Isabel, hide from him. One day, he’d find out and come after Cora too.
My worlds had officially bled together, and Thomas, the city’s beloved district attorney with the perfect record, was the source of the wound.
So, at the end of the day, I had no choice at all.
The only thing I could do was keep the blood off her hands.
Even if that meant stabbing myself in the heart and disappearing from her life altogether.
She’d be okay.
She’d recover, move on, make a life of her own.
I wouldn’t. Not ever. But I’d at least be able to rest at night, knowing she was safely sleeping under the stars.
One in. One out.
I closed my eyes, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then filled my lungs with all things Cora Guerrero.
Her laugh.
Her smile.
Her kind heart.
Her selfless nature.
The way she loved.
The way she gave.
The way she’d brought me back to life.
“Truth,” I whispered against her temple. “I love you.”
She didn’t budge as I crawled out of bed.
She didn’t budge as I waged war with my body in order to force my legs to carry me away from her.
And she didn’t budge when the flames of hell finally devoured me as I stepped into the hall and silently pulled the door shut.
“You ready?” Drew asked.
I’d texted him the minute her breathing had evened out. Though I’d probably kept him waiting longer than I should have.
I ground my teeth to cover the emotion. “Swear to me you will take care of her.”
His fierce, brown eyes locked on my blues. “Swear to me you will kill those motherfuckers and then come back alive.”
I extended a hand in his direction. “Done.”
He grinned, clapping his hand with mine. “Then you have my word.”
We started toward the elevator on the same foot, my entire body screaming as I left her there. I had known that it was wrong the minute I’d decided to do it. But my back was against the wall.
“I don’t feel right about letting her think I was stealing the money,” I told him.
His hand snaked out, catching my bicep, stopping me mid-step. “You have to do that. Do you hear me? You are not another man she needs to spend thirteen years pining after. You get her money, put it in your toolbox, and make it look like Dante and Marcos just happened to show up as you were taking off with it.”
