Page 44 of Intent to Kill
“That was pretty fun,” Adam said.
Mercedes said nothing, keeping her expression grim.
“You know it was,” Adam said again.
He grunted as they herded the car toward the edge of the cliff. It was harder than he remembered. He guessed in his absence cars hadn’t gotten heavier, just harder for him to handle. Fuck, he wasn’t that old. T.B. must’ve done some work on it or–
“You good?” Mercedes shot him an amused look.
“This is... fucking heavy,” Adam admitted, puffing.
With a final push, the car disappeared over the cliff. They both rushed to watch it smash. It was fast to fall, landing trunk first on the grounds below and crumpling into a wreck.
Adam loved the look of the mess they’d made all broken at the bottom of the cliff, but Mercedes was chewing on her lip like she liked the look of it, too. Like she liked it a lot, so he couldn’t tear his gaze away.
“Come celebrate with us,” Adam blurted out. “Promise I’ll behave.”
She lost all that wicked beauty from her eyes in an instant. “Don’t do that,” she said, seriousness crinkling her features.
“Do what?”
“This... all of this, with us,” she said. She folded her arms and brushed her hair from her face. “I’m not here for you, Adam, you’re not going to change that.”
Ouch. He supposed he deserved that.
“I told you upfront I’m here for them.” She jerked her head over to the others. “One little win doesn’t change that.”
He genuinely had nothing to say to that. It was rare that he found himself rendered speechless. That he didn’t have something snarky to say.
“Well stay for them,” he said. “The team doesn’t feel complete without you, they feel it, too.”
“It’s not like before, Adam,” she said. “We don’t. I mean, I can’t.”
“And if you could?”
“Then I wouldn’t want to,” she said, ducking her face away. “Let’s not make this more awkward or any harder than it has to be. We’re not it for each other anymore. You know that. Don’t pretend this is something it isn’t.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, hearing her boots pound gravel as she walked away. He promptly pulled his heart out of his throat and smothered his emotions down.
“Take me home,” she said to Paul.
Fuck—home should’ve been with him.
9
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE
MARCH 1991
Mercedes was fast to rise the next day. Being back in the driver’s seat, literally and figuratively, made her feel more awake and alive than ever. It was like a five-year fog on her brain was finally lifting. And once again she could see.
At the same time, her heart carried the weight of her burdens. Her friends had jumped so easily back into Adam’s embrace. How could she possibly do the same? Not when she held so much resentment for the choices he’d made.
She knew it was hurting her team, to keep herself on the outskirts, but she couldn’t bring herself to the forefront. Even as her stupid, dumb, foolish little heart pulled her back toward the person she’d once thought was the love of her life, her brain—sensible, smart—wouldn’t let it take the reins.
She was coming down the marble stairs when she heard murmuring voices in the ground-floor living room.
“That sounds like more than a hiccup, T.B.,” Dorian said. His tone was scathing.
