Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 174(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Anniston’s hand tightens on my thigh.
We move to the hard drives next. I copy everything to an encrypted external before we open any files. The deeper we dig, the worse it gets. Financial trails. Offshore accounts. A list of compromised officials. And buried in one folder—communications showing my father had been feeding them false information for months while trying to dismantle the network from the inside.
He was playing them.
“He’s alive,” I say quietly, staring at the screen. “And he’s been fighting this the whole time.”
Anniston leans her head on my shoulder. “We have enough here to bury them, Banks. The recordings, the files, the money trails. It’s over for Langford.”
I nod, but my mind’s still racing. We send encrypted copies to Crewe, Mack, and Vance through a secure dead-drop channel. By morning, this should be exploding across every major news outlet.
I close the laptop and turn to Anniston. The fear, the relief, and everything we’ve been through tonight crashes over me at once. I cross the room in three long strides and pull her into my arms without saying a word. She melts against me instantly, arms wrapping around my neck as I lift her off the ground. Her legs circle my waist like they belong there. I kiss her hard and deep, pouring every ounce of feeling I have into it. The fear I felt when that gun was pressed to her temple. The relief of surviving. The love I have for her.
She kisses me back with the same desperate relief, fingers threading through my hair, soft little sounds escaping her throat that make heat rush through my body. When we finally break apart, I rest my forehead against hers, breathing her in.
“It’s over,” I murmur. “The worst of it, anyway. We’ll leak everything. The hard drives, the recordings, all of it. By morning the entire consultancy network should be burning. Victor Langford will be finished.”
She smiles, soft and tired and so damn beautiful it hurts. “We did it, Banks.”
“We did.” I carry her over to the couch and sit down with her straddling my lap. My hands slide under the hem of her shirt, stroking warm, smooth skin. “I meant what I said on the road. I’m keeping you, Anniston. When this mess with my family is done, I want you in my life. Every single day. I want mornings where I wake up with you in my arms. I want nights where I fall asleep listening to you breathe. I want the quiet life and the dangerous one, as long as I get to have them with you.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears. She cups my face with both hands, thumbs brushing over the stubble on my jaw. “I want that too. So much. I love you, Banks Hawthorne. Grumpy protector and all. I love how steady you are. I love how you make me feel safe even when the world is falling apart. I love how you look at me like I’m the only thing that matters. I love you.”
I kiss her again, slower this time. Deeper. The kind of kiss that says forever instead of just tonight. She sighs into my mouth and rocks against me, and suddenly the relief turns into heat. My hands tighten on her hips as I pull her closer, letting her feel exactly how much I need her.
We don’t make it to the bed.
I strip the shirt off her right there on the couch, mouth finding her breasts, sucking and licking until she’s arching and moaning my name. Then I remove her jeans and panties. She tugs at my shirt until I yank it off, then her hands are everywhere, tracing every scar, every muscle like she’s memorizing me. When I slide my fingers between her thighs she’s already soaked and ready.
“So wet for me,” I murmur against her neck, voice rough. “Always so ready, baby.”
She gasps as I push two fingers inside her, curling them slowly while my thumb circles her clit. I watch her face the entire time, loving the way her lips part and her eyes flutter half-closed. I add a third finger, stretching her gently, and she rides my hand with soft, desperate rolls of her hips.
“Banks… please…”
I pull my fingers out and replace them with my cock in one smooth, deep thrust. We both groan at the same time. She’s so tight, so warm, so perfect. I stay buried deep for a long moment, savoring the feel of her around me, before I start moving in long, slow strokes.
“I love you,” I whisper against her mouth as I thrust deeper. “I love you so damn much.”
She clings to me, nails digging into my shoulders, meeting every roll of my hips. “I love you too. So much.”
We move together, unhurried and tender. There’s no rush tonight. No danger pressing in on us. Just us. I kiss her through every moan, every gasp, telling her how beautiful she is, how perfect she feels, how I’m never letting her go. When she comes, she cries out my name, clenching around me so sweetly it pulls me over the edge right after her. I bury myself deep and stay there, pulsing inside her as pleasure washes over us both.