Page 14 (1/1)

"What’s wrong, Lizzie?" he asked in a low enough voice not to be overheard "Is everything okay?"

She sing on by a thread here and anything she could do in order to survive the co private conversation with Dane once the others had dispersed, she’d latch on to with both hands and hold on to for dear life

"Just wondering when the fuck our estee-winded," sheto say

To cover the brightness of her smile, she bared her teeth in a barely noticeable snarl, because that too was so her "Don’t they have wives to go ho our tiave a light chuckle, relief flaring in his eyes, and she did aover on Dane was cause for self-congratulation because theHe always had his eyes on every single person, his ears glued to every conversation, attuned to the slightest differences in tone, body language If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the man was psychic because his poere superhuh DSS wasn’t accusto with soh her chest, te her of breath The women that had married the men of DSS all had kickass powers Powers that defied scientific explanation But then Eliza had no proble in the extraordinary Because thelike these woood They were everything that was right in a fucked-up world, filled with monsters who preyed on the innocent And Eliza had allowed this s she’d wanted, craved, had never had in her young life and that uilty as he

"Lizzie?" Daneand swear to God if you tellyour pretty neck"

Oh well, it was now or never, and it wasn’t as if she had any plans of disappearing without a da thevacation He just didn’t have to know the reason behind her leave of absence

He’d likely be relieved None of the ass made her teeth clench and put her in a fouloperation to take down the last of the people hunting DSS, and in particular Ramie, Ari and Gracie A request for vacation to recover from her "injuries" would probably beas she wanted and not to hurry back to work

She felt athe co camaraderie that her position at DSS offered The first true home she’d ever had The justice system had failed her It had failed the countless woton raped and tortured and ht when she closed her eyes Many nights she couldn’t sleep for the sounds of torture playing over and over in her broken heart and in the shattered pieces of her soul Knowing it was her fault She had done this to so many women because she’d been weak and needy and too stupid to know that behind the face of kindness--of love--lurked a monster with abilities of unlimited power and a sick, twisted mind to utilize every psychic tool in his arsenal

She quickly yanked herself fro itated and worried by the minute It was the last she was ot worried and then she fed hi vacation, he’d never believe her He’d put her under lock and key and suffer no re on in herGracie or any of the other women to ferret out any information he felt would keep Eliza froladly offer their help because they felt they owed Eliza She’d been there when each of them had needed help She’d risked her life to save thele hesitation They didn’t owe her a godda her job even if they weren’t a job to her, but people she loved

Dahed and gave him her best "busted" look

"I just wish they’d hurry the hell up," she gru I wanted to talk to you about after this co Preferably in private"

Left unsaid, but understood by Dane, judging by the softness that suddenly transfor, concerned look to one more of simple question, he well knew that while Caleb and Beau owned and ran DSS and signed all their paychecks, Eliza was his His team, his partner The tere the closest of any two of the operatives orked within the group, not as partners, though Beau and Zack shared a si to rely on each other rather than the larger group as a whole

Which made what she had to do all theDane She was repaying all the faith he’d displayed in her, his respect of her, the fact that he treated her as an equal, a partner--with treachery and lying

She tried to console herself with the fact that at the end of the day she’d rather have hiain and for her to be out of a job than to confide everything to him and have him end up dead

Because Dane wouldn’t back off It wouldn’t be aher to knohat she was talking about and believing the very real danger they were all in But he would never leave her to face a oing against every single er alone Dane would do it without a single regret

He’d be at her side, taking her back, just like so ether or die together And Dane would die

A wave of grief consual technicality and a s lawyer, Tho years

Eliza wanted to scream until her voice si she was on borrowed ti out in a week, she wasn’t going to bring hi on the justice system to protect her, to protect those women and seek justice for those he’d destroyed