Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8)(154)

And he had the weird feeling that the secret was safe with her.

"It doesn't matter to me." She stroked his pec. "And it shouldn't to you."

"How come I never knew you were so smart?"

Her laugh resonated through his own chest. "Maybe because you were being stupid."

Gregg threw his head back and howled. "Yeah, maybe." He kissed her temple. "Maybe . . . definitely. I'm through with that, though."

God . . . he was still unsure exactly what had changed. Well,

everything . . . but the precise why was unknown. He felt like someone had set him right, but he couldn't remember who or where or when.

His eyes went to the computer and he thought of that shadowy ghost.

For some reason, he had an image of a cavernous, empty room on the third floor of this house--and a huge man sitting in a chair with a pool of light hitting only his knees and lower legs.

And then the man leaned forward . . . into the light--

The pain in Gregg's head made him think someone had Basic

Instinct ed his temples, spearing him with a pair of ice picks.

"Are you okay?" Holly asked, sitting up. "Your head again?"

He nodded even though the motion made his vision swim and his

stomach feel like he'd chugged spoiled milk. "Yeah. Probably I need new glasses. Bifocals, even . . . damn."

Holly stroked his hair, and as he stared into her eyes, the agony faded and he felt a strange feeling in his chest. Happiness? he wondered.

Yup. Had to be. Because in all of his adult life he'd been through the full gamut of emotions . . . and he'd never once felt like this. Whole.

Complete. At peace.

"Holly, you are so much more than I thought you were," he

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whispered, brushing her cheek.

As those lovely eyes of hers grew watery, she said, "And you've

turned out to be everything I wished you'd be."

"Well, hasn't this been the show of a lifetime, then?" He kissed her slowly. "And I have the perfect ending."

"You do?"

Gregg nodded and put his mouth to her ear. In a soft whisper, he said,

"I love you."

First time those words had come out of him . . . when he'd actually

meant them.

As she croaked out an "I love you, too," he kissed her and kissed her some more . . . and felt like he owed the moment to a ghost.

Turned out his Cupid was a big shadow with a bad attitude. That

didn't exist in the "real" world.

Then again . . . stranger things had brought people together, hadn't

they. And all that really mattered was that the right pair ended up doing the Hallmark at the end. The means that got them there? Not what ultimately counted.

Besides, now he might be able to stop with the hair color.

Yeah, life was good. Especially when you powered-down your

ego . . . and had the right woman in your bed for the right reasons.

He wasn't letting Holly go this time.

And he was going to take care of her the right way, just as she

deserved for . . . well, forever had a nice ring to it, didn't it.

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FIFTY-EIGHT

Back at the Brotherhood's private clinic, Xhex stood at John's side while Doc Jane X-rayed his leg. Once the pictures were up, it didn't take the good doctor long to come to the conclusion that he had to be operated on--

and even Xhex, in spite of her usual panic at being where she was, could see the problem on the X-ray. The bullet was just too close to the bone for comfort.

While Jane called for Ehlena and then went to change into scrubs,

Xhex crossed her arms over her chest and started pacing.

She could not breathe. And that had been true even before she'd taken a gander at what was doing with John's leg.

When he whistled softly at her, she just shook her head and kept

moving, making a circle around the room. Turned out the trip by all the stainless-steel cabinets with their glass-front doors and their caged medications wasn't a big help: Her heart thundered even more in her chest, going all Bon Jovi on her--the pounding so loud her eardrums were getting an aerobic workout.

God, she'd been struggling since the moment she'd come in here with

him. And now he was being cut open and then sewed back together?

She was going to f*cking lose it.

Although honestly . . . if she tried to be logical about it, that was nuts.

One, it wasn't her body getting worked on. Two, leaving that slug of lead in him was clearly not a good idea. And three . . . helllllllo . . . he was being treated by someone who'd already proven she knew her way around a scalpel.

Great rationalizations. All of which her adrenal gland middle-fingered and then carried right on.

Weren't phobias fun.

The second whistle was a demand and she stopped opposite John,

lifting her eyes to his face. He was cool and relaxed. No hysterics, no freak-out, nothing but calm forbearance of what was coming.

I'm going to be fine, he signed. Jane's done this a million times before.

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Jesus Christ, where the hell was all the air in this room, Xhex

thought--

Like he knew he was losing her, he whistled again and held out his