Still Not Over You(70)

But urgency pushes heavy on my brain, reminding me what happened, memory rushing back in a fierce pull. I have to tell him.

“Landon, Dallas...he poisoned Milah. Slipped something in her wine. He's trying to –”

“Tried to,” he cuts in, growling the words gruffly into my hair, his hold tightening around me. “And he tried to poison you. Strychnine. Low dose so it'd kill you slowly, and wouldn't show up too obvious in your system. Asshole thinks he’s a Bond villain.”

My heart seizes. Holy hell. It's hard to believe how close I came.

I could be dead right now. I swallow something huge and bitter. “And Milah? Is she...”

“She’ll be fine, Reb. They got to her in time. Same as you.” He strokes my back soothingly. “Low dose meant there was enough time for the medics to get antidotes into your blood. You just need time. Rest.”

“And you,” I whisper. “I need you.”

Fighting back tears, I bury my face in his chest, never wanting to come up for air again. “You saved me, Landon. Saved my whole life.”

“No.” He pulls back, clasping my face in his warm, coarse palms, looking at me with those bright blue eyes open and raw and so honest. “You saved me.”

“You?”

“Dallas killed my father,” he says, words coming off his tongue hard and bitter. “He told me. Right out confessed that my old man was innocent, and he and Reg Reese got rid of him because he was fucking up their dirty work. Dallas was throwing me off the trail the entire time, pretending to work the investigation. Instead he’s been making sure I don’t get too close to the truth – and I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent that prowler around just to make himself look like a hero. Someone you could trust.”

A chill runs up my back. I burrow my face deeper into his chest. Even after a man's hand shoved poison down my throat, I'm still creeped out by Mr. Hoodie. “You're sure? I can't stand the thought that this might not be over. That we might go home and –”

Crap. I catch myself, calling his home mine. It's too soon for that. But is it?

Landon smiles, a faint smirk bending the edge of his lips. “Totally sure, Reb. A couple Crown guys survived. They're singing like canaries for the cops and the FBI. One of them confessed to trespassing on my property, not long before Dallas showed up that night.”

Thank God. I squeeze him tighter, then attack his lips with a dozen little kisses until he breaks off, laughing. I'll never stop loving that dense, baritone vibration in his chest, his bones, filtering into mine whenever Landon freaking Strauss breaks into his manly laugh.

“Hard to believe, I know,” he says. “Guess Dallas was hoping to catch me off guard and get away. He wanted us both gone, and Enguard broken, so he could sweep up the loose ends and position Crown to control the whole fucking SoCal market, still making plenty of blood money on the side.”

“Horrible,” I whisper, pushing my hands into his.

Landon cocks his head softly. “I almost killed him, Reb. I had that asshole's life in my hands and it would’ve just taken one more little ounce of pressure to crush him. Snuff him out like I wanted to all these years. And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be that man. I couldn't murder. Because that man isn’t the one you believe in.”

This time I can’t choke back the tears.

I can’t even say why I’m crying. There are too many questions hitting me at once.

Relief that Landon didn’t do something so horrible?

Happiness that he really is the man I’ve loved all these years? Even if he was buried underneath his own pain?

Joy that this is over, and maybe now we can both be safe?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

Call it sheer, beautiful love and admiration for the beautiful soul inside this beautiful beast.

I lean my brow into his, sniffling and fighting to stop the tears streaming down my face. “You’re the man I believe in, Landon. I love you. I love you, I’m proud of you, I...”

“Shhh.” He only gathers me closer, gently kissing the tears from my cheeks. “Just rest. We can talk about everything else at home.”

“Home?”

“If you’ll come with me. If you're ready to call my home yours.”

“Do you even have to ask?” I smile through the haze of my tears. “I wish we could go now.”

“Soon, babe. Real soon. I’ll probably have to talk to a dozen police officers first, if I don’t want to walk out of here in handcuffs. And you need to stay here until we’re sure you’re out of the woods.”

I squint. “Why would you end up in handcuffs?”

He looks at me blandly. “My crew ended up in a firefight with the Crown team. Not to mention I beat Dallas to a bloody pulp.” At my gasp, he smiles innocently. “I said I didn’t kill him, remember? Never said I didn’t beat the ever living shit out of him.”

“Oh my God, Landon.” I shouldn’t laugh, but I do, though it trails into a wince as my body protests the shaking. Hissing, I sink back against the sheets. “Ow.”

“You okay, babe?” He’s instantly conciliatory, sweet, hovering over me and brushing my hair back. “You need the doctor?”

“No.” I shake my head with a faint smile. “I’ll be fine.”