Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(45)

“I’ve thought about walking away. It used to bother me to kill someone. It doesn’t anymore. What if I’m becoming just as evil as those I kill?” Valeria asked, tears welling in her eyes as she admitted her biggest fear.

Grant tightened his hold on her, pulling her against his chest. “There’s a difference between doing bad things for a bad reason and doing bad things for a good reason. Stopping Mollia Domini, stopping Hermanos de Sangre, those are good reasons.”

Valeria nodded as she broke apart in the middle of the ocean. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and plinked into the water. While killing didn’t bother her like it used to, what Grant said resonated. She wanted to do good. She wanted to make the world a better and safer place. And she would see this to the end, knowing she was doing what was necessary to keep good people safe.



* * *



Grant kept Valeria in his arms as they continued to watch the young women smiling and laughing while they swam in the ocean. However, when the man watching the women got up and headed for the path to the villas, Grant had to make his move.

“Why don’t you sun for a while? Rest, order us some drinks, and I’ll be right back.” Grant placed a long kiss to her temple before letting her feet touch the soft sand beneath them.

“I can do it,” Valeria said stubbornly, and Grant knew she wasn’t talking about ordering drinks.

“I never thought you couldn’t.” Grant winked and waded out of the ocean. He didn’t look back. He didn’t want Valeria taking that as a sign that she could kill the last target. It wasn’t that Grant wanted to either. But feeling Valeria cry silently almost broke him. And while she said it didn’t bother her, she was wrong. Otherwise she wouldn’t be crying into the Pacific.

Grant grabbed the key to the men’s room and the towel with the gun wrapped inside the folds. What they did wasn’t easy. It wasn’t supposed to be. But they were here because they could do what wasn’t easy. Lizzy, Dalton, Valeria, all of them. They were involved because of a deep drive to protect innocence. To protect vulnerability. To protect those who didn’t know they needed it.

As he put the key into the door, kicked it open, and fired, he knew no one would know he saved two young women that day. No one would know these wicked men would never kill anyone ever again. They wouldn’t be able to sell drugs to children or the weak and desperate. They wouldn’t hurt anyone ever again. And he was fine with that because two women could now live out their lives free from danger. They may go on to save others’ lives, invent the cure for cancer, teach children, or simply raise families of more good people.



* * *



Valeria was waiting for him in their suite. Her tears were dried, but the look she sent him said she understood. When you lived in the shadows, when you saw evil, you needed light. And she was his light. Valeria stood, her back to the large tinted windows and held out her arms.

Grant came to her, starving. Starving to clear the memory of death, starving for life, compassion, and understanding that Valeria held. Grant might be a stubborn Scot, but he knew when he had something special in Valeria.

Their kiss was hard and hot as he pushed her against the windows. His hips pressed against hers as she ran her hands over shoulders and down his chest. She shoved his trunks to the floor, and he kicked them away as his mouth broke from her lips and traveled down her neck, across her collarbone, and to her breast. He reached behind her and with two quick tugs tossed the bikini top to the side. His tongue circled her puckered nipple before latching on and sucking until Valeria tossed her head back and cried out with pleasure.



* * *



Valeria held Grant’s head to her breast as he fell to his knees before her. Heat radiated from his body as the cold glass pressed against her back. She raked her fingers through his dark auburn hair as he moved his other hand to strip her of her bikini bottoms.

Grant moved lower, kissing his way down her stomach, and circling her navel with his tongue before sliding his tongue and fingers between her legs. A wave of heat flashed through Valeria as she felt her body coil and then snap with release.

Breathing heavily, Valeria leaned against the window, now seeking its coolness. Her body was flushed with her pleasure as Grant reached for the package of condoms she’d picked up on the way back to the room. His eyes had turned dark green with anticipation, but Grant paused.

“Lass?”

Val nodded once and saw the flare in his eyes as she silently told him to take her. And he did. In one quick motion, he had her against the window with her legs wrapped around his waist. Grant lifted her, tilting her hips toward him, and slid into her. Valeria let go. She let go of the past and the future. Instead, all that remained was the present, being in Grant’s arms. The sensations curled her toes and made her dig her heels into his lower back. An aching feeling fell on her as the walls crumbled from around her heart. Before she knew it, she tumbled over the edge screaming out his name.





19





Dalton knew it couldn’t be good when Alex met them at the airport. He stood in baggy olive-green cargo shorts, shifting from side to side on his untied tennis shoes that had to be worth more than any kid had the right to spend on shoes. He shoved back his unkempt hair as he scanned the crowd.

“Dude!” he called out as soon as he saw them and frantically began to wave them over.