Page 36 of Sherwood
“I knew it,” I whispered, my voice trembling with anger as I took another step back and tried to take stock of my options.
“Knew what?” asked Rafe, looking genuinely confused.
“That this was a trap. That you set me up. And now—” Fuck. I didn’t have time for this. I needed to get the hell out of here, I needed to get to my bike before they figured out it was mine. Unless they already knew, which would mean making it to the backup location on the beach so one of the others could get me…
How could he do this?
And how could I have been so stupid?
“A trap?” Marian asked as her gaze slid between the both of us. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s not a trap,” Rafe said slowly, as if he finally understood what I meant. “Give me some credit, Lox. We’ve discussed this already. Getting you here at The Knot would hardly serve my purposes.”
“Discussedwhat?” asked an exasperated Marian. “What purposes?”
I looked over to her, and whatever resolve I’d had to keep her as non-complicit in this mess as possible blew away like leaves before a storm. She needed to know, because if Rafe was closing in on me, then I couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t close in onher, and after our little show tonight, we were past the point of ignorance keeping her safe. The entire club had seen me wringing orgasms from her, and more importantly, they’d heard her scream my name. They’d watched as the three of us went to a private room. The NSA would be very interested in that. Andinterestedin this context could be extremely dangerous.
And anyway, I’d want to know if a lover was using me as leverage. I was sure she would too.
“He’s been lying to you,” I said finally. I glanced over to Rafe, who was motionless on the bed, his pale eyes glittering. His hand was still tangled in the silky fabric of Marian’s dress. “He’s here in Sherwood for me. To…apprehend me.”
Marian laughed, a musical sound at odds with the urgent truth poisoning the air in the room. “He’s with the EPA, Lox. They don’t arrest people.”
“He’s not with the EPA,” I bit out. “He’s not here for whatever reason he told you. He’s here for me. He’s using you to get to me. Whatever is happening between you two is a lie, Marian.”
Rafe remained still, but Marian drew back, getting to her knees on the bed as she looked at him. “You’re not—this is about Lox? It’s been about Lox all along?”
The burning rage I felt toward Rafe did nothing to muffle how much it hurt to watch Marian realize the truth. To watch her shoulders curl in and her head lower as Rafe said, “It’s true, darling.”
But neither did the burning rage harden me against the relief I heard in his voice, against the tender, almost remorseful shape to a mouth that was normally such a sharp and vicious cipher. As if he were grateful he didn’t have to lie anymore.
“He’s working with the NSA,” I said, shaking it off. I didn’t have time for Stockholming. “And he has people here in the club tonight.”
“Lox,” Rafe said, straightening up and lifting his hands, as if to show me he had nothing to hide. “I’m not going to take you here at the club—”
“Another car’s just arrived,” Jovanna said in my ear. “We’re waiting for the registration to come back, but the three dudes climbing out of it do not look like they’re here for kink. They look like they’re from the fucking IRS.”
I believed it. The NSA had branches that were trained for covert ops, but most NSA and CISA employees were techies and data-crunchers. It could be the FBI—I rather hoped it was the FBI, since they were a thousand times more likely to do everything by the book—but either way, I had to go.
“Come with me,” I said urgently to Marian. “Please.”
“That’s not necessary, Marian,” Rafe said. He still had his hands lifted, palms out, fingers up. A quelling gesture. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. And nothing is going to happen to Lox right now.”
“How can I trust you when you’ve just admitted that you’ve been lying to me? When you told me you’d tell me the truth always?” she asked. She blinked furiously, as if refusing to let a single tear fall. “When you’ve just admitted that all of this has been about getting Lox?”
“Because, I—” Rafe stopped, his jaw tight. “Because everything else between us has been real, sweet one.”
Marian looked down again, sucking in a deep breath.
“Lox, you need togo,” Jove said in my ear. “The IRS dudes are coming through the front door now. You can still make it out the back if you hurry.”
“I’m not going to stop you from leaving,” Rafe told me. “But taking Marian with you is dangerous. You know that.”
“More dangerous than her staying with you?” I demanded. “Where you can fuck with her head some more, maybe have her detained to lure me back out again?”
Anger—real, cold anger—flashed across his face. “Your opinion of me is quite clear if that’s what you think I’m capable of.”
“My opinion is formed by your actions,” I said. “Or have you forgotten that you tried to kill me?”
