Page 47 of My Craving

Nash’s gaze stays on mine.

“I wanted to see you. I wanted to hear whatever smartass thing came out of your mouth that day. Then I wanted you in my office, and after that I wanted you close enough to touch.” I lift his hand and press my mouth against his knuckles. “You became part of my day before I understood I was making room for you.”

His throat moves as he swallows. “That’s a lot, Duncan.”

“Aye.”

“You’re a lot.” A small smile pulls at his mouth. “The crazy thing is, I like it. I just need some time to wrap my head around everything that happened tonight.”

Giving him space isn’t what I want, but I’ve already made my intentions clear. Chasing him harder now won’t change his answer.

“Take the time you need.” I give his hand one last squeeze, then release it. “I’ll still be here.”

Chapter 24 Nash

My head is full of everything I’ve learned tonight, but one thing keeps pushing its way through the rest: I’m not alone anymore.

For five years, every name I found and every decision I made belonged to me. Zee helped with research, but the rest was mine. If I fucked up, I dealt with it. If someone came looking, they came looking for me.

Now I’m sitting inside a room built to keep Murphy family secrets while Alessia offers me access to resources I couldn’t have dreamed of having on my own. I’m not stupid enough to trust anyone with five years of secrets after one dinner, but I’d be lying if I said the possibility doesn’t appeal to me. Especially after what happened with Justin.

I start to stand, but Kieran stops me. “There are a couple of things we need to discuss before you leave. Everything you learned tonight stays within this family.”

“I’ve been to Vegas. I understand the concept.”

The blank look he gives me makes me glance at Duncan, who looks equally confused.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Neither of them reacts, while Alessia looks suspiciously close to laughing. “How are both of you this bad at pop culture?”

Duncan ignores the question. Kieran does too.

Clearly, this is going to be an ongoing problem.

“I won’t tell anyone what happens here.”

Kieran gives a slight nod before saying, “Justin Mills.”

Any amusement disappears. I should have already dealt with that bastard. Twice I had him exactly where I needed him, and twice something involving this family got in the way.

“We’ll help you with Justin,” Kieran says. “Alessia already marked him for removal.”

I turn to her. “You did?”

“Justin isn’t your responsibility alone anymore. We were investigating him before we knew you were, and we’ll finish this together.”

There’s a part of me that immediately wants to argue. Justin is mine. I found him, researched him and spent weeks waiting for an opportunity to get him alone. Letting someone else anywhere near that process goes against everything I’ve done for the last five years.

Then I remember Declan catching me at Perfection. Kenji recognizing me at Obsidian. The photographs covering my apartment walls.

Maybe doing everything my way isn’t working quite as well as I thought.

“Before we deal with Justin, we need to know who’s coming after you and Duncan,” Kieran continues. “Your apartment has been compromised, and we still don’t know which one of you is the actual target.”

I look at Duncan. Whoever took those pictures had been watching us long enough to catch me at multiple locations. Whether they started with Duncan or me, they’ve connected us now.

“He’ll stay with me until we know more,” Duncan says.