“You tripped the alarm,” Silver said. “I heard it go off in my pocket.” Briefly, he glared at the detective. “I told him something was wrong, to check my phone and see the cameras, but he ignored me.”
Vermont shrugged uncomfortably. “I thought he was looking for a way out.”
From the corner of my vision, I saw them cuffing Florian and pulling him to his feet. He was groggy, his head lolling. Still watching him, I spoke softly to Silver. “You got here so fast.”
He cupped my cheeks, tenderly feeling the swelling above my eye. “We were still on the road when we turned around.”
Vermont crouched beside Silver, reaching for his wrists. “Let me get these off, they're pointless now.” The cuffs slid free, and while I saw his skin was raw from struggling, Silver didn't bother checking out his injuries. He was too busy fixating on mine.
“He could have killed you,” Silver whispered hotly. His hands held me tighter, there was a good chance he'd never let me go. “Why would you put yourself in danger like that for me?”
I ran the pad of my thumb across his brow, then down to the dip of his cheekbone. “When you're in love, you stop caring about the risks.”
Silver looked down at me with his mouth fixed in a perfect line. I had a minute of feeling ridiculous. Had I really said that?
Burying my worries with his lips, the man I loved... the man I trusted... kissed me until I knew nothing but that moment. There was no pain, no fear, no torment. All that existed was the two of us wrapped together.
What more could I ever need?
- Epilogue -
Silver
The next few days were a funny blur.
Florian was, of course, charged with hacking the security systems of all the banks. Even Old Stone, a crime that belonged entirely to me. I didn't mind; it meant I could finally stop looking over my shoulder.
It was hard to feel sympathy for my old friend. He'd intended to let me take the fall for every robbery. The automatic system he'd buried in my computer was set on a timer. It would hack each bank one by one, tucking the money safely away in encrypted bits in overseas accounts.
Every bit of evidence would point to me.
But then, I'd been arrested before he'd expected me to be. And the next timer was too soon, if it went off, it would make it harder to prove I'd done everything—because I was in cuffs at the time.
He probably could have said I'd been using an auto-timed system, but his fingers were all over the code, the damn calling card. He'd been too cocky... he always had been.
At some point, he'd found the old code I'd used years ago to hack Old Stone. I think it must have been around the time he'd found some old designs of mine, or perhaps that had all been a ploy to dig through my files. It didn't matter.
He'd found the trail of my actions, and then he'd refined my program. I always said he was a genius. He was also dead to me.
I'd never forgive anyone that hurt Alexis.
And that was why I had no qualms handing all the evidence on my computer over to Detective Roose. And why I had no problem tweaking the code to remove any hint that I'd ever touched it in the past.
Florian could have all the credit.
I just wanted her.
****
“Now, don't be too impressed,” she said, setting the casserole dish on the table between us. “I make a pretty good macaroni and cheese bake. Not bragging.”
Chuckling, I folded my hands in front of me. It was the first time Alexis had let me into her home, a fact I'd brought up to her several times. Apparently, after being exposed to my own place, she'd been too nervous to show me where she lived.
How could she not realize that anyplace she was, was worth more than the most luxurious house in existence?
Waving steam away with an oven mitt, she beamed. “Look good?”
Squinting at the bright orange cheesy pile, I smiled. “Smells good.”
“Then dig in!”
We ate with occasional laughter, and the occasional fidgeting on her part. I had no control when it came to touching her leg under the table. When our plates were cleared, she poured us some wine.
Sipping the tangy drink, I nodded at her. “Thanks for making us dinner.”
“Oh, it was nothing.” She squeezed the glass tight. “I still don't know why you were so insistent on coming here. Wouldn't dinner at a fancy restaurant be nicer?”
“Maybe,” I said, feeling inside my pocket. “But I suspect you'd prefer privacy?”
Alexis crinkled her mouth. “For what?”
Gently, I slid the soft, black box across the table. It bumped her elbow, she nearly spilled her drink as she sat back in surprise. “What's this?” she asked, her palm cradling the box.
My smile was sly.
Setting her wine aside, she carefully opened it. Her eyes flashed between the gift, then me, then back again. “How?”
I was overjoyed with her reaction. “I don't think the pawn shop owner was expecting to sell those to someone just an hour after he'd bought them.”