“I can’t do this. I can’t watch you two tear each other apart,” she said.
“You have to choose,” Ryker said, his voice flat. “Him or me. You can’t have both.” Because now he knew. He knew by the look in her eyes that she hadn’t told him the truth.
“I told you I wanted you,” she said. “But I want him, too.” Her gaze was unflinching.
“I can’t live like that.”
Slowly, she got to her feet. “You can,” she said. “For me, you can.” Her eyes were mesmerizing. Her hold over him utter and complete. “Or else you’ll lose me. And him. Forever.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t push me, Ryker,” she said. “You won’t like what happens.”
The look in her eye sent a chill through him, and Ryker was suddenly struck at how she stood over Parker’s unconscious and bleeding body, naked but without any apparent self-consciousness.
“This ends now,” he said. “You choose. Him or me.”
She didn’t answer, just silently gathered her clothes and dressed. When she was done, she stood in front of him.
“Kiss me,” she ordered.
Hesitant relief flowed through him, but he was too cautious to believe she’d chosen him. Still, he couldn’t resist her. Hope was too strong a pull and he leaned down, sealing her lips with his.
At last he lifted his head, his eyes too lazy to open. When they did, he stumbled back in shock.
For it wasn’t Natalie in his arms, staring at him with a look of utter satisfaction on her face. It was Sage.
*
Ryker woke up with a start, sitting straight up in bed. A sheen of cold sweat covered him, but he didn’t notice. All he could see inside his head was Natalie and Sage, the thin, sharp blade of betrayal cutting him deep.
Getting up, he went into the kitchen, forgoing any lights. He knew his way in the dark. McClane padded beside him, his nails clicking on the floor as he trailed his owner.
Ryker absently filled a glass with water and took a deep swallow, letting the night air cool his sweat-slicked skin. Even now, years later, he remembered the horror of that night and the morning that had followed. The police had called with news that her car had been found in the river and they had sent in a recovery team to find the body.
He hadn’t spoken to Parker since that night until four months ago, when he’d walked into Parker’s office … and laid eyes on Sage.
Now he was on the brink of losing the woman he loved, again, to the same man who’d betrayed him all those years ago.
Ryker wasn’t going let that happen. He wouldn’t lose Sage to Parker, and he’d do anything to keep history from repeating itself.