Page 58 of Daybreak

Gunner was moving on instinct until she moaned, arching her body beneath him and ending the last of his control.

He buried his face against the curve of her neck and took her over the edge with him, then held her close, riding the aftershocks rippling through them.

Their hearts were pounding. Steady breath returned in the form of soft, shaky gasps.

Gunner had collapsed on top of her, but he couldn’t bring himself to withdraw.

Holly was still holding on to his neck and shoulders as if she’d never let him go.

Finally, he managed to raise up on one elbow and looked down at her face. “Where have you been all my life?”

Tears were on her cheeks, but she was smiling. “Growing up so that you would finally see me?”

He brushed a soft kiss across her mouth.

“I see you, Holly Dillion, but I don’t play,” Gunner said. “I don’t second guess my feelings. I don’t want to pressure you into saying anything you don’t feel. But I am offering everything I am to you. You are in charge of how fast you want this relationship to go, and I will honor everything you need. But you might as well know now how much I want you, how much I care for you. I knew you first as a young girl on the verge. Now here you are again in my life, a woman who’s torn down all the walls I’ve kept around me. You have to know, I am so falling in love.”

Holly cupped his face with both hands. “I adored you from afar when I was growing up. Even after you left Crossroads, I would see you around when you came home for visits. And then I grew up and moved away and I lost that opportunity to let you know the woman I’d come to be. No more waiting for either of us, Gunner Kingston. Tonight was my pledge to you. It’s you and me, from daybreak to sunset for the rest of our lives. We can fill in the blanks as we go.”

He kissed her again, this time slower, reluctant to initiate the parting that was inevitable. “Fill in the blanks as we go is just about perfect. Right now, there are all kinds of blanks and holes in the job I used to love. My timing is all wrong, and yet this is the best night of my life. I don’t want to leave you, but I can’t stay.”

“I didn’t expect you to stay. Tonight was the beginning of us; now go do what you must. Just don’t go and get yourself killed. I can’t lose anyone else and survive it,” she said.

He kissed her hard and fast, then before he could change his mind, got out of bed and began getting dressed. Holly got up and put on a robe, then walked him down the stairs. Just before he opened the door, he turned and held her.

“I love you, girl. Remember that,” he said and then slipped out the door, pulling it shut behind him.

She double-locked the door again, then moved a curtain panel aside to watch as he headed for his ride. Broad shoulders. Long stride. She knew him now, and he knew her. An unbreakable bond would grow between them, but for now, it was love. Sweet love.

* * *

Gunner left with regrets for not being able to stay, but more at ease within himself than he’d ever been. Still, there were things yet to be done, and the lottery money was now a shadow in the background of his reality. Was Burgess Dixon still determined to take him out? Was there really a dirty cop in Homicide? Or was all the danger to his life over? He needed answers before he could acknowledge her existence in his life.

Chapter 11

Burgess Dixon was getting ready to go to a business dinner. He was treating the managers of his Dixon Down and Dirty sites to a night of fine dining. He could have just given them a raise, which is what they would have preferred, but these public get-togethers had been his habit for years, and no one was brave enough to approach him with the other option.

He’d lost points with all of them when the FBI began to dig into his business practices, although the managers and certain employees had been well aware of what was going on. The fact that they were no longer going to be called to testify at his trial was a huge relief for all of them, and this night was his thank-you to the managers for not betraying him as Freddie Welsh had done.

Freddie had been the manager of his first launch location. They’d known each other for years, and Dixon was shocked when Freddie agreed to testify against him. In Dixon’s mind, it was Freddie’s fault he was dead.

He gave himself a last look in the mirror, accepting that at the age of sixty-four, he looked like some boxer’s old sparring partner. Nose slightly sideways on his face. Dirty-blond hair swiftly thinning. The broad chest of his younger years was down around his waist, and not for the first time, he was wondering where his green, frog-like eyes and cleft chin came from. He looked nothing like his mother or the man who’d been his father. So, his mother maybe slept around, but he never held it against her. He had sins of his own to worry about.

He picked up the phone and called Whistler.

“Yes, Boss?”

“Bring the car around. We need to leave for the restaurant.”

“The car awaits, as do I.”

Frickin’ asshole. Whistler was still pissed. He could tell it. Dixon ended the call and put his phone in his pocket as he left his suite and headed down the stairs.

Whistler was in his chauffeur uniform, as requested. It was Whistler’s public role in Dixon’s life, and as far as the rest of the world knew, his only role.

Dixon walked across the foyer, then out onto the verandah, moving past the pillars to the white stretch limo. Once he was seated inside, he poured himself a drink and began sipping it as they went. By the time he got to the restaurant, he was relaxed and curious as to how much pushback he was going to get from the men who would be present. Freddie Welsh had been well-liked among the managers, but they all knew the score.

Whistler stopped in front of the restaurant, then jumped out to get the door for his boss. Dixon liked the attention of having his own limo and chauffeur for public affairs. As soon as Dixon was inside the restaurant, Whistler drove the limo to a parking spot and settled down to wait.