one with you sylvia day crossfire 05

I was often good at deluding myself, his no-bullshit policy was a mirror I needed.

My smile faded. “I want more.”

“More what?”

“More of everything.” I looked his way again. “Gideon’s got this presence, you know? When he walks into a room, everyone straightens up and pays attention. I want that.”

“You married that. You get it de facto with the name and the bank balance.”

I sat up. “I want it because I’ve earned it, Cary. Geoffrey Cross left behind a lot of people who want some payback from his son. And Gideon’s made his own enemies, like the Lucases.”

“The who?”

I wrinkled my nose. “The bat-shit Anne Lucas and her equally insane husband.” Then it hit me. “Oh my God, Cary! I didn’t tell you. About the redhead you messed around with at that dinner a few weeks back. That was Anne Lucas.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Remember when I asked you to run a search on Dr. Terrence Lucas?

Anne is his wife.”

Cary’s confusion was obvious.

I couldn’t go into how Terry Lucas had examined Gideon as a child and lied about finding signs of sexual trauma. He’d done so in order to shield his brother-in-law, Hugh, from prosecution. I would never understand how he could do that, no matter how much he loved his wife. As for Anne, Gideon had slept with her to get back at her husband, but her physical resemblance to her brother had led to sexual depravity that haunted Gideon. He’d punished Anne for the sins of her brother, leaving both himself and her mentally warped in the process.

That left Gideon and me with two very vicious enemies to contend with.

I explained as much as I could. “The Lucases have this whole twisted history thing with Gideon that I can’t get into, but it’s no coincidence that you two ended up together that night. She planned it that way.”

“Why?” “Because she’s nuts and she knows it’ll fuck with my head.”

“Why the hell would you care who I tangle with?”

“Cary … I always care.” I heard my mobile phone start ringing. The 52