His mouth turned down into a frown that made me want to burst into tears, it was so full of pain.  “She’s the witness.”

Oh God.  There really was no way out for him.

“I’ll fight to the end to protect her, to stay alive myself,” he continued. “But our odds are shit poor.  Impossible to sugar coat it.  And even if somehow we succeed, and I keep Iris alive long enough to do the job she has to do, I still have years of work ahead of me before I can ever sleep easy at night.”

“So,” I said slowly, “if we’re optimistic and things work out in your favor, we’re talking years you’re asking me to wait?”

“It’s a very good possibility.  I’m sorry.  I wish I could give you a better answer.”

I wished he could too.

“Tell me something sweet, Heath,” I uttered softly.

“I know I’m not being fair to you here.  I know I should let you move on.  But I can’t.  I’ll do anything to be with you for as much time as I can.  Anything you ask.”

I soaked that up.  I don’t know how he did it, but he always managed to say the thing that made it worth me sticking around, no matter how little he had to offer.

“Okay,” I finally said, even while my mind still raked over all of the things I’d learned.  “I’ll wait for you.  As long as you’re faithful.  And as long as you try your damned hardest to get back to me as soon, and as often, as you can.”

He closed the few feet of ground that separated us, his hands going into my hair.  He leaned down, touching our foreheads.

“Thank you.  Now I need you to do something for me.”

“Hmm?” I asked, eyes closed, soaking up his tender touch.

“Dump that fucker you’ve been seeing.  Call him right now and tell him it’s over.  And also, we both know I’m paranoid, but deal with him carefully in the future.  Don’t be alone with him again.  My people couldn’t find out much about him, aside from the basics, and they got nothing solid on his history.  I don’t like that.  I’ve never met a man with no past at all.”

“Okay, I’ll do it right after you leave.” I told him, feeling a little disappointed in myself that it didn’t make me more sad to just be letting Kevin go that easy.

Had he meant nothing to me at all?  Had I just been using him as a rebound?

The answer made me feel guilty.  I’d expected better from myself.

“Just make sure he knows it’s fucking final.  Hammer every nail into that fucking coffin.”

He was jealous, and I didn’t blame him.  I’d have been just as jealous.

“I will.  I won’t leave him hanging.  It wouldn’t be fair.”

Somewhere in the house, my cell started ringing.

I tracked it to the bedroom.

Eduard was calling.

What the fuck?  Could I not get a break?

Heath was right behind, and he saw the name on the screen when I did.

He plucked the phone from my hand and answered it with an oh so charming, “What the fuck do you want?”

I perched on the edge of my bed and watched him, arms folded across my chest.  Hell, maybe he could talk some sense into my idiot ex.  I’d sure as hell never been able to.

I couldn’t hear what Eduard said on his end, but I could see from Heath’s reaction that he didn’t like it.

“Her fucking man, that’s who,” he thundered into the phone.  “There’s nobody else.  Just me from here on out, motherfucker.”

I tried and failed to keep from smiling.

“Suing?  You have the nerve to talk about suing her?  Are you fucking crazy?  You threaten her again, and I’ll make you sorry.”  Pause.  “How?  I’ll hurt you, slowly, you piece of shit.”

Okaaaay, I thought to myself.

That was about enough of that.

I plucked my cell from his hand and hung it up, giving him an exasperated look.  “I can handle him.  Trust me.”

He opened his mouth and I held up my hand.  “Trust me,” I repeated.  “You have enough on your plate.  I can deal with my pain in the ass ex all by myself.  Okay?”

He nodded, but he sure as hell didn’t look like he liked it.

And then, because I couldn’t prolong it forever, I asked the question I’d been dreading.  “How long can you stay?”

He cursed, and I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.

And I didn’t.

He was gone within the hour.

I did what any woman would do when she’d just had a night of absolute bliss in the arms of an ex.

I called a girlfriend.

Danika knew the most about my current fucked up dating situation, so she got the honors.

“I had sex with him five times last night.”

Danika paused for a few beats on the other end.  From the background noise, I could tell she was at work, in the gallery at the Cavendish resort.

“Him who?” she asked.

I winced.  It was a fair question.  Thus the wince.

“Heath.”

“Dayum.  So it’s not really over between you?”

“It’s complicated.”

“It always is,” she said wryly.  “But five times does not sound like it’s over.”

“It’s not.  We’re back on; it’s just, you know, he’ll be gone a lot.  It’s a long story, but the short version is I have to make a very unpleasant phone call to Kevin now.”