Twisted Hunger (46 page)

“Shocking,” Ellery said, shaking her head.

“Tragic,” Luke agreed.

“You just never know what really goes on behind closed doors.” She shifted on the couch beside him, and he emitted a grunt of discomfort. “Are you okay?”

He grimaced. “Sure. It only hurts when I exhale. How about you?”

“I’m fine.” Her left arm was in a cast and his right leg was tightly bandaged, both applied by a nameless doctor who Brevowski said they could trust. The man had asked no questions and barely spoke, other than to tell them to get some rest. “The truth is, it all seems like a very bad dream.” He hugged her closer, and she lifted her face for a kiss. “Have I thanked you yet for coming to my rescue?” she asked.

“Several times, not that I did much rescuing. But I’m still counting on my reward.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Your reward? I think you should give your body a chance to heal a little before—”

He touched her lips to quiet her. “That’s not the reward I meant. Although I
am
looking forward to that too. I was talking about the
big
one.”

She drew back her head. “What
big
one?” His mouth curved in that special, funny way that she liked so much.

“The one where I get to promise to love, honor and obey your every command.”

Her eyes widened. “I thought you were unconscious.”

He shrugged.

“It was the only thing I could think of to include you in my guarantee.”

He continued to grin at her.

“It would be a terrible idea. We would always be getting on each other’s nerves. Anyway, I decided a long time ago that I would never get married.”

His eyes twinkled with confidence.

“You don’t understand. Being married to a politician can be very difficult. You’d be living the rest of your life in a fish bowl.”

He silenced her protests with a kiss so sweet, she forgot the rest of her arguments. And as the kiss deepened with passion, she also forgot why she had ever thought falling in love was such a bad thing.

“Say it,” he whispered against her mouth.

“I love you.”

He chuckled. “I know that. I’m waiting to hear your answer.”

She made a face at him then said, “Kiss me again.” And when he did, the last of her doubts were swept away. “Yes. I’ll let you love, honor and obey my every command for the rest of your life.”

His smile spread across his face. “Good. Now about your name…”

“Don’t worry. I’m not
that
much of a liberated female. I’ll be happy to change it to Madigan.”

“Thank you. But I was referring to your
first
name. What about Lee or just E? Or maybe I should just stick with Princess. It fits you so perfectly.”

Using his tactic, she silenced him with a devastating kiss. One thing was certain about their future—there was going to be a lot of kissing in it.

Epilogue

Washington, D.C., November

“Congratulations, Mr. President,” Brevowski said, shaking Sam Erikson’s hand.

“Thank you. But it’s only Mr. President-elect until January.”

“A mere technicality.”

“You saved my butt this year,” Erikson said with sincerity. “Hell, you probably saved the whole party. We were damn lucky you found out about those letters before it was too late.”

Brevowski nodded humbly. “I only did the job you paid me to do.”

Erikson cleared his throat. “I trust this is the last time we will speak of it.”

“Absolutely. And I’m certain you won’t hear of it from any other corner either.”

“Excellent. How is our Miss Winters these days?”

“She’s Mrs. Madigan now, and in the process of starting up her campaign for the congressional seat with her new husband’s help. Don’t be surprised if we’re calling her Madame President one of these days.”

Erikson grinned. “I won’t be. She has the ambition and the right image. Her intelligence could be an obstacle, but she’s proven to be a team player. Of course, a lot can happen in twenty years.”

“That’s true,” Brevowski agreed with a return smile.

“In the meantime…”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be keeping an eye on her.”

“Speaking of team players…” Erikson said, turning his attention to the bank of monitors on his office wall. With the remote, he moved one image to the larger center screen.

For a few seconds, Brevowski observed the tall, lean woman walking on a treadmill. “She’s getting stronger by the day.”

“I can see that for myself. What I’m wondering is whether you’ve made any progress in getting her to accept our offer.”

Brevowski shrugged. “She doesn’t care for being held against her will.”

“Against her will?” Erikson exclaimed. “We saved her fucking life! She’s in one of the finest private rehab facilities in the country. Keeping her there is for her own protection.”

He took a calming breath before continuing. “She owes us now. Working on our team would be to her benefit as well as ours. Just keep reminding her—Casper is no longer a ghost.”

The End

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Rave Reviews

“You’ll get your money. The gallery just sold another one of the bitch’s new paintings. Ya gotta give me more time,” Rico Gambini pleaded into the telephone. “
Wait
. Just listen a minute.” He paused as he was the one made to listen. “Okay, okay. Two weeks then. You’ll see. I’ll get the money out of her. One way or another.”