Oxblood (22 page)
Authors: AnnaLisa Grant
“When do you need my decision?” I asked as she headed for the door.
“It seems Mr. Hale has given his team a much-needed break. I'd say you have at least that much time to decide if you're going to go home to your job at the diner, or if you are made for more than that.” Ms. Thatcher nodded and left Ian and me standing next to Tiffany's favorite Prada booties.
“Well?” Ian prompted.
I hadn't considered that staying with Ian's team was an option. I came to Italy to find Gil and bring him home. I found him, but Gil was gone now.
“I don't know, Ian,” I began.
He took a step closer and my heart fluttered. That was something else I would have to consider: If I stayed, what would happen with Ian and me? Would we have to close that door?
“What did you say to me the first day in the hotel when I wanted to send you home?” I averted my eyes because I knew where he was going with this. “You said you would rather feel like you were accomplishing something than merely existing. You told me to put you to the test. And you told me, in no uncertain terms, that you knew you could do this.”
“You also told me that day that this was a lonely life you wouldn't wish on anyone,” I reminded him.
“I did say that,” he replied. “But somehow it hasn't seemed as lonely since you arrived.”
I closed my eyes and argued with myself. If I went home, my life would be everything I didn't want it to be. I might go to college like Gil and I had talked about, but it was more likely that I'd stay in our crappy apartment and live out my days at The Clock.
Or I could stay here with Ian and be a part of a Rogue team. I could put my life in danger every day for the betterment of the world and to keep people safeâstarting with hunting down Damon.
But what would I do about Tiffany? She'd be totally alone in Miami without me.
A light bulb went on in my head. If I wasn't there, she'd be forced to get out and move on, too. If Command was going to take care of me, then I could take care of herâjust like she had for me when I was at my lowest. I'd make her promise to finally go to New York, visit all the agencies, and pursue her dream of modeling.
That was it. The final piece to the puzzle of what was keeping me in Miami, instead of joining the Rogue team and starting my life. My heart was happy and my mind was determined.
“Okay,” I said. “I'll stay. But you have to do a few things for me.”
“Anything!”
“I want half of the money from my account sent to my friend Tiffany. But there has to be a way to stipulate what she does with it. Leave the remaining half and have Claudia do that cloaking thing. Can we do that?” I asked.
“Yes! Absolutely!” Ian said. He hugged me and I winced. He immediately pulled away. “Oh my God! I'm so sorry, are you okay?” He smiled sheepishly.
“I'm fine,” I laughed. “But you might need to take your excitement down a notch.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“Yes. I need these shoes, and I need them sent to Tiffany at my apartment,” I told him.
“Done. Is that it?”
I thought for a moment, wracking my brain for one last thing that could possibly stop me from doing what I'd begun to love. “That's it.” I took a deep breath and looked into Ian's eyes. They had become so familiar and calming to me, like I was finally coming home. I knew that wherever I was going and whatever I was going to face, if I had these eyes and the man they belonged to by my side, I could do anything.
Ian took both of my hands in his and grinned cautiously back at me, like he just realized what he had asked me to do.
“Do you feel strange now that it's all ending?”
“This is far from the end, Ian. This is only the beginning.”
Acknowledgments
To say I am thankful or appreciative is such an understatement. The entire process to bring
Oxblood
to publication is one that has changed me and made me a better writer. For that, I have to thank my amazing editor, Emma Pulitzer. Thank you for asking all the right questions and for making sure this story became the beautiful and exciting piece it is.
Thank you to my amazing agent, Italia Gandolfo. No one in this business works harder than you. Thanks for keeping vampire hours and making things happen. Now go take a nap!
I hesitate to boost his ego any more, but . . . Thank you to my incredible publicist at Red Coat PR, Rick Miles. You believed in me from our very first conversation. Thank you for being not only a great publicist, but also a wonderful friend. Best one hundred dollars I've ever spent!
Thanks to my PA Extraordinaire, Jewels Bromley. Even an ocean apart, you still manage to keep me on track! Thank you so very much for all you do!
I couldn't exist in this industry without the solid group of fellow writers around me. Community is everything! Michele G. Miller, Amy Miles, Kristie Cook, Samantha Davis, Wendy L. Owens, and Stacey Rourke, you ladies are the peanut butter to my jelly and the Peter Pan to my Tinker Bell! Thank you for being the best traveling buddies on this amazing journey!
A huge thank-you to Adam Brown. Everything Vic knows about shooting, she learned from you! Thanks for taking the time to help me make sure Vic knew what she was doing. You are an excellent and patient teacher! And you're a pretty swell guy, too!
Thank you to my parents, my brothers and sisters-in-love, and my nieces and nephews. None of you gave me the side-eye six years ago when I told you I was writing my first book. Thanks for always being so encouraging and supportive.
Last, but never in a million years least, thank you to my husband, Donavan, and my two awesome kids, Truman and Claire. No one loves and supports me the way you do. There is no way I could do what I do without you by my side. I am so grateful that God created our amazing family and I can't wait to see what else he has in store for us. The best is yet to come!
About the Author
AnnaLisa Grant is the author of the Lake Series (
The Lake
,
Troubled Waters
,
Safe Harbor
, and
Anchored: A Lake Series Novella
). She received her master's degree in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theology Seminary in 2008 and spent two years in private practice as a therapist. Grant married her husband, Donavan, in 2001 and lives in Matthews, North Carolina, with their two children.
Oxblood
(2016) is the first novel in the Victoria Asher series.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 by AnnaLisa Grant
Cover design by Mauricio DÃaz
978-1-5040-1872-2
Published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
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