Rora kicked out of Strike’s oversized boots because they slowed her down. Striding across the room, she went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

She didn’t hesitate to cross the tile floor or to pull back the shower curtain to reveal a naked Strike. He twisted around, wiping water from his face with one hand while the other slicked back his hair. His scowl loosened when he identified that she was the interruption.

“Change your mind?” he asked, reaching for the strap of her dress.

Rora caught his hand before it could make contact with the fabric. “You led us to her,” she said. “You were the reason Junker knew that Bella was going to be checking in to that hotel. You made sure we knew it with enough time to get there before her and set up.”

“Yeah,” he said, reaching for the soap. “Should I shave?”

“No,” she said and folded her arms. “Why would you do that? Since the day we met, you made it clear that you only do things if there’s something in it for you. Telling Junker where I was makes sense if you were feeling guilty about choosing the Point over me…”

He stopped soaping his body to make eye contact with her. “Momentarily.”

“Right, but why lead us to the Black Jewel after I was free of her? You knew Junker was wrong. I know you said you didn’t know what he wanted, and maybe you didn’t, but you work off assumptions. You had to know that the Black Jewel had nothing we needed. Junker was using her as a way to get to you, which he only wanted to do because he thought you had both the Point and DARPA’s infinite-processor.” He was startled by her knowledge. “Torres has a loose tongue.” His chin rose in understanding and he went back to washing off the soap. “So, tell me why, Strike, why have you been leading us on this merry dance?”

“If I answer correctly, are you going to join me?” he asked. “What are you going to do if you don’t like my answer?”

“What was in it for you, Strike? This isn’t a game. We’re not playing kiss chase. You want your processor back now, but before this—”

“You. You were what was in it for me. It brought us back together,” he said. “I told you I didn’t know how to chase a woman. Thought it would be easier if you were chasing me. I was meeting Bella, and yeah, I knew your bitch was looking for me. I thought maybe he was looking for me because you were.”

“I know how to get your attention if I want it.”

“But by your admission, you thought I wanted to kill you. Maybe you wanted to take me out first. I don’t know, baby. I didn’t overthink it. You were with the square, you were stealing money and heading off on a mission… I didn’t want to miss out.”

He was jealous? Was that it? He wanted to be a part of the next stage of the adventure? “Strike—”

“Look, bottom line,” he said, turning off the water. “You needed something, and I gave it to you. That’s your life now. If you need something, I will find a way to give it to you. Whether I agree with it or not. You weren’t telling the square the whole truth. If you were, he wouldn’t have been chasing me. I was supporting your lie.”

Junker would’ve been after Exile because he wanted the DARPA processor. But Strike wasn’t wrong, she hadn’t told Junker that her ex didn’t have the Point. She didn’t even tell Junker what it was or that Exile was her ex.

Before she let herself be swept up by the romance of Strike’s statement, she had to get the facts straight. “You said you were going to meet Bella, why?”

He got out of the tub and grabbed a towel to dry off. “I told you, I was going to kill her. That part you can’t doubt. After what she did to you? Damn right I was going to make her suffer.”

“Bella was looking for you, probably because she heard you had the Point or the processor, or both. You agreed to meet her because you wanted to punish her for what she did to me?”

“That about sums it up,” he said.

Rora watched him dress. “And you led me and Junker to her because you wanted to keep me close and maybe because you wanted me to know what you’d done to Bella… for me?”

Folding his capable arms, he propped himself on the vanity and folded his ankles. “Baby, you should know by now, I’ll go to any lengths to get what I want. So, yeah, I thought if I paid Bella back in kind, you’d get that I was serious about you.”

So she’d been supposed to swoon at the sight of him torturing and murdering the woman who’d imprisoned her… in its own perverse way, it was romantic.

She took a careful step toward him. “I don’t want to be alone anymore, Strike.”

Tentative hope seemed to flash in his eyes. “You won’t ever be alone again, Ro.”

“Can you keep Torres alive and find out why he’s really here?”

“You asking about torture techniques? First thing we’ll do is burst his stitches… reopen the wound.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “If I give you Opal, can you find it if there’s any chatter about Burke? Any truth to what Torres told us?”

“You give me Opal and I can get you anything you want,” he said. She smiled. But he grabbed her wrist when she started for the door. “But I don’t want her back.”

Rora’s smile fell. Opal was the only bargaining chip she had. If he didn’t care about that anymore, she had nothing to barter with. “What?”

His fingers dropped from her arm. “You told me I wouldn’t get her back until you’d forgiven me. I don’t want her back until I can have you both. Until then, the two of you stay together and I’m in the doghouse.”

“You haven’t… you haven’t said that you want me back. You make it seem like you want to sleep with me, but… are you saying you want more?”

An almost smile touched his lips, but there was doubt in his eyes. “You know what I want, Cupcake.”

Searching his face, she wanted to give in, wanted to run into his arms and embrace the love they’d found once before. But she was smarter now, and this time if she did it, there wouldn’t be any backing out, no matter what. She’d be his or she’d cease to be.

“You say something like that and I…” His brow rose to prompt her. “I feel like I’m the one using you… But I suppose without Opal—”

“There are other computers,” he said, seeming to reassure her. “I can still get you whatever you need.”

Rora couldn’t understand why he’d choose to use an alien machine over his own. “But you love Opal,” she murmured.

“I love you too, Cupcake, and one of you is not worth having without the other.”

“We’re a family,” she whispered. “That’s what you’re saying.”

He lifted a shoulder. “I guess.”

“Strike,” she said, edging closer and curling her fingers over his forearms that crossed on his chest.

She wanted to touch him, to be near to him, to tell him that she loved him, but there was only one way she could be sure that this was real.

“Ro?”

Steeling herself, she had to take this first step. “I need to go away,” she said, keeping her attention on her fingers even after he straightened up. “Alone.”

“No way.”

But she didn’t let his obvious aversion affect her determination. “I need you to keep everything together for me here. Don’t make war with Junker. Keep Torres alive… and only move if you have to. I’ll find you or… I’ll lead you to me.”

She hadn’t really thought this through all the way, but she was making plans as she spoke. “When?” he barked. “Why do you—”

“You know why,” she said, her gaze ascending to his. “We can’t move forward unless we trust each other, and we can never trust until we have it.”

Understanding made him tense and his expression became sterner.

She smiled. “I don’t think you’ve used my full name since the first time you told me you loved me.”

The back of his fingers drifted down her jaw. “That’s not true, I’m sure I barked it at you when we were shot at,” he said, and took her hand. “But that should tell you how serious I am about this. Baby, let me—”

“No.”

“Babe, you can trust me. If—”

“I know what I’m doing, Strike. I have to do this, and I need you to hold the fort here while I do. I’m asking you to help me, by staying here.”

If she showed any weakness, he’d exploit it. He wanted to be at her side, whether for nefarious reasons or not, but Rora was determined to do what needed to be done without anyone beside her.

“Why now? Why not wait until after—”

“Will after be better?” she asked. “We’re going to be confronted with all kinds of choices over the next few days, few weeks, however long this goes on. I need to know if I’m making those decisions alone, or if someone’s at my back.”

Determination burned from him, it felt almost as hot as her own.  “I’ll always have your back. Haven’t I proved that?”

So many times, and the man who did whatever it took to protect her was the one she wanted to embrace. But until she could be sure he wasn’t the man who’d tied her up and abandoned her, she’d never be able to trust him all the way.

“This is the biggest thing that will ever come between us and it will stay between us, in the way of us, until we face the demon…” But he didn’t seem to be convinced. “Do you love me, Strike?” she asked, reading his undisguised displeasure. “Do you?”

“Yes,” he replied with a clenched jaw. “I love you.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

She stepped in against him to whisper. “Then give me the chance to do the same.”

She kissed his arm and turned away, but he grabbed her and hauled her back, forcing his mouth over hers before she had a chance to breathe in.

Rora was still dazed by the devotion of his consuming kiss when he tore his mouth from hers.

“Defend yourself, Rora. There’s no other option. Kill if you have to, I’ll clean up the mess, but you get your ass back here in one piece… and soon.”

She touched his jaw and nodded, feeling his overwhelming reluctance to let her go. Turning away from him was hard, but she was determined to get to work.

All along she’d been the key to this puzzle, now she was going to unlock it. Like Pandora’s Box, she feared it may devour the world if not properly handled, but that was a risk she had to take… for love.