“I’m just becoming what I need to be to make sure Bobby’s murder gets avenged,” Harper added after the long minutes of charged silence.

“No.” Rome’s voice was low and unyielding, his eyes brimming with anger and accusation. “You’re becoming the very thing Bobby tried to prevent.”

“How can you say that?” she roared, fury in every fiber of her being.

“Why can’t you see that?” he barked back. Stepping closer, he was now just a breath away, his steely gaze drilling into hers. “Bobby risked his life, his last moments on this earth, to save the serum and make sure you got that flash drive of data. He put everything there for you so that you could take that information and do the right thing.”

She shook her head, fuming, wanting to lash out at him yet knowing somewhere deep down that he had a very good point.

She just didn’t know whether she could let it go so easily. She’d made a vow. But maybe Rome was right. Maybe justice was the right thing.

Rome’s strong hands clasped her upper arms gently, rubbing her flushed skin with soothing motions.

“Harper, these are genuine,” he said quietly yet forcefully as he gripped her biceps. He rested his hands on her chest over her heart. “This is genuine.” He then lowered his hands to grasp hers and pull them up, hugging them to his chest. “Your strength comes from inside you, not some artificial serum.”

Harper stilled, willing herself to believe what Rome was saying. Wanting so badly for it to be true. She knew her physical limits. And yet the psi power could extend those limits to cease this horrible nightmare.

“I don’t know if I can believe that anymore, Rome,” she whispered, desperately wanting to trust in herself, but not quite sure she could. Her need for revenge was a thirst she didn’t think she could quench without destruction. She wanted to fight. That was her nature. But Rome’s voice battled within her to be heard.

“Harper, this is the right thing to do,” he said, his blue gaze boring into her. “Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t always the thing you want to do.”

His words reached out to embrace her as if a heavy cloak of responsibility. Though Rome wholly believed in her strength, she didn’t know whether she could bear the crushing weight.

“Bobby trusted you,” Rome continued, folding her hands tighter against his warm body. “He trusted that you’d do the right thing.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, the tenderest kiss she could ever imagine. “And I trust you, too. Isn’t that enough?”

Was it? It would have to be.

“I guess so,” she answered, still unsure. But knowing that Rome had such strong faith in her went a very long way.

She shook her head to clear away her anger and uncertainty. They had a job to do. And no matter what plan they came up with, she was going to make sure justice was had.

One way or another.

“I still don’t like it,” Rome grumbled, his gaze riveted on the map resting on his lap.

Her gaze was riveted to the same area, but for a very different reason, his being naked and all. They’d released some of their tension by spending some heated time in the big bed and were just now finalizing a plan to bring Jeff and his faction to justice.

“Your opinion is beside the point,” Harper said, lounging on her side. Her head was propped in one hand while her other traced a scar on his sturdy knee. “It’s the best option, and you know it.”

Rome’s searing glare nearly branded her. But she knew that he knew she was right. Revisiting the plan of using her as bait was still troubling him. But no matter how much it rubbed him the wrong way, it was the quickest and easiest solution to drawing the faction out of the compound. And he had to know it.

“I know it, but I don’t have to like it,” he said grumpily with a heavy sigh. He reached for a prepaid cell phone as it trilled, one of the many untraceable phones in his secret stash from the car. He pressed the button on the phone to answer it. “What?”

After a few seconds of watching his delicious lips as he talked in curt phrases, she rolled onto her back and thought about the plan they’d hatched.

Right now she assumed Rome was talking to a trusted contact to help with reinforcements. Bringing down the splinter group would take more than the two of them, Rome had said. They needed backup if they were going to round up and bring in the Five Watch faction, and Rome knew good people he trusted who could help.

The plan was simple. Harper would contact Jeff and claim she wanted to surrender and work together. Whether Jeff believed her was irrelevant. Both she and Rome knew the call would be enough to entice the jerk to meet her. And she knew the magic words to make him agree.

With one phone call, she would set up a parley with Jeff. She was to walk into the open courtyard area of the remote Five Watch facility in broad daylight. That should lure Jeff and his group out soon enough. Then she was to give up willingly and turn herself in. Once they moved in to take her, Rome would come barreling in with the good guys to take Jeff and the bad guys instead.

Simple. Straightforward. But hardly satisfying.

“It’s all set,” Rome said confidently. She looked at him. “Tomorrow. One o’clock. Help will meet us there.”

“Just like that?” she asked.

“I trust them to be there,” he answered, and ran a hand through her hair. She almost purred. “I’ll meet them, you’ll go in; then we’ll come and save the day. Just don’t rile the faction up.” He tweaked a few strands playfully.

“Okay, just don’t take too long to save me.” She gave him a half smile. “Or I’ll have to save myself.” Her half smile blossomed into a full-blown grin at the alluring thought of revenge. It was so close now, she could taste it. And she savored the flavor.

No, wait; hold on. She wasn’t supposed to antagonize them with her powers. That would make the capture of the faction unpredictable. Rome explained that plans like this never quite worked how they were supposed to, anyway, no matter how simple and precise they seemed. But he’d asked her to stick with it for as long as she could.

And she would. For as long as she could.

The bed shifted as he set the map aside and nestled down to face her, side by side. His muscular arm snaked around her hip, tugging her snug against him. Clasping his arm, she leaned in for a languid kiss.

“I can’t wait until this is all over,” Rome said, his fingers caressing her neck, trailing along the old swimming scar that marked her shoulder.

Not knowing quite how to respond, she let herself get lost in the bluest eyes she’d ever known.

Resting her hand on his hard chest, Harper realized she didn’t want to think about what would happen next. Because really, what would happen when this was all over? What did Rome expect? What did she expect?

Her mind whirled at the endless possibilities. And then stopped. When this all began, she’d planned on revenge. And, honestly, she hadn’t planned to survive it. She hadn’t cared.

Until Rome. Now maybe she actually had something to live for. Well, live as long as she could.

She had told him she loved him. And she meant it. But, she hadn’t planned for it.

“Hey,” he said, running a gentle finger across her cheeks to tap her temple, startling her. “What’s going on in there?”

His honest concern snuggled inside her heart, warming her from within. Should she confess she still had doubts? Grave doubts about restraining from using her psionic powers once she faced Jeff, the man responsible for orchestrating her brother’s murder?

Probably not.

And if they did make it through tomorrow, what then? What kind of life could she even lead? She was as good as dead. Her entire existence had been altered beyond repair. Her mind was reeling with questions she had no answers to and probably never would have.