Chance gave her a casual smile, his heart breaking. “Because you’re curious, and you want to hear my side of the story first.” He glanced over to the phone. “If you turn me in, you’ll never get to hear it. And trust me, I know how that feels…having unanswered questions that haunt you.”
She harrumphed but Chance ignored her for a second, remembering his own unanswered questions. He’d been so reckless with his father, he’d never asked him anything, and now it was too late. He didn’t want Makayla to have the same regret.
Chance’s vision drifted to the young, eager guard asleep in the sterile bed that Chance was sitting on. He’d always grudgingly put up with Joseph’s rigid moral streak, but he’d never imagined the man would be foolhardy enough to go up against shotguns with a tazer. Brave and foolish. He was lucky to still be alive. Makayla too for that matter.
Twisting to look at her, Chance memorized her features. He could have lost her today. He almost had, twice. She was just as crazy as Joseph…they were almost the perfect, insane pair. And her reckless sense of justice was going to get her killed one day if she didn’t learn to be more cautious. Maybe he could teach her that, before this was all said and done. His last lesson to her.
Smiling sadly, he indicated the chair again. “Sit. Talk to me a moment.”
She stared, standing, clearly not wanting to do anything he asked her to do. She even started tapping her foot. “I told the police everything about you. Your likeness will be all over the news by morning.”
Chance looked down at the pair of sneakers he’d changed into. He’d ditched his clothes right after escaping the scene with Adrian. Right now they were probably warming the back of some lucky homeless man who’d fight tooth and nail to keep them. Not that it really mattered if they found his clothes. Between Makayla, Garrett, and Reggie, Chance’s cover was blown wide open. Colton Burke was no more…
Glancing up at her, he shrugged. “I didn’t actually steal anything or hurt anyone, so I doubt I’ll make the National news. I’m sure I’ll be able to slip out of the state before anyone’s the wiser.”
Makayla narrowed her eyes at him. “And where will you go? They’ll be looking for you…you’ll always have to watch your back.”
Chance sighed. He’d have to burn his alias and be more careful with his nickname, but Chance himself was safe. He’d start over in a new town with a new name and a new life. He’d done it before when he’d had to escape an area that was too hot. None of this was new to him. Except the hole in his chest at the thought of never seeing Makayla again…that was new.
“They’ll be looking for Colton Burke, Makayla, and he’s not me…and I’m not him.”
A searing jolt went through his body at admitting that to her. The pain intensified as he watched the icy shock of realization flash in her eyes. “Colton’s not your real name…it really was all a lie?”
Chance raised an eyebrow, wondering if she’d correctly surmised any part of his con. Did she know that Garrett wasn’t his brother? Had she guessed that his family’s history wasn’t nearly so tragic? He wanted to ask, but it didn’t feel right to put her on the hot seat. It was time for him to be answering the questions, not asking them. He shook his head. “Yes, he was a lie…it was all a lie.”
He bit his lip. Except loving you…that was true.
Makayla cupped her face. She grabbed chunks of her hair and looked like she was about ready to start yanking sections out of her scalp. Chance stood and put his hands on her forearms. He didn’t want her to hurt herself in her frustrations…better if she turned her anger towards him. And she did.
The moment he touched her she snapped her face up to his and released her long, silky hair. Then she shoved him back by his shoulders. Chance took a step back, propelled by her force.
“Everything!” she hissed. “Everything about you was a lie?”
“Nearly everything, yes…”
Chance raised his hands to block his body, just in case she decided to attack, but digging her nails into her palms, she restrained herself. Her body shook with the effort. “Then who the hell are you? What’s your real name?”
Chance looked away, not sure what to say. That was the question he pondered everyday of his life. Who was he? Where did he come from? God, what the hell was his real name? Looking back at her, he shook his head. “I don’t know, Makayla.”
She snorted in disbelief. “Right, you don’t know your real name. You expect me to believe that? You just don’t want to tell me because you don’t want the police to know.”
Chance smirked. She had a good point, but, unfortunately, Chance was telling the truth. “I don’t expect you to believe me, I really don’t, but I’m telling you the truth now. I go by Chance because that was the name that my father…well, the person who raised me…called me.” He lifted an eyebrow. “He gave me the nickname…and I don’t know my real one. I don’t know my real family…I don’t know anything real about myself.”
Makayla stared at him with a blank expression, clearly not understanding or believing anything he’d just said. Chance sighed and stared at a black stain on the hospital floor. “I wasn’t lying about setting my father up to take the fall. I did. I got him arrested and put away.” He looked back up at her. “I just didn’t tell you the real reason why. I didn’t tell you what he did to me.”
Makayla’s face softened and Chance saw the spark of curiosity in her eyes. Her voice, however, was hard as steel. “Why should I care about anything you tell me? You put a gun in my face, Chance.”
For the hundredth time, Chance wished he hadn’t had to do that to her. “It was never loaded, Makayla. You weren’t in any danger…not from me.”
She blinked, genuinely surprised. Sadness swept through Chance that she believed that he was capable of doing her harm. But, then again, she didn’t really know him so how could he blame her for thinking him capable of doing anything?
“It wasn’t…? Why…?”
She stumbled on her words, but Chance quickly explained. “Garrett was going to kill me if I didn’t help him with the robbery. He was going to put a bullet in your brain if I didn’t make it look convincing. I had…no choice.”
Her posture relaxed as she stared at him. “You always have a choice…”
Chance smirked, not bothering to respond. The naive always thought there was a way out. And maybe there had been, but no solutions had been left to him that hadn’t put her in danger. He’d done what he could to protect her. That had been his only choice.
Makayla shook her head as she stared at him. Finally sitting in the chair he’d offered her, she murmured, “So, if everything is a lie, then Garrett isn’t your brother?”
She looked up at him as he resumed his seat on the edge of Joseph’s bed. The machine Joseph was hooked up to beeped, but the man had been medicated into a deep slumber, and wouldn’t hear any part of Chance’s confession. “No, he’s not.” Seeing the look of defeat and betrayal on Makayla’s face, Chance leaned forward and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m a con man, Makayla. That’s what I do, that’s what I’ve always done. Garrett hired me to help him hit the bank…when Adrian bailed on the job.”
“Jesus…” The shock on her face was so permanent now that Chance wasn’t sure if she’d ever stop looking that way.
Shaking his head, he continued, “I was supposed to seduce you and get you to help us break into the bank in the middle of the night, when no employees or customers would be around to get hurt.” He shrugged. “It was supposed to be a victimless crime. It was supposed to be easy.”
Makayla bristled at his words. “I told you once before, Chance, there are no such things as victimless crimes!” Chance lowered his head. Yeah, he knew that…deep in his heart, he knew that. It was one of the many reasons he’d been thinking of getting out…he was getting out. He just didn’t have the stomach for it anymore.
As he absorbed her words, she added, “You actually thought I would help you? What about me made you think I’d break the law f
or you?”
Hating himself more than he ever thought possible, Chance lowered his gaze from hers. He just couldn’t face her for this bit of truth. “Yes, you would have…if you believed my life was on the line.”
He heard the screech of the chair against the linoleum as she shot up out of the chair. “You did fake your injuries!”
Chance glanced up at her enraged eyes, a little surprised that she’d pieced that together so quickly too. “Well, no, they were real injuries…I just…allowed them to happen.”
She ran her hands back through her hair. “Oh my God, Chance.” She started pacing the room, then stopped and looked back at him. “They beat the shit out of you…and you allowed it?” She shook her head in disbelief. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Chance gave her a rueful grin. “Good question.”
Shaking her head, she resumed her pacing. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you.” She stopped, her hands flying to her mouth. Eyes wide, she slowly dropped her fingers. “I slept with you after your attack. I finally trusted you after your attack. And that was all a part of your plan?” Her face heated as the truth wrapped around her. “Your plan to seduce me!”
Chance shied away from her anger, welcoming it as much as he hated it. She should be angry, she should hate him, but he still wanted her love too, impossible as that was now. “I couldn’t go through with it, Makayla,” he whispered. His eyes stung as he remembered their tender moments. He’d never had that closeness before and he was sure he’d never have it again.
Through the moisture hazing his vision, Chance stood and locked his hands over her arms. “I meant what I said afterwards. I do love you. It may have started out a con, but somewhere along the way I developed real feelings for you, and the moment I realized that, I knew I couldn’t go through with the con. It’s the reason I never asked you to do the bank job. I couldn’t. And I wasn’t going to. I was going to give it all up. I was going to stay with you, and give it all up.”
Her lips firmed into a hard line and color flushed her cheeks. “Stop lying to me. You never loved me.”
Her pale eyes glistened and Chance stepped into her body. “No, that’s not true. I did fall in love with you. I do love you. I broke the only rule a con man has…I fell for the mark.” Resting his head against hers, he locked onto her eyes. “I love you…and it’s not a lie.”
A tear rolled down her cheek as she stared at him. “I don’t want to believe you,” she whispered.
Chance swallowed and nodded. “I know…but you do, and that’s why this hurts so much.”
She shoved him back again, and Chance let her go. He knew he had to anyway. “If you loved me so much, then how could you stomach lying to me! How could you use me!”
Chance ran his hands down his face, then let them drop to his sides. “Makayla, I got into a bad situation with some very dangerous people. Adrian and I were trying to figure out a way to get them out of our lives, so you and Neil could be safe…we just ran out of time.”
She was defiantly shaking her head and Chance grabbed her arms again. “Baby, I was trying to keep you safe. I was trying to keep you out of harm’s way.”
Her eyes narrowed to points as she spat out, “You’re the reason I was in harm’s way in the first place! You can’t put me in danger and then try to play the hero when you get me out of it!” She shook her head. “And you didn’t even do that. I got me out of it! You…you ran.”
Chance looked away. He knew that wasn’t entirely true, he had stopped Garrett from shooting her after all, but he also knew that she was about five steps beyond angry, and he wasn’t going to argue semantics with her now. “I did the best I could, Makayla.”
“It wasn’t good enough, Colton…or whoever the hell you are.”
Chance looked back at her and nodded. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.” Makayla closed her eyes and her lips started to tremble. Chance could tell she was on the verge of losing it. He could also tell that she didn’t want to lose it in front of him. She wanted to remain strong. Hating that he’d put her in this situation, when all he’d wanted to do was love her, Chance cupped her cheek. A tear bubbled up and rolled down her skin, running along his finger. “I am so sorry, Makayla. And I will always love you. I hope you believe that, if nothing else.”
She shook her head but Chance didn’t give her an opportunity to speak. Leaning in, he placed his lips against hers.
Rigid and hard, she resisted him at first. Chance cringed, waiting for her to assault him…but she didn’t. After a moment, her coolness faded and she relaxed into their tender moment. Chance savored it, knowing it was the last one they’d ever have. Chance wasn’t sure what he would do now, where he would go, but he knew he’d be leaving a part of his heart behind. Oh well, at least she’d be safe now. With him gone, and Reggie and Garrett well on their way to being locked up, Makayla was finally safe. He could leave with that small comfort to keep him warm.
Chance never wanted their lips to part, but all too soon Makayla pulled away from him. Pushing his shoulders back, her expression became guarded. “How many girls have you done this to, Chance? How many have you seduced…manipulated?”
Chance stiffened at her question. There was no way he could answer this. There was also no way he could lie about this. He shrugged. “I don’t know. A half-dozen…a dozen…maybe more.” Seeing her eyes widen, he quickly added, “But none of them meant anything to me. You’re the only one I ever had feelings for. The only one I ever wanted to not be conning. The only one I stopped conning.” He bit his lip, knowing he sounded like he was feeding her a line.
Her face hardened as she took a step back. Seeing her disappointment, her anger, he raised his hands. “It’s all I’ve known, Makayla. My entire life has been using people…it was the first thing I was ever taught.” He looked down and sighed. “Would you believe that I’ve never even dated…not for myself anyway.” He looked back up at her. “Not for anything that wasn’t a job.” He smiled, remembering his few weeks of peace with her. “Until you. That dinner we went to at that fancy restaurant was probably my first real date…ever.”
Makayla swallowed, her watery eyes refilling. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”
Chance sighed, shaking his head. “No, I just…wanted you to know that.”
Swiping a tear from her cheek, Makayla snapped out, “What do you mean it’s all you’ve known? Why would your father teach you to con people?”
Chance put his fingers in his back pocket and leaned back on his hip. Watching her face very intently, he told her, “He took me from my family at birth and raised me as his son, so he could teach me what he knew and mold me into the perfect partner. And that’s why I put him away.”
Makayla’s stared at him blankly. “He…what?”
Chance shrugged, the heartache he was feeling momentarily shifting to fiery rage. “He needed an infant for a job he was doing and…borrowed me. It worked out so well for him that he kept me.” Looking out the dark window to the blackness beyond, Chance felt goose bumps prick his flesh as he remembered the day in a hospital, similar to this one, when he’d discovered the truth. “I didn’t know any of that until a year ago. I believed that I was his legitimate son, until I ran into an ex-partner of his that knew the truth. He told me on his death bed. I turned on my dad so fast after that, I never even learned my real name…”
Chance looked back at her when he felt Makayla’s fingers on his arm. He swallowed at the compassion he saw on her face. Maybe he should have told her all of this before. Maybe he should have told her everything the night they’d made love. He’d just been so sure she’d leave him. “He raised me to hurt people, Makayla. It’s all I know. But I wanted to change for you…I really did.”
Her fingers came up to his cheek, brushing aside a tear he hadn’t even realized was there. Some scars still hurt, and this was still a fresh one for Chance. Makayla shook her head as she watched his inner pain tumble through his features. “I wish
you had,” she whispered.
Chance sighed, disappointment rushing through him. A part of him had hoped that she’d somehow take him back once she’d learned his real history. But, tragic as it was, it wasn’t enough to save them, and he knew it. “So…where do we go from here?” he asked.
Leaning forward, Makayla placed a soft kiss upon his lips. She continued trailing feather-light kisses along his jaw until she got to his ear. A jolt of electricity went through Chance at her caress. When she got close enough, she husked out, “You go to jail, Chance.”
He closed his eyes and considered saying okay. He could give himself up, stand trial for armed robbery. He could serve ten-to-twenty, and hope and pray that Makayla would wait for him on the other side. Maybe she’d even visit him in prison and help him pass the time in…intimate…ways. But then the thought of years in confinement settled around him. He could feel the weight of it already. Being chained to one place, following all of the mundane rules shackled upon him, living out an ordinary Joe Blow life once he was released…as a middle-aged man. Could he do that? Even if he somehow survived serving his time, could he really give up all of the urges that had plagued him his whole life? Urges he’d struggled to tame even while being happy with Makayla?