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Read an exclusive excerpt from the highly-anticipated novelRules of Engagement.
Why is infiltrating Scimitar so important, its worth your life?
Raleigh countered with a question of her own.
I thought getting inside meant something to you?
Or dont you care about why Phillip died?
The barb struck its mark, but the pain didnt register yet.
Not until after he responded.
Not enough to lose you again!
I cant do that a second time.
Raleigh stared at him, stunned.
What did you say?
Adam caught her shoulders and shook her violently.
Desperation compelled him, a race against the demons that haunted him.
I said youre mine.
And I will not let you die a second time!
As in someone he wanted, cared about.
Her heartbeat stopped, then thundered loudly in her ears.
You dont mean that.
She could fight her own needs, but not him.
Not if he cared about her.
Really cared about her.
Take it back, she demanded absurdly.
In that instant, with her plaintive request, he had his answers.
Love filled him, flooded him.
Full, brimming, seductive love.
What if youre my life?
he demanded as Raleigh pulled her closer to him.
Her arms were wooden, as though shed been struck dumb.
If her reaction hurt, hed deal with that later too.
Now, the truth was the most important thing.
What if I told you I loved you?
Raleigh recoiled as though shed been struck.
Dont you dare say that to me.
Hysteria edged her demands.
Fear made sense, but Raleigh was beyond fear.
Why cant I tell you how I feel?
Raleigh paced, furious with him for bringing them to this place where she had no answers.
Love wasnt part of the deal.
She had too much to lose, without losing the one thing she might miss the most.
So shed convince him he didnt mean it.
What you feel is sorry.
For me, for yourself.
But a tendril of hope sprouted in defiance.
Outraged and deeply hurt by her dismissal of his feelings, he struck back.
Dont tell me how I feel!
What would you know about love?
You, the consummate ice princess.
The one who only feels in her dreams.
The accusation killed the budding expectation.
He didnt know her at all.
How could he love a woman he misunderstood so badly?
Did you love me last night?
Before I told you about the warehouse?
Adam ground his teeth.
I dont know, he gritted.
I honestly dont know.
You didnt love me last night.
Because I am the jot down of woman who would let your best friend die to achieve her objective.
Maybe I would even kill him myself if the cause were just, she warned.
Hear me, Adam, she begged, spare us both.
He heard a plea in her low, husky voice.
You couldnt deliberately take a life, Raleigh.
I know that now.
If he could hold her, surely shed sense his declaration was genuine.
Adam reached for her.
Better you end it now, she thought, before you kick off to believe him.
No, you dont know that.
You have no clue what I may have become in the past three years.
He dismissed her protest as nonsense.
Ive spent time with you, he began.
Loving, he countered.
Sex isnt love, Adam.
I didnt say sex, Raleigh.
He smiled at her, an erotic, appealing grin that weakened her.
I would remember sex.
Panic rose inside like bile.
She couldnt do this, listen to this, and do her job.
I will not take it back.
Adam smiled at her, his anger dissipated in the face of such terror.
She wasnt fighting him.
She was fighting herself.
You dont love me.
Maybe youre right, he conceded, willing to give her space for the battle.
Maybe I dont love you now.
But I could tonight.
And the next day.
I wont give you the opportunity to find out.
I will unravel your secrets, Raleigh.
Each and every one.
I will strip you bare, body and soul.
And when Ive revealed you, to my eyes and yours, I will stand before you.
I will take your hands and tell you again how much I love you.
Adam
And you will be free to tell me how much you love me.
From RULES OF ENGAGEMENT published by arrangement with Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Copyright 2022 by Stacey Abrams writing as Selena Montgomery.
This article was originally published onAug.
