Girl Undercover 12: Showdown Read online

  Only time would tell if this would turn out to be the case.

  I rolled off Ian and stared up into the ceiling.

  He turned toward me, lying on his side. “What are you thinking?”

  “That I need a vacation,” I replied. “It’s been a rough year.”

  “You could say that again.”

  “I also think that I can say with certainty now that allowing revenge to consume you can be good in some cases.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I turned my head to look at him. “If I hadn’t been so obsessed with finding Nick’s killers, the world would have been a very different place today. And I did find them in the end. With the help of you and Brady.”

  Ian placed a strand of my hair that was back to chocolate brown again behind my ear.

  “Do you miss him?”

  I didn’t immediately answer. Because I did miss Nick. I would always miss Nick. He would always own a piece of my heart, and the pain that I experienced over what had happened to him would likely never go away. But things were different now. All that I had been through the last several months had changed me, made me stronger. I was tougher than before, even more cynical. I felt many years older than I was. The time I had shared with Nick felt like it had happened in another lifetime. Which was good because I no longer felt guilty for being with Ian. I didn’t even feel guilty for loving him, either. In the last few days, I realized that I did truly love the man beside me. It had not just been a feeling triggered because he hadn’t died on me. Nick would want me to be with a man like Ian. It didn’t matter who his real father was.

  “Yes,” I replied finally. When I felt how he stiffened next to me, I quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean I can’t love again. I do love you, you know.”

  “Really?” He pulled me into his arms and gazed at me with eyes that were a dark blue at the moment. And suddenly full of worry. “Even though a man like Stenger is my father? Can you really love someone who’s the carrier of such evil genes?”

  I smiled at him. “Yes, because in your case, it’s clear that the good ones have prevailed over the bad ones. And I have no doubt that it’ll stay that way.”

  He grinned big at me then, all the worry gone from his face. “Didn’t I tell you you were a one of a kind woman?”

  “Yeah, I think you might’ve at some point…” I laughed. “You know what, I think we’ve done enough talking here. Show me how you’re a one of a kind man instead and make love to me some more. I feel starved in that department. It’s really, really—”

  Before I could say anything else, he’d rolled me around and crashed his lips to mine.

  THE END

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  Feel free to check out my six full-length novels: THE DIARY (Psychological Thriller), THE SMILEY KILLER (YA Thriller), and The L.A. Girls Romance Series. This series follows the steamy love lives of four different girls from Los Angeles. While interconnected, the standalone novels don't have to be read in order, but I suggest your read them the following way: TRIGGER, Nina and Dylan's story, a romantic thriller with lots of twist and turns; LOVE CURSED, Ricki and Dante's story, a slow-burn, sexy romance with some suspense; UNDERCOVER LOVERS, Gabi and Paul's story, a sexy romantic suspense novel; and LOVELY REVENGE, Elisa and Chase's story, a sexy action-adventure mystery that ties the series together. You can find links to all my books at the beginning of this book.

  UNDERCOVER LOVERS is the prequel to the GIRL UNDERCOVER serial. A second, revised edition of that book will be published late October 2015.

  I love to interact with my readers, so feel free to friend me on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/julia.derek.7 and/or follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/@JuliaDerekNY. To find out more about me and other books that I have written, please visit JuliaDerek.com.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  EPILOGUE