Forsaken (The Secret Life of Amy Bensen #3)(35)

“I couldn’t have afforded to do this without you.”

Ignoring the punch in my gut at the vulnerability of her words, I stiffen my spine, refusing to let down my guard with this woman. “I need you alive to help me. This was for me, not you.”

A stunned look slides over her face, replacing the appreciative one of moments before. “I see.”

“Good,” I approve. “Then we’re clear.”

“No, nothing is clear at all—but then, maybe it never will be again.” Her chin lifts in the now familiar way I’ve come to expect from her, an act of bravado she doesn’t feel. Or maybe it’s just an act, period. “What do I need to do?” she asks. “What’s next?”

I grit my teeth at the bite of pain I sense in her words, and resist the stupid need to comfort her, taking her arm again, and turning her to face Maria and Juan Carlos. “She’s all yours,” I say, but the way Juan Carlos’s eyes flicker over Gia, the interest in their depths, leaves me regretting those words.

Maria motions for Gia to follow her through a door, Juan Carlos behind them, and a wave of protectiveness overcomes me. It’s laughable that I would feel such a thing about a woman who must have decided she couldn’t manipulate me, so she’d just turn me back over to Sheridan to save herself. It’s logical. It’s what has to have happened, so f*ck her and any discomfort she might feel in that other room. I even turn for the door before I stop dead in my tracks, cursing and crossing the small space between me and her, telling myself her safety is in my best interests—I’m simply protecting an asset in the war against Sheridan.

Entering the room, I find Gia sitting in a chair facing me while Maria brushes her hair, an array of make-up and hair tools everywhere. Gia’s eyes meet mine, and the bond that I sense between us has me cursing again. It’s not real, I remind myself, any more than the name on those IDs we’re buying. Maria steps between us, breaking the spell of the moment, and I let out a breath I seem to be holding in. Leaning on the wall, Juan Carlos joins me, a camera in his hand as he waits on the women.

“Who is she to you?” he asks.

“Just another curve in the ever-winding path that is my life,” I say, wishing it were that simple, somehow knowing it isn’t.

“Who’d she piss off?”

“Me,” I say.

“She got in the way of you and a prize, then.”

“What’s mine is mine,” I confirm, embracing my reputation, “and right now, that includes her.”

“Her?”

I throw a look at Juan Carlos. “That’s right. She belongs to me. And so we’re clear, there is no ‘even’ where she’s concerned. You hear of anyone looking for her, I don’t care what price they offer—you keep your mouth shut.”

“I don’t stay in business by running my mouth.”

“We both know you like money.”

He lifts his hand, indicating the ring. “I wear enough money on my left hand to leave any time I wish.”

“I wondered about that. Why don’t you?”

He laughs low and cynical. “A woman. Isn’t it always? If I ever convince her I’m not a monster, maybe she’ll actually run off with me.”

“Indeed,” I agree, thinking that’s exactly what happened with Meg, and will happen with Gia too, if I let it. But what stands out in my mind are the words a monster. It’s the way I imagine Amy will see me when she knows I caused all of this.

Maria motions to Juan Carlos, and I follow him toward the women. We hover over Gia, and she doesn’t look at me or Juan Carlos. “Gia,” I say softly, her gaze lifting to mine, and I see the uncertainty, the unease in her eyes, and somehow it’s okay for me to put it there, but not anyone else. “We need to be on the road in fifteen minutes,” I tell the group.

“Then let’s get the first photo done for the driver’s license,” Juan Carlos says. “I’ll get that document doctored while Maria takes a few for school records and things of that sort—unless you want to tell me the lady’s real name, in which case I can hack her existing records.”

Gia’s eyes go wide and I answer, “No. Take the photos.”

“Very well,” he concedes, motioning for Maria to step back as he aims the camera at Gia, and says, “Smile, pretty lady.” She doesn’t smile. He doesn’t seem to care. He shoots several photos and then waits for Maria to pull Gia’s hair back and help her change her jacket.

After four clothing changes, I’ve had enough. “We’re done,” I say, pulling Gia to her feet and tugging some sort of red jacket off her shoulders as she whispers, “Thank goodness.” I lace my fingers with hers and walk to the outer office to find Juan Carlos working at a computer. “Time’s up,” I tell him.

He rotates in his chair and hands me a folder. “Everything you need.”

I take it from him. “Keys?”

He fishes them out of his pocket and hands them to me. I accept them and lead Gia to the exit, urging her outside as I pause and glance over my shoulder. “I left you a present at the curb. You should get rid of it quickly.” I step outside and shut the door to the echo of his string of curse words.

Wordlessly, the air thick and awkward between us, Gia and I rush through the backyard and open the driver’s-side door of the Escalade. Gia steps in front of me and climbs in the door, and damned if I don’t get a nice, long view of her backside that I know is even better naked than in those jeans. I follow her inside and she settles on the floor.