Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(23)

“You’re right.” One side of his lips tugged upward. “I don’t know what you’re going to do, but I don’t care if you tell Miles.”

My eyebrows crinkled together. “Why not?”

Bending forward, he braced his elbows on top of the table, his hands a few inches from mine. “I haven’t told you anything Miles doesn’t know. That’s why he sent you to Lang’s party to stop me. He knows I’m getting close.”

I took a sip of the wine, and I could feel every millimeter of its descent until it hit my stomach like a leaden weight. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to help me get evidence against Miles.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“I need to know if he is working with anyone else, if he has contacts I don’t know about. I want copies of his emails, his bank statements. Everything.”

“Why don’t you hack into his computer and his phone? Isn’t that your specialty?”

His face darkened. “I’ve been trying, but so far I’ve been unable to do it. My partner, Jack, is still working on it, but I’ve been investigating him for six months, and I’m running out of time.”

I laced my hands together in my lap. The fact that Miles had such advanced security likely meant he was into some bad stuff, but maybe I was just paranoid and it was a necessary part of his job. “I don’t think I can help.”

“You know him. You know how he works, and for the most part, he trusts you. You can infiltrate every part of his company and personal life without too much effort.”

I snorted. “I don’t think so. You saw our text messages. We’re over. He wouldn’t believe it if I called him and apologized. He’s not stupid.”

He angled his head to the side. “I know that, but I’m going to make him fight for you. Once he believes he’s won you back, you’ll have access to everything.”

I arched my eyebrows in disbelief. “Right. How are you going to do that?”

A smile spread across his face, and my heart fluttered inside my chest. He was too beautiful; too appealing. “You’re going to attend a fundraiser tomorrow night as my date.”

I chewed on my lower lip. “And Miles will be there?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my gaze. “Why should I help you?”

“Because you need a new job and I’ll pay you. If you do a good job, I might have a permanent position for you at the end of this.”

“How much?”

He waved his hand dismissively. “Whatever Miles pays you.”

Logically, I should run fast and hard from his offer. Nothing good would come of further entangling myself in this situation, but I needed the money. For Faith. For myself. And with any luck, I could help Derrick and figure how to permanently bury any evidence linking me to my biological father.

“Fine. I’ll do it.” I took another sip of my wine, not feeling the same rush I normally did when assigned a new job. “What’s the fundraiser for?”

“It’s to raise money for Speaker Benton’s reelection.”

The wine I’d drunk sloshed uncomfortably in my gut. “Speaker Benton?”

“Yeah.” He smiled blandly, but his eyes were alert and probing. “You know him, right?”

My heart came to a grinding halt, and when it resumed, it thumped at a rate of a hundred miles per hour. “No. Not really. I’ve heard of him, and I’ve seen him at a few events, but we’ve never been introduced.”

His jaw tightened. “Really? I find that hard to believe.” His tone was cold, and a shiver of unease rippled down my spine. Did he know Derrick and I were related?

“It’s the truth,” I said, jerking my head up and down like a bobble head doll with an overly bright smile. Folding my hands in my lap, I smoothed my expression, and I mentally slapped myself for being so transparent.

“Huh, that’s interesting.” He pushed his chair away from the table, and it scraped against the floor. “We’ll have to rectify that tomorrow night. By most accounts, he’s a relatively likable guy. So is his wife.” His eyes narrowed fractionally, and I felt like I had liar carved into my forehead.

“What does Benton have to do with Miles and Lang?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, my heart squeezing. Eager to get away from him, I scrambled out of my seat. I whipped my phone out of my pocket and opened my calendar. “What’s the address of the fundraiser?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll drop by your place at six to pick you up.”

I took a step backward, avoiding his gaze. “That’s unnecessary. I’ll meet you there.”

“I insist.” Standing, he crossed the room, pausing next to the front door. “Besides, it’ll look more convincing if we arrive together. We can’t have people suspecting our involvement is a farce.”

“Fine,” I conceded, sucking in a strangled breath. There was more to his request than that, but questioning him would be futile. He had a practiced blank look on his face that said he had no intention of enlightening me. Besides, if Miles saw me arrive alone, I’d have to face him without Knox’s support, and I didn’t want to do that. Not yet anyway. I had to unravel all the pieces to protect Derrick and myself. Only then could I turn the tables on Miles.