Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(30)

“I think it’s obvious your connection to his family is the reason he’s being blackmailed.” I shoved my phone back into my pocket. “Why do you want to protect this secret? Why does either of you care if people know you’re related? Richard Benton is dead. He’s been dead for three months or more. Nobody will give a shit that he had an affair over two decades ago.”

Her gaze skittered around the room, and she swallowed. “Derrick wants to protect his mother. She doesn’t know about me, and according to him, she’s in poor heath.”

I scoffed. “That’s bullshit. Darcey Benton is not sick. Barring an accident, she’ll live well into her nineties. She sits on countless boards. She attends charity events every week. She’s an avid tennis player. She’s in great health.”

She stared blankly at the wall for a second, then shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. But he doesn’t need speculation about me to derail his career, and his family doesn’t need their name dragged through the mud over something that happened so long ago.”

“Great. I understand why Derrick wants you to keep your relationship secret, which, by the way, is a strong motive for him to threaten you.” She held up her hand, but I kept talking, ignoring her. She wanted to protect Derrick, but I didn’t like it. He wasn’t telling her everything. “And yet, you didn’t give me one reason why you cared about keeping your connection secret.”

She fisted her hands and her lips thinned in frustration. “I care because Derrick is my brother, and it’s what he wants. He’s been good to me. He sought me out and encouraged me to move to D.C. He helped me financially when I had nothing.” She chewed on her lower lip. “And I don’t want anyone to pry into my family or my past. They’ll splash my ugly history on the cover of a bunch of magazines. They’ll make my mom look like trash. They’ll make light of my uncle’s criminal history. And Faith…she doesn’t need to deal with the gossip. She finally has a life.”

I stiffened. “Faith? Who’s Faith?”

She sighed softly. “My younger sister. She goes to college in Texas near my hometown. Why?”

I groaned. This was worse than I thought. Her sister’s name likely popped up in my investigation of Trinity, but I hadn’t committed it to memory. “I think the rest of the note threatened your sister.”

Her hand fluttered to the base of her neck. “What do you mean?”

“It said ‘Who’s next? Will you lose Faith?’ The words were in all caps. I didn’t realize it referred to a person. I thought it was a bunch of cryptic bullshit.”

She gasped as she dropped onto the sofa. “No. No. No,” she sobbed over and over again. “I can’t let anything happen to Faith. She doesn’t have anything to do with this. She’s innocent. I need to protect her. She’s worked so hard…”

I hunkered down in front of her and pushed back the wisp of hair that had fallen out of her braid. With puffy eyes and red cheeks, she was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. “I’ll send some friends over here to dust for fingerprints and look around. I’ll have them clean this up. Do you have somewhere to stay tonight?”

She attempted to wipe the tears from her face. Instead, she managed to smear her mascara halfway down her face. “You can drop me off at The Lux. It’s a bar on 9th,” she muttered through frozen lips.

I frowned. “I know what it is, but I’m not dumping you at some bar.”

Her chest jerked up and down rapidly. “My friend owns the place. I’ll wait in her office until closing. Then I’ll go home with her. She won’t mind.”

“No.” I rubbed my hands up and down her thighs. I didn’t want her to be alone even if it were only for a couple of hours. “That won’t work. You’re staying with me tonight.”

Having her in my space wasn’t a good idea. Without a question, if I welcomed her into my home, she’d suck me into a potentially deadly tangled web of lies. That didn’t stop me from making the offer. Every cell in my body lit up with the need to protect her.

Her body softened, and she leaned into me, resting her head on the top of my shoulder. Her braid slipped around my back. “You don’t have to do that. I know you don’t want anything to do with me.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.”

“Are you sure?” She lifted her tear stained face. Her coffee-hued eyes glimmered in the dim lighting. “I could go to a hotel or I could stay here.”

“This isn’t a game, Jones. This is serious. Someone is threatening you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

I dragged my thumb across her lower lip. She looked fragile, staring at me trustingly with lips that looked so f*cking kissable. Damn her for being so pretty. So perfect. She made me want things I didn’t think were possible.

“I want you to stay with me.” I gave in to the insanity twisting in my chest and brushed a kiss across her forehead, knowing I shouldn’t, knowing I was making a big mistake, but I couldn’t walk away from her. Not now. Just like that, my decision was made.

“Okay, Knox.” She nodded. “But just for tonight.”





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN




Trinity