Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(6)
I scanned through the subject lines of the emails piling up in my inbox. “Yeah, well, I didn’t notice. I was too focused on the gun she aimed at my head.”
“Uh-huh.” Jack chuckled softly. “It’s kind of hard to overlook a five-foot-ten brunette who looks like a swimsuit model, but if that’s what you’re telling yourself, I’ll go along with it. Just be careful. She’s not some woman you can toy with for a couple of weeks and show the door.”
Ignoring his comment, I searched for any correspondence requiring my immediate attention. When I didn’t see anything, I slammed the laptop closed again. “I’m outta here. I have an early meeting at the Black Investments’ satellite office, so I’ll catch up with you tomorrow afternoon.” I shoved the laptop into my briefcase, stood up and snagged my jacket off the back of my chair. I made it all the way to the door before Jack said anything.
“I’m not lecturing you. I just want you to proceed with caution where Trinity Jones is concerned. She’s not like the other women who come and go in your life. She works in the same field as you, and the last thing we need is a new enemy because you didn’t keep it in your pants.”
I paused, one hand gripping the doorknob. “Don’t treat me like a child.” I whirled around to face him. “I know exactly what’s at stake, but rest assured, I’m only interested in what she can tell me about Representative Lang and his connection to Miles Knightly.”
To some extent, I told the truth. I couldn’t get involved with Trinity Jones. My brain knew that, but from the minute I saw her pointing that gun at me, I wanted to taste her. Touch her. Kiss her. Despite my better judgment, I did exactly that when Lang’s sudden appearance gave me the opening I needed.
Jack stared at me, a hesitant frown on his face, then nodded. “Okay, I believe you.” He slid his fingers along his lips, and I thought he was finished lecturing me for the night. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.
“Trinity Jones is more than Miles Knightly’s pet project. They were involved intimately for at least a year; maybe longer. I don’t know the details. She still collaborates with him, but the relationship ended when she discovered Miles never firmly severed ties with his ex-wife.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because Miles still considers her his property, and if something happened between you two or if you want to pursue her—”
I raised my hand, interrupting him. “Nothing happened and even if it did, you’ve known me long enough to realize I never get hung up on any woman,” I said, forcing my voice to remain even and relaxed. Regrettably, jealousy and anger teemed beneath the surface. I could deal with the anger. Anger management shaped my entire childhood, but I didn’t do the jealous thing. With the exception of my brothers, I never cared about anyone or anything enough to inspire that emotion.
“There’s always an exception to every never. One day a woman will come along who will change your mind and knock you on your ass.” Jack chuckled. “I just hope I get a front row seat to the whole thing.”
A burst of laughter escaped my mouth. “Yeah, you and every woman I’ve ever dated. But trust me, Trinity Jones isn’t that woman.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Trinity
I hated D.C. in the winter. The trees were grayish sticks. The low-hanging clouds muddied the sky. The cold, wet air seeped into my bones like I wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. My skirt didn’t help matters. I flipped up the collar of my black trench coat and folded my arms across my body. Some days, I felt like I’d never get warm again.
As much as I loathed admitting it, days like this made me miss the mild winters of Texas. I got the hell out of there days after I turned twenty-one and I hadn’t been back, but it didn’t mean I wanted to spend the rest of my life in D.C. I never intended to live here more than a year, but a year turned into two. Then, I met Miles. He took me under his wing a year and a half ago. First I filed papers for him in his home office, but it quickly turned into more. He mentored me and gave me a career and new life.
For the most part, we had a good working relationship. I liked him, and I admired how hard he worked. As the months progressed, forty hours a week turned into sixty, then ninety. On particularly late nights, I slept in his guest room. One night he kissed me, and somehow we ended up in a relationship. Days bled into months. I thought we were in love and on the road to getting married. Apparently, he didn’t agree. Despite our disastrous ending, I’d continued working with him after he screwed me over. I needed the money for my sister.
I opened the door to Miles’s house with the key he gave me when we started dating. He never asked for it back, and I never offered. I didn’t want to deal with the permanency of the gesture. Creeping down the hallway, I paused a few times to listen for voices coming from his office. I wished I could avoid this confrontation for another day until I came up with a solid plan to recover the thumb drives from Knox and get into Lang’s house and destroy his computer. He rarely, if ever, connected the computer to the internet, which ruled out hacking as a viable alternative. Besides breaking into Knox’s home and office and stealing the thumb drives and destroying any copies, I didn’t have any promising ideas. I wasn’t looking forward to another confrontation with him either. He unsettled me.