The Private Serials Box Set(73)

I didn’t really know what I was expecting Preston to say to me, but this story definitely wasn’t on my short list. I was a little taken aback by all the new information. “You might have killed him?” I asked, my voice small and quiet.

He shrugged. “It’s possible. I wasn’t concerned at the moment with sparing him, but I didn’t intend to kill him. I just wanted to do to him what his loan shark had done to my sister.”

I nodded like I understood, but I didn’t. I couldn’t relate to what he was saying at all. I was shocked and surprised and caught off guard. I’d seen Preston protective and forceful, but I’d never seen him violent.

“Anyway, I found the loan shark and made an arrangement with him. He’d forgive the debt, to which my sister was linked to through her sleazy boyfriend, and I would be in his pocket. It was a good deal. He had no idea who I was, or any real proof that I could be of any help to him, and could have told me to f*ck off, but he took the bait. I gave him all my information and was told he would be in contact when he needed my assistance. It just so happened that he liked the idea of having his hands reach all the way to the West Coast. Stroked his ego, so to say.”

He took a deep breath in then let it out and I watched as some of the tension that had appeared when he was talking about Piper release.

“Funny thing about mobsters and people of that nature, they trade favors like picks in the NFL draft. So eventually I was approached by Edgar.”

My mind raced trying to place the name. I’d heard it before.

“He’s the guy who followed us in his car after the gala. He cornered us in the alley,” he supplied when he noticed I was trying to put the pieces together.

“Right,” I said, remembering the round guy who’d known who I was even though I had no idea about him.

“Turns out, Derrek and Edgar were buddies. Edgar owed Derrek, for what I’m not sure, but when you made that call to the private investigation firm, you set everything in motion. Derrek wasn’t lying when he said he’d been waiting for you to make your move. And,” he continued, “if it’s any consolation, I didn’t work for Derrek I worked for Edgar.”

“It’s not,” I said quickly, even though I was still a little confused about the specifics.

“Well, I got a call from Edgar and he told me I was to meet my mark, you, and my job was to get you into bed.”

My stomach rolled at his admission and I knew he could see the unease in my eyes. He reached across the table to take my hand, but I quickly slipped them below to my lap. My defenses went up automatically. “Well, congratulations. Mission accomplished.” My voice was shaky, emotions coming out that I was desperate to keep in.

“Lena,” he said softly. “I watched you walk into that bar and I couldn’t for the life of me understand why any man would want to give you up, would want to jeopardize you in any way. Then I met you, got a taste of your sass, learned how incredibly smart you were, and I knew instantly I was f*cked.”

Just like the first time we’d met, his use of that word sent unwanted, yet delicious, jolts of electricity to the core of me. I trembled and hoped he didn’t notice.

“This is all very interesting, but I’ll remind you that you did, in the end, jeopardize me. You f*cked me. In every sense of the word. So, tell me, why are you here now?”

“Because you’re mine.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Lena, you’re mine until I decide otherwise. And right now, you need to hear the rest of what I came here to tell you.”

I couldn’t think of a response and was still trying to recover from him voicing his possession of me, so I decided to stay quiet.

“You have to understand the position I was in, Lena. I wanted you. More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, I wanted you. I wanted to save you, to be with you, to help you. But I also wanted to give myself to you. I wanted everything with you. But, it wasn’t that simple. I could have told Edgar to f*ck off, could have just snatched you up, shown you everything you’ve been missing in your sorry excuse for a marriage with Derrek, and it was damn tempting to do it. But if I didn’t play my cards right, Piper would be right back where she started. I had to protect her, but I couldn’t just let you go.

“It would have been so easy to just take the job and seduce you, but I knew I’d never be able to walk away. So I had to figure out a way to keep you while still keeping Piper safe. It just turns out that Derrek and Edgar were a little smarter than I gave them credit for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those pictures you saw? The ones of us together?”

I swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

“Those were supposed to be taken at your house. That was the deal. I was supposed to sleep with you in your bed. Derrek had cameras in there for weeks just waiting. That’s why I insisted we leave. I wasn’t going to give him the ammunition.” He rubbed his hand over his bearded jaw again. “So I made sure we never had sex in your house. Do you remember? You remember how I made sure we left?”

“Yeah?”

“You remember how, right before I slipped into you, I made you tell me you wanted it?”

My heart simply stopped at his words. I’d thought about him and I together that way a lot over the last couple of months, remembering the way we were together, how possessive and domineering he was, but also how tender and sweet he could be. But even with all the nights I laid awake thinking about him, I hadn’t recalled that moment until now.