The Private Serials Box Set(96)

“If I ask you a question, do you promise to be completely and one hundred percent honest with me?”

“Yes,” I answered instantly.

“I’m not kidding, Preston. I need the truth, even if it changes everything. I need you to give it to me.”

“Ask me.”

“Have you ever killed anyone before?”

“Never.” My answer came immediately and with force. I pushed the word out as if it weighed a thousand pounds. I needed her to believe me, needed her to realize that not only was I telling the truth, but also that killing people wasn’t something I did. I turned toward her and made sure she was looking me in the eye before I continued. “I am not a thug, a gangster, or a mob boss, Lena. I am a clean, law-abiding private investigator. I got caught up in one questionable job to protect my sister. One. And that job led me to you, so I can’t regret it. But I am not crooked. I promise you that.” I sighed, feeling some tension leave my body with my words. “I might have killed Piper’s ex, I wouldn’t have cared at the time if I had, but that was different. That was me protecting my baby sister. He lived. But I’ve never killed anyone. Not for the job and not for any reason.”

“Okay,” she whispered. I reached my hand out and wrapped it around the back of her neck, pulling her over to me, our bodies stretching out to meet each other’s, my forehead gently touching hers.

“You believe me?”

“Of course I believe you,” she whispered gently.

I sighed out my relief. Of course she believed me. I pressed my mouth to hers, kissing her just barely, then let her go, resting back into my chair. “I’m not going to kill Derrek.” I looked over at her just in time to watch her nod. “Edgar wants him dead, but we’ll find a way to work around that.”

“Do you think if Derrek gives Edgar his money, he’ll leave him alone and let him live?”

“I honestly don’t know. My instincts tell me no. Edgar may not be the most prominent boss out there, but he’s still dangerous and definitely means business.”

“Wait,” Lena said, new worry and panic filling her voice. “If you don’t kill him, won’t Edgar then come after you?”

“Let me worry about Edgar, sweetheart.”

“Where was Derrek the last time you tracked him?”

“Caribbean.”

“Do you think he’s still there?”

“I don’t know. He moved around a bit at first, then landed there and didn’t leave for a few days before I found him, but that doesn’t really mean anything. He could be anywhere.”

“I assume that means you’ll have to go wherever you end up finding him.”

I sighed. “Yeah, these aren’t the kind of conversations you have with someone over the phone. I have to go wherever he is.”

Lena turned to look back out to the blue sea. “I want to go with you,” she nearly whispered, her words so light and soft, almost as if she were afraid to say them, afraid of how I would respond.

“You know I never want to be away from you, but this isn’t safe.”

“I need to go with you.”

“I need to know you’re safe, Lena. I need to do my job without worrying whether or not you’ll get hurt.”

“And I’m supposed to just stay here and wonder whether or not you’re safe? That isn’t fair to me. That will drive me insane.”

“What if you went to Portland and stayed with Parker?”

“I am not going to Portland. Not now. Not yet.”

“Portland, with Parker, is the safest place you could be right now, Lena. The only place where I would know someone would be watching out for you.”

“And who would be watching out for you? Edgar? Derrek? What if Parker came with us?”

This was not an angle I’d considered. Parker was someone I could always count on, and I had used him before in my work, but not in this way. I had never asked Parker to help me with something so fundamentally and obviously illegal. I didn’t want him knowing anything about what was going on. I couldn’t implicate him that way. “He can’t know what I’m up to, Lena. That would mean, if I were caught, he’d be an accomplice. I can’t do that to him.”

“Now you think you’re going to get caught?” She was almost to the point of panic. Her face was pained, eyebrows arched toward the sky, hands gripping her thighs, and I swore I could see her pulse beating in her neck.

“Lena, baby, Derrek isn’t dangerous. He’s got money, but that’s all. He doesn’t have contacts—and even if he did have any, he’s abandoned all of them, gone dark. I’m not planning on getting caught. But if something were to go wrong, I wouldn’t want you and Parker there. It’s just not worth the risk.”

Suddenly Lena stood and took two quick steps, standing right in front of me. I couldn’t help it when my eyes roamed down her body, landing right where my white shirt ended and the smooth skin of her thighs began. Before I could reach out and touch her, like I ached to do every time she was within reach, she knelt between my legs and I was taken by a whole new visual.

“Listen, Preston. I know you’re used to getting your way, and you’re used to people bending to your every command, but you forgot to take one thing into account.”