Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(41)

Grant looked around the shed again and then turned to face her. He lowered his head to whisper something to her, and that’s when she made her move. Valeria grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and pulled his lips toward her. The days’ growth of his thick scruff rubbed against her face, tickling her as his lips greeted hers. Valeria arched into him as his large hands moved up her ribcage to cup her breasts. Being with Grant was wild, heart-racing passion, and he was—gone. Valeria blinked open her eyes. Where the hell was he? “Son of a bitch,” she cursed with a smile still on her face. Grant was halfway across the yard, calling out a greeting to the old man.



* * *



Dalton pulled out the ringing phone as they made their way back to the helicopter. Lizzy hadn’t been able to break the lock so it was time to get some tools and come back. He didn’t know the number, so when he answered he didn’t say anything, opting to listen instead.

“I can hear you breathing.”

“Grant! Where are you? Do you have Valeria?”

“I have her,” Grant said, rattling off the coordinates for his location.

“That’s not far from where we are.” Dalton could tell Lizzy was trying not to yank the phone away from him as he gave her the thumbs-up to let her know everything was okay.

“I’m borrowing a phone from a nice man. Could you pick us up a mile west of town? There’re wide open spaces there,” Grant told him.

“You bet. Be there soon.”

Dalton hung up and turned to tell Lizzy about the call when his phone rang again. This time it was Humphrey. “Why isn’t anyone answering their phones?”

“I’m answering my phone.”

Dalton didn’t think Humphrey found it amusing. “Gene tried to kill Birch.”

“So, finally, the butler did it.” It spewed from Dalton before he could stop himself. Humphrey was deadly silent on the other end. Dalton cleared his throat. “Since you said ‘tried,’ I’m assuming he’s okay?”

“Yes. I was able to take Gene down, and now he’s with Jason. Gene has a drug problem and was arrested a while back. A very expensive lawyer with no name came in and had all records of the arrest erased so Gene wouldn’t be fired. In return, he was to spy on Birch.”

“Shit, he was the mole who informed on the location of Birch’s date with Tate. I am also assuming he’s with Mollia Domini.”

“We think the lawyer was. Alex is working on the phone Gene used,” Humphrey explained. “I tried calling everyone, but you’re the only person who answered.”

Dalton filled him in on the night as he pulled the hose from one of the gas drums out of the helicopter. “We’ll be back this afternoon.”

“Not so fast,” Humphrey said. “One of you needs to make a little detour to Mexico first.”



* * *



Grant whistled as he walked across the backyard of the man’s house. He could practically see smoke wafting up from behind the shed as he walked around it only to be grabbed by Valeria. She tried to shove him, but Grant held his ground.

“What the hell?” She growled as she poked him in the chest with her finger. Only this time he knew what was under all that bravado.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you think you could kiss me into getting your way? You’re free to try again, lass.” Grant’s smile widened at the outraged look on her face. “But first, I think we need to clarify something. You don’t have to kiss me to get your way. Especially right after losing your boyfriend. No matter how much I enjoyed it, don’t mistreat his memory like that.”

Valeria blinked in confusion. “How am I mistreating Brock’s memory by kissing you?”

“I’m sure you kissed him before he died. That should be your last memory of him.”

Valeria shook her head. “No, I didn’t.”

Now it was Grant’s turn to blink in confusion. “Then what did you do with your boyfriend if it wasn’t kissing?”

“Brock and I broke up after college. Years ago. My last boyfriend was Anthony, the creep that kidnapped me. Did you think Brock and I were still together? Is that why you haven’t—?” Valeria trailed off, suddenly looking shy.

“Fuck,” Grant cursed as he realized what she was saying. He’d gotten the order of her boyfriends mixed up. She’d been waiting on him to make a move, and now he couldn’t make one because they had a helicopter to catch. And by the look she was giving, she was expecting him to make that move now. “We have to move. Lizzy and Dalton are picking us up.”

Grant grabbed her hand and practically dragged her out into the open area behind the town. The town disappeared until only the sound of their angry footsteps hitting the hard ground was heard. He’d been so freaking stupid. What was it about this woman that caused his brain to shut off?

“For fuck’s sake,” Valeria finally muttered before yanking on his arm, bringing him to a halt.

When Grant turned around, he saw she had worked herself into a real lather. Her eyes were narrowed and her mouth was set in a tight line. “You don’t go storming off after something like that. Shouldn’t we”—Valeria looked wildly around as she gestured with her hands—“I don’t know, talk about it?” she asked as if she’d just taken a bite of spoiled food. Her face held such dread at the idea of talking about their feelings that Grant laughed.