Better When He's Brave (Welcome to the Point #3)(69)



When Titus had told me that he was good with whatever happened after our reckless bout of unprotected sex, I thought I had heard him wrong. Bringing a kid into this world, especially with things as unpredictable and uncertain as they were now, was a horrible idea. It was foolish and totally not something I would have ever considered before him. But if he was willing to do whatever it took, then so was I, and that meant no more lying, no more subterfuge, and no more wishing I was anything more than I was. I wouldn’t ever be perfect and I had really screwed up, but after he let me in and let me see that he had flaws similar to my own, I no longer felt like I had to be a better version of myself to deserve him.

Nibbling nervously on my lip I called his cell phone and waited anxiously for him to answer. I was secretly hoping it would just go to voice mail and I could leave a rambling, incoherent message explaining what my new plan was, but no such luck.

“Hello?” His deep voice came across the line and instantly my tongue got stuck to the roof of my mouth.

I had to clear my throat before I could begin. There was the sound of sirens and the noise of traffic and voices in the background.

“Hey, are you busy?” Of course he was. I could hear how busy he was, but he shouted something and then the background noise faded away.

“Yeah, but I have a minute. What’s up? Is everything okay?”

I laughed a tad hysterically. I couldn’t believe he stepped away from his job for me, even if it was just for a second. What he did was such a huge part of who he was that the significance of the gesture wasn’t lost on me at all.

“Everything is fine, but what I’m about to tell you isn’t going to make you happy.”

He swore. “What’s going on, Reeve?”

I twisted a piece of hair around my finger. “I’m going to go talk to Nassir. I can’t keep hiding out in this condo. Conner needs his hand forced and the only way to do that is if he can get to me. I’m going to see if Nassir will put me to work in Spanky’s. Race seems to think he’ll be game for anything, including keeping me alive, as long as it lures Conner out into the open.”

I expected an immediate argument. I expected him to yell and to blow his top. I expected him to question my sanity and whether or not I had a death wish. Instead he swore softly and asked, “You’re going to strip at Spanky’s?”

I was telling him I was going to put myself directly in the line of fire and he was worried about me getting naked in public? It startled me so much I laughed. “No. I have no rhythm and no desire to get pawed at by sweaty and drunk strangers. Plus G-strings go where no article of clothing should ever go. I’ll ask him to put me behind the bar or something. I’ll figure that part out later. You aren’t mad?”

He sighed. “I don’t love the idea. It leaves you really exposed.”

“You understand that if Nassir gets a shot at Conner, he isn’t going to sit him down and have a drink while he waits for you to show up and cart him off to a maximum-security prison, right?”

“I know exactly how Nassir works, Reeve. I know what’ll happen if he gets close enough to Roark to do any kind of damage.”

I breathed out. “Okay.”

He grunted and I heard what sounded like someone tapping on glass. I figured he must have retreated to his car so we could talk.

“I gotta go. A junkie broke into a bank and tried to rob it with an assault rifle. It didn’t end well.”

Good Lord, his job was disheartening. I don’t know how he did it day after day. I let loose the hair I was playing with and tucked it behind my ear. “Take care of yourself, Detective. Or better yet, get home in one piece so I can take care of you.”

“No one has ever wanted to take care of me before. That makes being careful all the more important. For you too. Stay safe.”

He hung up the phone and I couldn’t believe the amount of relief that washed over me. Honesty like that was unheard of in my life. I looked at my purse and thought about how deceitful I had been with him from the beginning, planning a murder under his nose from the second he dragged me into his office. Maybe I needed to come clean about it all, tell him that I was still thirsty for retribution, and that taking out a bad man with a bullet was still something that made sense to me. Maybe he needed to know what my plan had been from the beginning now that I knew I couldn’t go through with it. I didn’t want to be a killer. I wanted to be someone he could love. I sighed and tapped the edge of my cell phone against the center of my forehead. Only I could get my hands on something I wanted so badly and be prepared to mess it all up in the next heartbeat.

I fancied myself up a little while I waited on Race. I had seen the girls that Nassir put to work, and none of them were anything to sneeze at. Sure, most had the hard, worn look that came from being part of the Point, but under that they were all stunning, like Keelyn. She might have man-made boobs and an attitude that even a rabid hyena would be afraid of, but there was no denying she was a stunner and that most of it was God-given. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to throw a little sex appeal Nassir’s way while I was asking him to keep me alive.

Race knocked on the door exactly an hour later. He had put on a pair of pin-striped pants and a black sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. His boots were black and looked expensive and foreign. The only thing out of place in his polished look was the edge of the white wife beater peeking out under the collar of his shirt. He looked like he was on his way to work in a financial firm or at a law firm not to a strip club in the middle of the day. Race Hartman was an odd character, and I knew it was in my best interests to never underestimate him.

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