Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(74)

He sighed. Naturally she would go there. “Yeah, you’re definitely not ready. But the answer to your question is easy. If the Bratva thinks for a second that you’re helping me, they’ll eliminate you. Especially if they think you’re vulnerable.”

She brushed back her blond hair. “I’ve been vulnerable for years, Dax. They haven’t come after me yet. They’ve had three years to take care of me. They could have arranged for a convenient accident. I’m a single woman who lives alone.”

“But you haven’t been single. You’ve been dating that cop, right? What’s his name? Charles? Chazz?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, his name is Chazz. A very traditional New Orleans name.”

So he wasn’t going to fool her. “Fine. Chad. I know his name. I’ve memorized a whole lot of things about that asshole.”

“Why would you know anything about him?”

Confession time . . . “Because I’ve watched you ever since I woke up in a Vegas hotel room and realized I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. I’ve kept up with your social media.”

She huffed, sounding shocked. “I unfriended your ass.”

“Yeah, well, I might or might not have made up another identity.” It wasn’t something he was proud of.

“Stalker.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yeah, I thought you would view it that way, but I needed to know you were all right.” He wasn’t telling her the whole truth. In the beginning, he’d wanted to see if she was as miserable as he’d been. He’d been desperate to know that he wasn’t alone in his agony. “I didn’t talk to you or anything, just sent you a friend request as a second cousin on your mother’s side.”

She looked at him like he’d lost his damn mind. “You’re Sissie Mae who raises labradoodles? You send out an awful lot of cat videos, too.”

Damn his friends. “Yeah, Mad set that sucker up. I was back on my boat and it was easier for him to do it. I asked him to make me a male cousin. Someone with a job. Naturally, I become Sissie Mae, lover of all animals and reader of cat mysteries. Did you know there’s such a thing as cat mysteries? It’s apparently a whole genre. I haven’t figured out if the cat solves the mystery or is the mystery. Mad had a weird sense of humor.”

“Unbelievable,” she breathed. “You know I could accuse you of stalking me and ruin your career.”

She could, but he knew her. She wouldn’t. “Like I said. I never contacted you personally after the initial friend request. I just wanted to see what you were up to.”

“Or you wanted to monitor me to make sure I didn’t come after your family again.”

How long would it be before she stopped putting the worst spin on his every move? “Maybe in the beginning, but you made me believe that. You painted yourself as someone who would ruin everyone I cared about. You can’t blame me for that. I even argued with you. I told you I thought you were innocent.”

For a moment she looked as if she might snap out a rebuttal, but she heaved a long sigh. “I know I did. You’re right. I can’t blame you for that. But I need you to keep some distance from me now, Spencer. I admit that I want to catch these guys, too. I want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be around you.”

All he wanted was a chance. “We start over again.”

“I can’t do it,” she said, her voice small.

He wanted to haul her close but maintained his distance. “Holland, at one point in time we were friends. Pretty good friends. And you trusted me. Can we forget about what happened this afternoon? I was bitter and angry and I lashed out at the one person I should never hurt. Let’s try again. Hey, Holland. How have you been?”

She laughed, though he couldn’t call it a happy sound. “That is never going to work, but you’re not going to give up, are you?”

It was so funny that he’d come to New Orleans thinking that he could get back at her. Now he only wanted to get her back. “I can’t. It’s too important. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll concentrate on the case. I’ll sleep out here on the couch like a good boy, but I’m not leaving you alone. Tomorrow, we sit down and figure out where to go from here. I’ll give you access to everything I’ve learned and you now have clearance that would make your boss’s head spin.”

That finally got her to smile. “Okay, that does sound kind of fun, but no funny business, Spencer.”

He held his hands up in a likely useless gesture of innocence. “Promise. It’s nothing but business from here on out. I will warn you, though, that at some point we’re probably going to have to meet up with a . . . what should I call Freddy? A conspiracy enthusiast? A doomsday prepper? Mostly he’s a complete lunatic who thinks nothing of nearly deballing a simple intruder, but apparently he’s really handy at uncovering whether a piece of film is authentic or faked. Connor wants him to take a look at the video from the motel and the pictures in your uncle’s file. And speaking of your uncle . . .”

Dax didn’t want to get into this with her, but he didn’t see a way to avoid it.

She shook her head. “He wasn’t the only one with access to the file. Most of it can be found in the police records. He kept the photos out of the press. He didn’t have to use them since there wasn’t going to be a prosecution.”