Playing Dirty (Risky Business, #2)(72)

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be here?” he growled, showing not a flicker of embarrassment that I’d caught him kissing another woman.

“So I figured. Thought I’d tell you that … my dog got hurt,” I said, opting to not name McClane. “He was helping me out in a pretty big way”—hint hint—“and he’s going to be okay, but he’ll be at the vet for a few days, so I’m leaving town.”

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I’m going home,” I said, and now he should be hard-pressed not to know I was pissed. “It looks like you have someone to keep you occupied anyway.” I tossed him the truck keys. “You might need these.”

In a flash, he had me by the arm and was propelling me into the corner until my back hit the wall. He towered over me, in my space until we were almost touching. I felt his hand at my hip, pushing the keys back into my jeans’ pocket.

“Don’t do this,” he hissed. “I told you why I’m here.”

“Yeah, you did,” I said. “So who the hell is Branna and why were you kissing her?”

Ryker hesitated. “She’s … someone I used to know,” he said. “A friend.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s one hell of a friend.”

His grip on my arm tightened. “I can’t do this now,” he said. “I’m asking you to trust me. Can you do that?”

I ignored his question and asked one of my own. “Are you going to sleep with her?”

He didn’t answer, his lips pressing into a thin line. I gave a short, humorless laugh.

“Wow. Okay, whatever. I have my own problems right now, so you … do whatever you’ve gotta do.”

“Branna does some contract work for Leo,” he said. “She’s smart and dangerous. If anyone were to see through my cover, she would. It’s vital that she trusts me.”

“That’s an excuse I haven’t heard before.”

Ryker ignored my snarky comment. “She and I were close,” he said. “She was an excellent source and loyal to only herself, not Leo. When I went away, that was the end of it.”

“Yeah, but you’re back now,” I replied. “And it looks like she wants to take up where you left off.”

“McCrady.”

We both turned to see the woman we’d been discussing standing a few feet away. Her eyes narrowed when she saw me.

“Leo’s here,” she said to McCrady, her eyes still on me. “He’s asking for you.”

“Leo’s here?” Ryker asked. “It’s the middle of the day. Why is he here?”

Branna just shrugged and nodded at me. “Who the hell is this?”

“Just an ex,” Ryker said. “I was just showing her out.” He tugged on my arm, but a voice stopped him.

“What do we have here?”

Dread filled my gut at the familiar voice, and sure enough, Leo appeared behind Ryker.

“Looks like we have quite the party going on, thanks to you, McCrady,” he said. “Bring the girl back, too.”

I could tell Ryker was pissed, and I didn’t know if it was directed toward me, or Leo, or the whole situation. Either way, he didn’t have a choice and I followed Leo, some guy who was standing with him, and Ryker down the hallway. Branna brought up the rear.

A stairway was nearly invisible at the far end and we went down and into another short hallway. A door was standing partially open and we went inside the brightly lit room.

It was an office, a nice one, done in plush carpeting and with comfortable furniture, including a sofa that sat against one wall and a heavy wooden desk with two armchairs in front of it.

Leo sat in the chair behind the desk while the guy who was with him stood to the side, facing us.

“So I thought you and this one broke up,” Leo said. “That’s what you told me last night.”

Ryker shrugged. “I can’t help it if she’s having trouble accepting that it’s over. She followed me here. I was just trying to get through to her when you walked in.”

Okay, I didn’t really like the picture he was painting of me being some lovestruck, needy female who couldn’t let him go, but I didn’t have a choice. So I kept silent.

“Perhaps I can help with that,” Leo said. “We can even kill two birds, so to speak.”

“How’s that?” Ryker asked.

“There’s the matter of your sudden reappearance,” Leo said, “and your loyalty. Some members of my … organization … have expressed doubt that you are who you say you are.”

I thought one of those “members” was probably the man standing next to him, judging by the look he was giving Ryker. My stomach twisted into knots. They didn’t believe him, and he had no backup. If Leo decided to kill him right then, there was nothing anyone could do about it.

“So I’m proposing a test,” Leo said, sitting back in his chair. “Something that will prove to me, and my people, that you’re on the up and up.”

“What kind of test?”

Leo reached inside his middle desk drawer and pulled out a handgun. He held it out to Ryker, butt first.

“It’s an easy test, especially for someone like you,” Leo said. “All you have to do”—he looked at me—“is kill her.”