Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(12)

“Yes?”

Hogan tossed back his shot of tequila.

“Sera, you’ve met Bowen, haven’t you?”

He laughed at his own joke. “He’s going to be your host while I’m gone. I have a feeling you’re going to be playing a different kind of nurse.”

“In his dreams, you mean?” She felt, rather than saw, Bowen stiffen. It made little difference. He was about to throw a serious wrench into her engine. “I’m not going anywhere, unless I decide to.

Not with him or anyone.”

“Are you sure about that?” A hard glint entered Hogan’s eye. “Right about now, he might just be the lesser of two evils.”

Several things occurred to Sera at the same time.

First and most disturbing, she’d been marked as dispensable. Connor now required minimal medical attention for his wound, apart from the occasional changing of his bandages. If she’d outlived

her

usefulness

in

that

department and Hogan didn’t feel comfortable letting her remain behind in his absence without a watchdog, then he didn’t trust her. Trust was paramount in his underworld, and she hadn’t been given enough time to earn it. Lack of trust could be tolerated only if he had leverage of some sort on her, and she’d given him none.

Had Bowen somehow convinced Hogan to keep her around as his…

plaything? She tried not to have a visceral reaction to that thought, difficult as it was. Just imagining what the sisters at Holy Angels Academy would have to say about her being bartered as a bed partner made her cringe. Moving on.

This new development put a major puzzle piece within her reach. In all the research she’d done, there had always been a giant question mark beside Bowen’s name when it came to the major crime player’s location the night her brother was murdered. Had Bowen been there? Did he have the answers she needed?

In a matter of days, Colin would have been twenty-nine. She owed him answers.

God, she’d just let a hardened criminal turn her into a shivering pile of lady hormones, without even finding out his name. How could she let her guard down like that? This was everything she’d been working toward for months, years if you started the clock when Hogan killed her brother in cold blood.

Her mind traveled back to the alley, when he’d only been a stranger, instead of the man who’d inherited a huge portion of the city and its illegal activities. Nestled against his warmth while the bright, brilliant strains of opera split the cool air. The way he’d looked at her. As if her smile were the most amazing part of the moment, not the woman belting Puccini from the second-floor window. It had felt like magic, but now she saw it was only an illusion.

Bowen’s notorious way with women had even made it into his thick police file, and she’d just let herself become another victim.

Unless…

She could use this to her advantage.

Her week of personal leave had officially expired, meaning her uncle would start to look for her soon—if he wasn’t already. She needed to take this turn of events and make it work for the investigation. Whether she wanted to accept it or not, Bowen’s interest in her might have bought her the precious time she needed to continue investigating Hogan, while playing another angle at the same time. Namely, Bowen. It would mean using her body to achieve an end.

Was she ready for that? Was it worth setting aside her principles and giving away an important part of herself?

Her brother’s face flashed through her mind. Yes, it was worth it. How could she even question that when Colin had given up everything for this job?

When a sliver of excitement breached her resolve, Sera shoved it away.

She had to play this exactly right to ensure she didn’t get made. Keeping her bravado would be key.

“Where are you going?” she asked Hogan, since she wasn’t supposed to know about his trip to New Jersey. She also knew from experience that his employees didn’t usually question him.

Unfortunately, thanks to her loss of composure the night they met, he knew she had a backbone. While she might tread carefully, she also couldn’t suddenly start playing meek.

His lips curled. “Aw, what’s wrong?

You going to miss me?”

To Sera’s surprise, Hogan reached out as though he were going to touch her face. In the two weeks she’d been there, he hadn’t made a pass at her or even flirted. Why now? Her question was answered when Bowen’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, just before it reached her face.

Hogan threw back his head, laughing as he jerked his hand back. “Someone has a crush on you, cutie. Better get him upstairs before someone makes the mistake of breathing the same air as you.”

Sera glanced at Bowen, who’d managed to keep his temper off his face, but his anger was broadcast through bunched-up fists. “He doesn’t look like he needs a nurse. But if he thinks I’m going home with him, maybe a shrink would be a better idea.”

That set Hogan howling again, but her focus remained on Bowen. For some reason, her insult seemed to calm him down. What sense did that make? “There isn’t a shrink in the world that could figure me out, sweetheart.”

“You won’t know until you try, sweetheart. ”

Her boss pushed back his stool and stood. “Good luck, Driscol. You’re going to need it.” As he skirted past them toward the exit, he raised an eyebrow at Bowen and lowered his voice. “Told you… something about her. Use the head on your shoulders.”