Saving Rose Red

by Maggie Dallen

  He cocked one brow. “I see. And what exactly am I digging into?”

  Andie leaned forward, setting her camera on his desk. “I don’t know, exactly.” She launched into the story of everything that had happened the day before, ending with their interaction the night before. Minus the kiss. There was no need to tell Spencer about that, especially since it didn’t mean anything.

  Of course, knowing that didn’t do anything to dilute her reaction every time she remembered that kiss. Magic. It had been magic, pure and simple. Sweet, and too brief, but magic nonetheless.

  But not mentioning the kiss didn’t seem to help as far as Spencer was concerned. He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. “So you took in a known criminal—”

  “We don’t know he’s a criminal. He’s just…in trouble in some way.”

  Spencer looked up, his eyes wide with horror behind his wire-rimmed glasses. “Andie, people are not stray dogs. You can’t just take them in.”

  She ignored him. They’d been through this territory more times than she could count. Don’t be naïve, Andie. You can’t trust everyone, Andie.

  Yeah, yeah. She’d heard it all before. She’d decided long ago that wasn’t how she wanted to live. So she zoned out during the lecture, her brain instead replaying what she knew and what she needed to find out.

  Who was Dagger and how had he gotten injured? What was on that camera that he needed so desperately?

  Had there been anything sincere in that kiss?

  No, no. Now she was entirely off track. The kiss was to be filed under M for mistakes and forgotten. She absolutely could not crush on her temporary roommate who may or may not be on the run from the law.

  Apparently Spencer clued in to the fact that she was not listening to his lecture because he trailed off with a sigh. She even heard a muttered, “Why do I bother?”

  “Because you love me,” she answered.

  He turned his attention to her camera. “I don’t know what you expect me to find.”

  She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t either. But Dagger wants something on there and I don’t expect to get any straight answers out of him anytime soon. I figured maybe you with all your law enforcement contacts might be the better bet for answers.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Spencer said, but his tone was far from confident.

  Spencer plugged the camera into his computer and called up the most recent photos. Andie looked over his shoulder as he went through them twice from most recent to the earliest photo taken a week ago.

  “I have no idea what we’re supposed to be looking for.” Spencer sounded weary but he was still squinting at the screen analyzing every shot.

  She patted his shoulder. “Have I mentioned lately what a good friend you are?”

  He gave a snort of amusement. “And have I mentioned lately what a pain in the butt you are?”

  She laughed as she punched his shoulder. “Hey.”

  He turned to her with a smile. “But you’re my pain in the butt.”

  “Aww, see now, that’s better.” That might have been the nicest thing he ever said to her. But then he had to go and add, “Besides, you’re my only friend so I suppose I have to put up with you.”

  “True.” For the millionth time over the past few months, Andie debated how she could get Spencer to leave his cave and come to her apartment so she could introduce him to Kate. As the two loneliest people she’d ever met, she was desperate to set them up.

  But apparently she was easy to read. Either that, or her best friend knew her too well.

  “I swear, Andie, if you mention that loser chick from your apartment building one more time….”

  “She’s not a loser. Just sheltered. But she’s sweet and funny…you’d love her if you gave her half a chance.”

  Spencer didn’t answer. He seemed to be studying one photo with more interest than he had all the others…but then, he could have just been feigning interest to get her off his back.

  Before she could ask him which it was, she got a text. “Ugh. Not again.”

  “Who is it? Dagger?”

  She shook her head. “This other guy I met while at the tattoo shop.”

  “Well look at you, Miss Popularity.”

  “I know, right? Two guys in one day. I should dye my hair pink more often.”

  Spencer didn’t look away from his screen. “This guy looks familiar.” He was muttering to himself rather than her so she ignored it. He had a tendency to talk to himself—most likely a side effect from spending so much time alone in his apartment.

  “Anyways, it doesn’t mean anything because neither guy is suitable. Dagger is—”

  “A criminal.”

  She spoke as if he hadn’t interrupted. “Not interested in me, at least as far as I can tell.” Her mind flashed on that kiss again but she shoved the thought away. He’d kissed her to get to the camera—hardly the stuff of romance novels.

  “And the other one?”

  She let out a little laugh at the memory of the classically handsome man who’d tried too hard. “Anthony just isn’t my type.”

  Spencer sat up straight. “Anthony?”

  Something in his voice had her freezing in place. “Yeah, why?”

  He turned the monitor so she could see it better. “Is this Anthony?”

  There in the corner of one of her photos was the preppy guy from the tattoo shop talking to two other men. “Yeah, that’s him.”

  Spencer turned to her with a look of disbelief. “Andie, that’s Anthony Gallagher.”

  “Um…okay. Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

  “Gallagher. As in the Gallaghers.”

  “M’kay.” Still nothing.

  Spencer sighed. “He’s the son of Bob Gallagher, one of the biggest developers in Brooklyn and Queens.”

  “Oh.”

  He stared at her for a second before sighing. “Do you even read Mackenzie’s news site?”

  Now she sat up straight at the mention of her sort-of stepsister. “What does Mack have to do with Anthony?”

  He called up her site, HeatMap, as he spoke. “She’s written a few pieces on the rumors and allegations against the Gallagher family. Apparently there are some shady dealings going down in that family but no one has gotten enough hard evidence to do anything about it.”

  Andie stared at the picture in front of her with new interest. “Who are those other guys?”

  Spencer shook his head. “No idea but I bet Hunter could help figure it out.”

  Hunter was a private investigator—he was also Jenna’s boyfriend and Spencer’s only other friend, though he’d never admitted that out loud.

  “I wonder if this is the picture Dagger was after.”

  She and Spencer sat in silence as they pondered that. Finally, she sighed. “Well, I guess the only way I’ll know for sure is if I ask him.”

  Spencer looked horrified. “Andie, if this guy has anything to do with…” He waved at the screen. “Whatever this is, you could be in serious danger.”

  “Or he could,” she added.

  Spencer scowled. Clearly he didn’t care all that much what kind of danger Dagger was in. “I’ll talk to Hunter and have him look into this Dagger guy.”

  A pang of guilt had her biting her lip. “I don’t know….”

  He raised one brow. “Andie, you’re out of your league here.”

  She relented with a sigh. “Fine, but tell him to be discreet, please. He’s not a cop anymore, right? If Dagger is in some sort of trouble with the law, I don’t want to be the one who rats him out just because I’m curious.”

  Spencer rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll make sure Hunter knows the situation.”

  Andie drained the last of her drink and stood up. “Great. In the meantime, I’m going to get some answers.”

  Spencer groaned. “Andie, what are you planning?”

  When she didn’t answer, he started to follow her as she headed toward the door. “This guy is bad news, Andie
, you’ve got to stay away from him.”

  She turned to look at him over her shoulder. “He’s my roommate, Spence, how am I supposed to stay away from him?”

  “You have to kick him out.”

  When she didn’t reply, he picked up his pace so he was beside her as she made her way to the door. “Andie, I mean it.”

  She reached the door and opened it quickly, hurrying through before he could physically block her with his wheelchair. “Thanks for your help,” she called as she headed for the stairs. “Talk to you soon.”

  Once she left, she wasn’t sure where to go. For all her talk, she wasn’t quite sure she was ready for the conversation to come. Of course she wasn’t going to take Spencer’s advice and kick him out but she had to deal with this Anthony issue head on and that would take some tact.

  She killed some time walking around downtown, popping into a used book store, an art gallery, and then grabbing some lunch. Finally she realized she couldn’t put it off any longer. If her new roomie was somehow involved with this Gallagher guy and his cronies, she needed to know.

  For the first time since he’d shown up at her doorstep she started to feel a flicker of genuine fear. Not of Dagger—he wouldn’t hurt her. Not intentionally, at least.

  But what had she gotten herself into?

  There was only one way to deal with this conversation and that was with food. And wine. Definitely wine.

  With that thought, she headed toward the nearest grocery store before heading home.

  Dagger was waiting for her when she returned to the apartment and to say he was not a happy camper was an understatement.

  “Where have you been?” He stalked toward her as she closed the door behind her. She assumed the question was rhetorical since her arms were filled with groceries.

  He glowered at her even as he came to her side to help her with the bags. That frown would be terrifying if he wasn’t currently acting like a gentleman with her groceries. Lord, he could be intimidating if he wanted to be. Luckily, he kept the scare tactics under wraps around her. One of many reasons she knew he wasn’t the bad guy Spencer claimed. But that didn’t mean he was a saint, either.

  Once the bags were safely on the counter she dangled the camera between them. “So, are you ready to talk about these pictures?”

  His scowl intensified. She imagined that his intention was to intimidate her, or maybe even frighten her off, but he apparently didn’t realize how sexy he looked with a frown. He probably looked sexy with a smile too, but she had yet to see it.

  She hoisted herself onto one of the barstools her mother had lined up in front of the kitchen’s island. “I’ll go first. Who’s Anthony?”

  The widening of his eyes and flaring of his nostrils was there and gone so quickly she might have missed it if she hadn’t been paying close attention. But she had been and she called him out on it. “Don’t try to pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about.”

  He leaned over the island, his gaze boring into her as if he might be able to see into her brain through sheer force of will. “Did he contact you?”

  “Uh uh. I’m asking the questions here. How do you know him and why is that picture so important to you?”

  “I don’t know him. And how did you know it was that picture I was after?”

  She smiled up at him. “I didn’t know for certain but you just confirmed it.”

  He muttered a curse under his breath and her smile grew. He was adorable when he was rattled. Adorable probably wasn’t a word often associated with this big lug, but it seemed to fit now when he was pacing her kitchen like a bear with a thorn in its paw.

  Her gasp had him shooting her a questioning look but she bit her lip and held in the laughter. Oh, Mack would love this. She’d not only met a bear…she’d taken him in.

  “What are you laughing at?” he demanded.

  “I’m not laughing.” She opened her eyes wide with feigned innocence.

  “You’re trying not to, close enough.”

  She shrugged. “I was just thinking about that tattoo you’re going to give me.”

  He stopped pacing. “The red rose?”

  “Mmhmm. It’s suddenly taken on a whole new significance.”

  He wore a look of resignation, as if he’d come to grips with the fact that this conversation would never go according to his plans. “And does this new significance in any way relate to the topic at hand?”

  She shrugged. “Somewhat.” Because she figured he might not care to hear that he’d been cast as the surly bear in a fairy tale, she didn’t mention it. “It’s a nickname that my new former stepsister gave me and just now I kind of got why she chose it.”

  He was staring at her like she was nuts—not something she was unfamiliar with, but still. “I told you that at the tattoo shop, didn’t I?”

  He let out a long breath and she couldn’t tell if he was irritated with her or himself. “How exactly does one acquire a new former stepsister?”

  “I told you that I just found my birth mother and father, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, my birth father married another woman and they had Jenna—she’s my half-sister. She’s a lawyer and if you need any help with legal advice—”

  His glare stopped her.

  “Right. Anyway, when Jenna was a teen-ager my father remarried and his new wife had a daughter the same age as Jenna. Her name’s Mackenzie. But that marriage didn’t last long so they’re not technically stepsisters anymore.”

  “So she was never really your stepsister.”

  Andie was fairly certain her scowl was nearly as formidable as his. “But she would have been.”

  “Uh huh.”

  He didn’t seem convinced and she bit back a sigh. “Do you have any siblings, Dagger?”

  His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why?”

  She held up her hands in innocence. “No evil agenda, I’m just curious.”

  “I have two brothers.” The words came out grudgingly, like she might somehow throw that tidbit back in his face.

  “See, that’s wonderful.”

  He raised a brow. “Clearly you’ve never met my brothers.”

  She lifted one shoulder. “I don’t have to. The fact that you have people in your life who have known you forever—good and bad—that’s amazing. It’s the kind of bond I’d always wanted as a kid and never had.”

  His gray eyes were filled with understanding, at odds with the grim, unreadable expression he wore. “So now that you’ve found a half-sister and this former stepsister…”

  She smiled up at him. “I’m over the moon. It doesn’t need to be blood relations that share the bond. My foster brother is just as much my brother as Jenna is my sister.”

  She thought she saw a flicker of a smile tugging at his lips. “You’re so happy about these new sisters that you’re commemorating them with a tattoo?”

  “Not exactly. I’ve gotten a tattoo for every new stage of my life. Every major turning point. It seemed only right to get one now that I’ve found my birth parents and sisters.”

  His gaze moved over her as if he could see through the multiple layers she was wearing. “What other tattoos do you have?”

  She had no idea if he was asking out of professional curiosity or if he was trying to distract her so he could snatch the camera from her hands, but she answered nonetheless. “I’ll show you when I don’t have so many clothes on.”

  Oh. Oh dear. That was so not what she’d intended. The words came out and only after she heard them aloud did she catch the deafening innuendo.

  She looked over to see if he was smirking—she would have been if someone had said the same to her—but there was no smirk. Just desire.

  Lust shone clear as day in his eyes. Heat flooded her cheeks and she was suddenly dying to shed some clothes just to alleviate the fire that was raging in her blood. Embarrassment and sexual tension had her on the verge of combustion.

  “Um, what about you?” She blurted out the
first topic-changing question that came to mind.

  He leaned closer and she was suddenly grateful and irritated that there was a kitchen island between them.

  “Dagger—that’s a nickname, right? Where’d you get it?”

  He rolled up the sleeve of his T-shirt to reveal a large dagger tattoo…along with the most outrageously sculpted biceps she’d ever seen in real life.

  Her mouth went dry and breathing grew difficult. What had happened to the oxygen levels in this room? She was about to start panting for air.

  “Any meaning behind it?” she asked.

  His eyes narrowed a bit and she caught the suspicion there. “How did this conversation get so off track?”

  It seemed like a rhetorical question so she didn’t offer up an answer.

  Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he came around the side of the island so he was standing right beside her. “Let’s try this again. Did Anthony contact you?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  He let out a sound that was part groan, part growl. “Must you make this so difficult?”

  “Yes.” She scooched off the stool so she was standing in front of him. She needed all the leverage she could get—not that standing helped much, he was still a foot taller than her so she was still forced to tilt her head up to meet his gaze. “I’m merely trying to get to know you. That way maybe we could trust one another and avoid all these secrets and lies.”

  “If you don’t trust me, why did you let me stay?”

  She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Because my gut told me that you’re not a bad guy. I may not trust you not to steal my camera but I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “Your gut, huh?” He rubbed a hand over his eyes and the weary gesture had her softening toward him. No matter what his deal was, this guy was clearly going through some serious stuff. Why else would he need to crash at a stranger’s place?

  “If you had the camera, which is what you want, why did you come here and return it to me?”

  He didn’t answer. His face was once more set in stone.

  “Are you staying here because you’re in danger?”

  Silence.

  Well, this wasn’t exactly a fruitful conversation. The only time she’d cracked that armor of his was when she’d mentioned Anthony.