“You can’t stay here. Not unless you want to sleep in this mess and be in the way while my men work. Even then, I’ll still be here, right by your side.”
He made it sound as if she had two choices—him or nothing. “I have friends.”
“Really?” Matthias had the nerve to sound stunned.
Garrett shook his head. “Yeah, that’s not insulting.”
She was about to side with Garrett when Matthias jumped in again. “I got the impression you were a recluse of sorts.”
She half wondered if he ever dealt with actual human beings. He didn’t seem very good at reading cues or knowing when to shut up. “Are you describing me or you?”
“You can’t go to a friend’s house.” Matthias walked over to the door and glanced out before shutting them in.
Again with the confidence. He acted as if he knew what was best for her after one kiss and a bit of handholding. She couldn’t imagine how he’d react after sex . . . not that they should go there or that she was in any frame of mind to make that decision. Still, commanding in bed, she approved of. Commanding in general conversation made her want to throw things. “You don’t get to decide that.”
“Do you want to put this friend in danger?” Whatever expression he saw on her face had him nodding. “That’s right. You should look scared. Someone wants to hurt you. I’m thinking they’ve wanted to hurt you for a long time, so stop fighting me and let me keep you safe.”
“Smooth,” Garrett said as he glanced at his phone.
But Matthias had found the one argument that would stick. She’d already lost three friends to senseless violence. She’d lived for seven years in the shadow of that guilt. Nothing lessened it, and God knew she’d tried to wipe that slate clean but only ended up feeling empty and worse. She absolutely could not live with more blood on her hands.
“Fine.” That was all she could say and even that killed her to concede.
Matthias’s eyes narrowed. “Is the plan to pretend to agree with me and then take off as soon as my back is turned?”
The man was determined to tick her off. “You know, Matthias, when you win an argument you should stop talking.”
After a second of hesitation he nodded. “I can do that.”
She truly doubted it. “Prove it.”
Instead of firing back, Matthias turned to Garrett. “You stay here and wait for the crew. I want hourly updates.”
Garrett slipped his phone into his back pocket. “Is this the part where we pretend I work for you?”
“Yes. Actually, I need to see you alone for a second before I go.”
She was being dismissed. Wasn’t that just great. “That is the least subtle thing you’ve ever said.”
Matthias frowned at her, which was starting to become a habit. “Just stand in here and don’t listen.”
More orders. She wondered what it would take to force Matthias to come up with another go-to move. “Not going to happen, stud.”
Garrett smiled. “I like her.”
Matthias pointed at the wall. “Someone doesn’t.”
Her gaze followed his and the reminder smacked into her with the force of a punch. Okay, he could win this round. “You have two minutes.”
Matthias waited until they got out on the small porch and closed the door behind them to start talking again. Even then, he dropped his voice to a whisper. Something already had Kayla all riled up again. Every time he opened his mouth she shot back with some new refusal.
If he hadn’t found the whole strong-woman-standing-her-ground thing so fucking sexy he might have really gotten pissed. Instead he battled back his need to kiss her and focused on his duty to keep her safe. She might not think he had one, but he did.
Garrett’s obvious amusement didn’t help the situation. Even now he stood there smiling and otherwise silently begging to be punched. Matthias held back because he had a bigger issue he needed handled. “All the files on her and her case are in your room, right?”
“Yes, I moved them before coming over, just like you asked. But I’m still trying to believe she agreed to go with you.”
Matthias was stunned by that, too, but tried not to show it. He’d hit a nerve. Now he knew where to push if she refused again. She cared about other people. Once again, not a trait he’d expect in someone who’d supposedly killed her college best friends for no clear reason.
The story about her continued to unravel. He now saw her as one more victim of a horrible night. Actually, he saw her as a survivor. He recognized the skills because he shared them. “I think her curiosity about who I am trumped her sense that I can’t be trusted.”
“I feel sorry for her.”
That made him realize Garrett didn’t get her at all. Kayla was not weak or needy. She had every right to be both with her past, but she didn’t slip into that way of thinking. Not at all. “Pity me because she is not going to let up until she knows the truth.”
Garrett exhaled loud and long. The sound telegraphed his impatience and frustration. “Then tell her.”
“Not yet.” She’d know soon enough that he had come to town to find her and interrogate her. Now wasn’t the right time.
“You’re going to earn her trust by lying to her?” Garrett snorted. “That’s a great plan.”
Matthias wondered for the hundredth time since he got to Annapolis why he didn’t just call Wren and demand he call Garrett back home. “I’m going to tell her part of it.”
“Want to tell me why you were in her apartment in the first place?”
Make that a hundred and one. “No.”
“Are you sure? Keep in mind if you don’t tell me I’ll just make up a story then call Wren and get his view.”
Garrett wanted the words—fine. “Don’t be a dumbass. You know why.”
All the amusement left his face. “You can’t sleep with her.”
Matthias almost laughed. He damn well could, but there were limits that even he recognized. “Well, no. Obviously not right now.”
The door flew open behind them and Kayla stood there holding what looked like a pile of clothes. “Time’s up.”
“You shouldn’t take anything out of the apartment.” Matthias was about to launch into an explanation of forensics and concerns about contaminating the scene.
“Tough.” She slipped out onto the small porch and stood between the men before looking up at Matthias. “Are you ready to talk?”
The lecture faded from his mind. He couldn’t call up one word except the obvious one. “Me?”
“This is my life we’re trying to protect. I decide who talks first.” She winked at him. “I pick you.”
Garrett shrugged. “She’s got you there.”
“Shut up.” Matthias barely spared Garrett a glare, not even when Garrett traded places with Kayla and moved into the entrance of the apartment. Matthias’s whole focus, all his energy, centered on her. “This isn’t a game.”
“I’m not playing.” She went down one step then looked up at him. “Are you coming or not?”
“If I don’t you’ll probably get yourself killed.” And that would totally piss him off.
“That’s the spirit,” she said as she went down another step.
She didn’t look back. She was off . . . and damn if he didn’t follow her.
Chapter 12
They made it to the inn in record time. Kayla didn’t relish the talk and trying to pull information out of Matthias. She didn’t exactly look forward to figuring out how to spill enough of her past, more than she ever did but not more than she could live with. If he really was going to help, he’d need some details . . . unfortunately.
But that’s not why she walked quickly along the dock or practically ran to get into his car. No, the idea of someone being out there, watching and waiting—again—spurred her to move. He would protect her. For some reason, even with the limited time she’d known him, she’d bet she could count on that. This guy was a protector. He’d throw his body in front of hers. He didn’
t scare easily.
Being near him also made her heart race and her brain cells sputter, so she wanted to get inside and calm down as fast as possible. Or at least that’s what she’d told herself during the last fifteen minutes. Now that they stood just outside his door at the inn, her stomach performed backflips. She hadn’t eaten, and time had zoomed by from just after café closing to almost sundown.
Lost hours and scattered thoughts. That could be her theme song.
She inhaled, trying to regulate her breathing as he swiped his card and the lock clicked. Before she could move inside, he held up a hand. That fast her thoughts went from fumbling and zipping from topic to topic, to on edge. Tension pulled her muscles taut and had her teeth slamming together.
When he disappeared inside, she wanted to follow. Being alone, even for a few seconds, didn’t calm her nerves. Her gaze skimmed down the hallway and across the worn blue carpeting. She turned to slip into the room.
He popped up in front of her. “Come inside.”
She didn’t argue. Not this time. She was too busy taking in every inch of the room. Make that suite. To her right sat the king-sized bed, with the comforter pulled tight and wrinkle-free. Forget bouncing a quarter on that. Her retired Army colonel father could have bounced a car on that thing. She’d lost him for good three years ago and only now could she call up memories and smile instead of cry.
Since Matthias stepped to the right and into the small living room area, she followed. There was a doorway at the far end near the couch. Through it, she spied another bed. “You guys are rooming together?”
“I’m not twelve.” Matthias closed the door, shutting down her view to the other space.
That left them alone in a room with a big bed and a mile of misunderstanding between them. Questions whipped through her head, about him and who he was and why he cared about her life even a little.
But she wasn’t ready to deal with any of that yet. “I don’t even understand that answer or why you sometimes get upset for no apparent reason.”
He dumped her gun on the table. Then came his phone and another gun, one she hadn’t seen before. It had just appeared without her knowing where it came from. One minute he stood, and then he started unloading. She wasn’t sure what to think about the weapons, about Garrett, about the adjoining bedroom. So many questions.
“The team will be sending photos and forensics,” he said, ignoring her earlier confusion. “And I do need you to write out that list of names. No stalling on that.”
“That’s not what we’re going to talk about.” She didn’t even want to think about his topics and how his men would march into town and rip her life apart. There was just no way anyone associated with him, or who looked anything like him, could come and go unnoticed.
“Agreed.” He sat down on the small couch and motioned for her to take the chair across from him. “That message on your wall.”
“Is something we’ll talk about after you tell me why you’re here.” When he started to talk, she raised her voice and kept going. “And don’t try to sell the whole I saw you and you looked scared and I’m a big strong man, so I stepped in. Nope.”
He leaned back into the cushions. “Wow.”
“Start talking.” She wanted to ask about a bottle of water, and sitting down really was tempting, but she’d made her stand so now she’d . . . stand.
“People don’t normally speak to me like that.”
Since he stretched an arm along the back of the couch cushions, she guessed he wasn’t really all that concerned about her attitude, which was good because she didn’t plan on changing it. She’d almost recovered from seeing the newest threat. Now she had to survive a talk with him.
“You’ve pointed out that you’ve had plenty of chances to hurt me, if you wanted to.” In fact, he was a bit too eager to mention that. She thought they could just have a silent agreement on that at this point.
“I don’t.”
She believed him. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t. “Then talk.”
His gaze wandered over her face as he seemed to study her. “You’re not afraid of me at all, are you?”
Oh, she had flares of fear. She also experienced a sensation that had nothing to do with fear whenever she got near him. That scared her more than anything. “Should I be?”
He crossed one leg over the other and sat there in a full male sprawl. “Most people are.”
She’d bet he stoked that, encouraged it. “That’s an annoying nonanswer.”
“You sure don’t sound afraid.” He smiled. Not something he seemed to do often even though it softened his face.
Then again, she guessed that’s why he generally skipped the smiling. He’d be the type to enjoy making others feels uncomfortable. In his line of work—though she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what that was—it likely proved to be a handy skill.
She sat down on the armrest of the chair. It let her sit higher and gave her a feeling of being in control. “Tell me what’s happening.”
He lowered his foot until both touched the floor again. “I’d rather talk about the threats and what we can do to stop them.”
“I bet, but you’re not in charge.”
“Are you sure?” He sounded almost amused now.
“We’re going round in circles.” When she realized she was rubbing her palms up and down her legs she stopped. The friction made her hands red and her legs hot. “I’m thinking you can do this sort of thing for hours.”
“Kayla, listen to me.” This time he leaned forward with his elbows balanced on his knees, all traces of lightness gone. “I deal with danger and death every day. I’ve seen shit I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Nothing you can say is going to shock me.”
That sounded good and a bit more tempting than she wanted to admit, but those were the words people said before they knew better. She’d lived this life and made difficult choices. She survived a bloodbath and shouldered through while most of the people she knew and once trusted blamed her.
She had secrets and regrets he could never know.
“You think I’m worried about disappointing you?” she asked.
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Maybe I want to forget.” There was actually no question about it. That’s exactly what she hoped for every single day. “Maybe I’m tired of reliving the worst moment of my life and being blamed for making it happen.”
He didn’t move. Nothing in her words seemed to surprise him. “Did you?”
She searched his tone for prejudgment but didn’t really hear any. He sounded more clinical than curious. Not one in a long line of people hoping to crack the case by getting her to cough up the one piece of information that would change everything. Of course, he didn’t actually ask her what happened, which was more telling than he seemed to realize.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. The truth gets trampled in a case like this. It’s a question of what people will believe. The whispers. The rumors.” And those built and combined until they dealt a deafening blow.
“The threats.”
“Yeah, that will teach me to live when everyone thinks I should have died.” She waited for him to jump in with a million questions, but he just sat there. The lack of a real reaction to her harsh words meant something and she knew it, but she was just so grateful for the reprieve. Her entire body relaxed until it took every ounce of energy to continue to sit there. “God, I am just so tired.”
“Okay, let’s try this.” He held a hand out to her. “Come here.”
No way could she grab it. Her defenses had lowered and touching carried such a risk. “Isn’t it your turn to say something?”
“That can wait.” His arm stayed out there like a lifeline. “Come here.”
“I thought you wanted answers and . . .” She groaned as she slipped her fingers through her hair. She closed her eyes for a second then let her hands drop back to her lap. “I can’t even remember what I wanted to say.”
“Later.”
> When he issued orders, her anger rose and she met him as an equal in an argument. But she had no barriers, no defense, against this side of him. Against the caring and soft lilt to his deep voice.
“I don’t trust you. I’m not sure I even like you.” If only that last part were true, then she could write him off and forget him. But from the first time she saw him, something sparked. She could feel his heated gaze on her and instead of rolling her eyes or growing wary, she wanted him to look. She stole peeks and it felt good for him to return them.
Before her brain could kick in and all the reasons why she should hold back piled up, she reached out. Touched her fingers to his and slipped them together. The warmth of his palm erased the chill racing through her.
“Totally understandable. You’ve had a shitty night, except for the date part, of course,” he said as he gently pulled her off the armrest and brought her down on his lap.
Not on the couch. Not beside him. No, she settled against his chest. This man she barely knew and had allowed to get close, or close for her, in a matter of a day.
She abandoned the struggle before it even started and leaned into him. Tucked her head on his shoulder and inhaled his reassuring scent. “Why am I so tired?”
“Burn-off after the adrenaline rush.” One of his arms came around her, bringing her body even closer to his. The other stayed on her lap with their fingers entwined.
“I guess you know a lot about that.”
He exhaled and his breath grazed her forehead. “Too much.”
“How dangerous are you?” She used her free hand to touch the back of his. Feeling the strength that contrasted so sharply with their current position.
“To you?” He hummed and it vibrated through her. “I’m not.”
“To other people?” She knew the answer, but for some reason she wanted to hear it. To see if he’d tell the truth.
“Very.”
“That’s oddly comforting.”
“You should rest.”
The Enforcer Page 10