“Not a chance,” I say. “I know him. I’m setting him up. He’ll bring in his team to fight my team. And his team has nothing on Walker Security. It also means all of his men will be here where we can end them once and for all.”
“That sounds dangerous,” she argues. “And you’re the target.”
And her, I think, more so because of me. It’s not a topic I welcome, but if I want to deserve her trust, I have to talk to her—alone. For now, I say, “I’m not going to die, Pri, and neither are you, but you need to know that I may kill a few people before this is over. You’re going to have to live with that.”
She presses her hand to my face. “Just stay alive, then maybe you’ll figure out that I’m not a fair-weather friend.”
I capture her hand. “Friend?”
“We are friends,” she says. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Yes, Pri,” I say, surprised at how much I mean those words and how much closer to her I feel, as those words pull us together. “It is a good thing.” And then, with none of the relationship hesitation of years and women past, I lean in and press my cheek to hers and whisper, “But we are so much more and I’m not letting you go.”
She leans back and meets my stare, shocking me when my law-abiding prosecutor says, “Then kill him before he kills you.”
“I let Waters go,” I say. “I won’t make that mistake with Deleon.”
Chapter Thirty
PRI
The restaurant where me, Adrian, and Adam are meeting more of the Walker team is only a few blocks of heavy traffic and stoplights away from the DA’s office in the downtown warehouse district. Appropriately, the bar and grill is a two-story warehouse, with plenty of front door parking thanks to the early hour of just eleven in the morning.
Adam pulls us into a parking spot and kills the engine. Adrian kisses my hand before he exits the SUV and helps me out, but once we’re outside, I don’t miss the fact that he, quite deliberately it seems, isn’t touching me. I’d read into that, but I’m not sure what. Am I a conflict of interest some on his team won’t appreciate?
Whatever the case, we join Adam on the driver’s side of the vehicle, and with Adrian and Adam by my side on the walk to the door, I’d feel pretty darn safe walking toward the entry if one of the two of them wasn’t on a hitlist. Actually, I might be on that same list as well, so overall, we’re just like three ducks lined up to be picked off.
We enter the building through heavy wooden doors, the swoosh of cool air conditioning washing over us, and I breathe a sigh of relief that we are free of any bullet holes. Adam steps forward and greets the hostess, and Adrian’s hand slides to my back, and I decide I imagined his withdrawal outside. “Ready to meet the team?” he asks.
“Ready to run away to somewhere with fall leaves, cool temperatures, and hot cocoa.”
“I know a spot,” he promises. “I can make that happen. Soon.”
I warm with the promise that radiates from his words and reaches his brown eyes. “Not soon enough,” I murmur, but already Adam is motioning us forward.
With Adam in the lead, we track a path through the heavy wooden tables and walls lined with booths, and then up a set of wooden stairs. I glance down at the room below as we travel up, and I’m not oblivious to the fact that this is a planned seating arrangement. From what I can tell, from the balcony area above, we can see anyone coming or going. Once we’re on the upper landing, my suspicions seem confirmed, as there are about eight tables, but only one, the long one by the railing, is occupied, and with three big men.
Soon, we’re joining them, and all three men are on their feet and I’m introduced to Savage, Lucifer, and Jacob. My first impression is that they could not be more unalike. Savage is a huge guy, about six five-ish and solid muscle with a scar down his face. Lucifer reads a bit like a blond, tatted-up rock god persona, and Jacob comes off as straight, clean-cut military. We sit, me and Adrian at the end of the table, with Savage at the opposite end, while Jacob and Lucifer are to my right. I note the fact that on the inner side of the table, I’m the only one who doesn’t have a full bird’s eye view of the lower level. Right now, though, I’m focused on Savage. “Who’s watching Ed?”
“Dude named Dexter.” He hitches back in his chair. “He reckons himself—I talk Texan because I am Texan—he reckons himself a killer.” He smirks as if that’s amusing, but not in a way the rest of us understand.
“Dexter, Lucifer, and Savage all in the house on this one,” Lucifer chimes in. “What could go wrong?”
“Right,” I say, a tightening in my chest. “What could go wrong?”
Adrian squeezes my leg. “Everything for the bad guys,” he assures me.
“Got that right,” Lucifer agrees.
The waitress appears at our table and Savage grabs the basket of bread and lifts it. “We’re going to need about five more of these.” He grins up at her. “There’s a big-ass tip in it for you.” She laughs and gives him flirty eyes that he doesn’t seem to notice because he’s now looking at me. “Really nice to meet the lady that tickles Adrian right under the chin in the right spot and gets him warm all over.”
I groan and cover my face with my hand. Adrian grabs it and kisses it, his eyes brimming with mischief. “Told you he’s crazy, but you do tickle me in all the right places.”
My lips curve. “Really?”
“And apparently,” Savage says, “you even put up with his bad jokes. Or has he kept those to himself? Because, man, Adrian, you have to be real with her. Put that bad joke baggage out there. Let it shine.”
Lucifer snorts. “Adrian can’t help himself. I’ll bet you a hundred bucks she’s heard his jokes.“
“You win,” Adam says. “He hasn’t kept them to himself.”
Jacob smirks slightly and butters his bread. He’s the quiet type, I decide, but in this crowd, someone has to be.
“All right then,” Adrian says. “You all asked for it.” He pretends to roll up his non-existent sleeves. “Since we have a prosecutor in the house, a joke for her. Did you hear about the two thieves who stole a calendar?”
I laugh. “No, I did not. What happened?”
“They each got six months,” he says.
Jacob sets his bread down. “You get worse every day, man.”
I laugh yet again and ease into the table banter that follows, ordering, and enjoying a delicious bowl of macaroni and cheese while Adrian and the rest of the guys all eat burgers. Savage’s is disgustingly rare and my disgust amuses him. It’s a good lunch, and if Adrian wanted me to feel support, I do feel that and more. I feel like I’m a part of a team that’s come together to take down Waters once and for all.
When the plates are clear, Adrian focuses on me, and so does the table. “Let’s talk about the strategy and structure,” he says. “You’ve met everyone, but here’s how they fit into the big picture. Jacob’s cool under pressure and keeps us all in line. Adam’s a master of disguise.”
“And Lucifer,” Adrian adds, “is our tech genius, almost as good as Blake, and—”
“And nobody’s as good as Blake,” Lucifer interjects, “but I can dream.” His attention focuses on me. “I work with Blake and manage the surveillance efforts, which by the way, include cameras on your parents’ work and home.”
“How?” I ask.
He motions to Adam. “He can be anyone and get anywhere. You see a homeless man on a corner, it could be Adam. For a big guy, he can be invisible.”
Adam picks up his glass and toasts me.
“Just call him the Invisible Man,” Savage says. “We do.”
“And last but not least,” Adrian says, “is Savage. Yes, he’s a killer—”
“Was,” Savage says. “I did that shit for the government and now I’m free from them and married. Now, I prefer to call myself a reluctant killer.”
“And,” Adrian says, “a skilled, licensed surgeon.”
I blink. “A surgeon?”<
br />
“I’m versatile like that,” Savage says, eating yet another piece of bread, after eating a basketful and a burger and fries.
“He saved my life,” Adam says. “And so did Adrian.”
“As you can tell,” Lucifer says, “Adam’s always trying to get himself killed.”
I inhale on that note and the realization that Adrian was with Adam while Adam was “trying to get himself killed” when he saved Adam’s life.
“Overseas operations,” Adrian supplies, obviously reading my reaction. “We can opt-in or out of those high-risk jobs.”
“This seems pretty high risk right here in Texas,” I comment, looking around the table. “And here you all are.”
“This is family,” Jacob says. “This isn’t a job. This is us having each others’ backs.”
Adrian’s fingers flex on my leg where his hand has settled, and there’s a tic to his jaw. I don’t understand this reaction, but then again, maybe I do. He said the Walker team only knows the Adrian of the past two years. Could he think he’ll lose them after he testifies and tells all his dirty deeds?
I wonder if he thinks the same of me.
Chapter Thirty-One
PRI
I don’t want the sins of my past to torment me for a lifetime, but I don’t know how to escape them. Neither does Adrian, I suspect. I squeeze his hand, eager to assure him in any way possible, even silently, that I understand what he’s feeling but he doesn’t look at me. The waitress chooses that moment to appear with the dessert menus, and right beside me for that matter, the interruption stealing the moment I’d intended with Adrian.
“Brownie sundaes around the table,” Savage declares. “We love that shit.”
Adam eyes Adrian and Adrian gives him a nod before capturing my hand. “Let’s go talk.”
I suspect the brownie sundaes are to buy Adrian time for this talk and I give my easy agreement. Adrian stands and takes me with him, leading me toward a glass door. On the other side, the pungent scent of cigars touches my nose. In a quick glance, I decide we’re in what appears to be a private, presently closed, cigar lounge with a private entrance, a bar, and heavy leather chairs paired with thick rugs. I sit on a reddish-brown leather couch and Adrian sits on a coffee table made from a tree trunk.
His hands settle on my knees, just beneath my skirt, his touch intimate, warm, possessive. I have a brief memory of how hard Logan tried to own me and failed. I’m confused at how easily Adrian does it without trying. “What do you think of the guys?” he asks.
“You were right. Meeting them gave me confidence, but I’m still worried about you being bait.”
“Let’s talk about that.”
I steel myself for wherever he’s going. “Why does that sound ominous?”
“I was selfish to get involved with you, Pri.”
That’s why I think he’s pulling away from me and it’s right then that I realize how hard I’ve already fallen for this man. It’s only been a chance encounter and a hot night, and already he can stab me in the heart with rejection. “I see,” I manage. “I just—we don’t need to do this.” I try to get up.
He holds my knees and me in place. “I don’t think you do. I have never wanted someone to the point that I couldn’t see the risks. I put you in the line of fire.”
“I was already in the line of fire. You don’t need an excuse to cool us off, Adrian. I get it. It’s fine.”
“Is it? Is it that easy for you to cool us off?”
I blink. “You’re confusing me right now.”
“Then let me be clear,” he says, leaning in closer, the masculine spice of his cologne a wicked play on my senses. “I don’t want to let you go and it’s too late anyway.”
My brows furrow. “Too late?”
“Waters insisted on meeting with you, not Ed. He doesn’t communicate with anyone but the top dog. I believe he knows we’re together. I believe you’re a target because of me.”
I suddenly understand why he wasn’t touching me outside, in the public eye where our relationship would be in plain view. “I was a target anyway.”
“I betrayed him. I earned his trust and betrayed him. He wants me to pay. He’ll go after what I care about.”
“Just because you sleep with me doesn’t mean you care about me.” I hold up a hand. “I’m not saying you don’t.”
“I do,” he says, his voice a low rumble, almost a growl. “You know I do.”
I study his earnest expression and press my hand to his face. “I do know, but you also know that I have my own sins I’m playing to right now. My own dirty side. I’m in this all the way. I’m not scared. So knowing that, now what?”
He captures my hands. “We have options. Number one, Ed could go with me today before he goes into hiding.”
“No. I don’t trust Ed. His assistant is suddenly on an unexpected vacation, and he’s acting off. No. He might turn on you.”
“Number two. I could go alone.”
“No,” I say again. “The DA has to be represented in a firm ‘no deal’ statement. I’m going with you, so now what?”
“Number three starts with my strategy. I’m visiting Waters to taunt him. He’ll bite and he’ll force Deleon to come for me and you, on our terms and do so now. We go in there today. We push Waters’ buttons. We go home to your place and when the sun goes down, we sneak out and my men handle Deleon.”
“And we’ll be where?”
“Miles away in a place he’ll never find us, just you and me. I’ll set up secure communications for you. You can manage the case from a distance.”
“I’ll make it work, but what if Deleon doesn’t come for us?”
“He will,” he says, his tone absolute.
“Okay, well let’s say he does and all goes well. What’s to keep Waters from sending someone else after us?”
“The goal is to capture his men alive and turn at least a few against him. That might force a deal he’s not going to take now.”
“Will Deleon flip?” I ask hopefully.
“Never. It has to be some of the lessers down the food chain. If that doesn’t happen, we’ll stay off the grid until the trial, and we’ll keep our team close during the trial. But you don’t have to do this today.”
“Don’t you want to be a part of taking down Deleon?”
“I trust the guys and I’m not leaving you. We leave tonight and we do it together.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
PRI
I eat the chocolate brownie sundae.
I mean, if I’m going to die soon, macaroni and cheese, chocolate, and ice cream need to be a part of my final days. And Adrian. I need more Adrian. In the process, I end up with a whole lot more Walker Security as well, which is just fine by me. I like these guys, especially as they get focused on planning, and Lucifer pulls out a MacBook to check in with the rest of their team.
By the time me, Adrian, and Adam are back inside the SUV, on our way to the Del Valle detention center where Waters is being held pending trial, I’m feeling ready for our meeting with him. That is until my cellphone rings and the caller ID is my father’s number. Just that easily, I’m twisted in knots. I’m pretty sure that alone establishes me as having enough personal baggage to fill a 737’s hungry belly. I decline the call and glance at Adrian. “Can you just confirm for me that my parents are safe right now?”
“I’d hear if they weren’t. Why?”
“My father just called and while I don’t want to talk to him before the Waters’ meeting, he never calls. It could be about Logan, but I just need to be sure.”
He studies me for a probing moment—seeing too much, I suspect—but I really don’t have it in me to hide my private demons right now. I’m not sure I’d try with Adrian if I did. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he says, “but I need you to call him back in case it affects the meeting in some way.” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “But I’m also shooting a message to our team to conf
irm all is well with his security detail.”
I inhale an uncomfortably thick breath and wait as he shoots a text to someone. The reply is instant and Adrian looks at me. “The man watching your parents says all clear.”
“All right then,” I say, “I’ll just dial him up and have a little father-daughter chat.” I punch in the auto-dial and my father answers on the first ring.
“Pri,” he says, his voice deep, distinguished, and you almost know he’s a good-looking man without ever seeing him. My father’s a stud. All the women think so, including my mother, who seems to manage him in ways no one else could. “I thought for a moment there you were going to blow me off,” he adds.
“Why would I do that?”
“We both know we haven’t exactly endured the choppy waters we created to find our calmer sea.”
“No,” I agree. “I suppose we haven’t.”
“Logan wants you back. He’s not the only one. I do, too.”
“He wants me back to do damage control.”
“I don’t know what his agenda is, but it fits mine so that works for me and I do believe it works for our family.”
“Why do you want me off the Waters case?”
“I don’t,” he says without hesitation. “And if I might speak outside our little deal to not talk about business?”
“Yes, please do.”
“I want you to stay on it and win and then come on back over here, and bill the hell out of that win.”
I can almost believe him since he’s talking money, but not quite. “Mom and Logan said you wanted me off the case. Or Mom did. Logan spoke for himself.”
“Exactly. Who speaks for me but me?”
“True,” I say. “But Logan—”
“Has an agenda. He wants you back here with that ring on your finger. You two were a real power couple.”
“If you start down this Logan-loving path again, Dad, this call is over.”
“I’m simply stating his motivations. And Mom is worried about you. She was never going to leave town when you might need her, by the way.”
When He's Dirty (Walker Security: Adrian’s Trilogy Book 1) Page 15
