GRAY WOLF SECURITY, Texas: The Complete 6-Books Series

by Glenna Sinclair

I nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks despite my attempt at stoicism. He broke into a wide smile that made him groan as the movement caused pain to flash through his eyes.

  “You do care.”

  “Of course I care,” I whispered, stepping into him, pressing my lips to his. “I’ve always cared.”

  We kissed for a long moment. When I pulled back, he wiped at my tears, his thumbs incredibly tender on me. He slid his right arm around me, tugging me close to him.

  “I’m okay,” he said again.

  David cleared his throat. “We should probably get things rolling over at your house,” he said.

  I started to straighten up, but Dunlap pulled me closer to him, refusing to let me go.

  “Go ahead,” he said to David. “I’ve given you my security codes. You said you could hack my systems from here?”

  “We can. Once we’re in, you’ll be okay to go home.”

  “Thank you.”

  A heavy silence fell. A moment later, I heard the door close.

  “You’re really okay?” I asked, pulling back so that I could see his face better. The bruises hurt like they were on my face instead of his. I ran my fingers around the edge of one bruise and he took my hand, pulling it down to his lips. He kissed my palm.

  “I’m okay. But I’m pretty sure someone messed with my brakes. I felt like I had no choice but to hire your boss to help me out.”

  “I’m glad you did. Elliot’s excellent at his job.”

  He ran his hand over the side of my face. “You look amazing in that dress by the way.”

  I blushed, remembering why I was dressed this way. I couldn’t look him in the eye as the memory of that cheating asshole kissing me flashed through my head. But then Dunlap was kissing me and it was as if nothing else mattered. I sighed against his mouth.

  “Do you have any idea who would do this to you?”

  “The only enemy I have is Julep.”

  “I thought Julep had agreed to back off.”

  “The custody fight. That doesn’t mean she’s given up on trying to get rid of me.”

  It made sense. There was no one else who had a motive to hurt him. But just the same, I knew Elliot would look into business associates and anyone else who had access to the car.

  Speaking of Elliot, the man himself came into the room then, standing by the door in order to show us a little respect.

  “We should go,” he said, his voice a deep rumble that filled the room despite his lowered tone.

  “I’m coming with you,” I announced.

  “Knox, you should probably discuss that with David.”

  “No, she’s coming with us,” Dunlap said, his thumb brushing my bottom lip.

  Elliot simply gestured for us to proceed him out the door. David was in the reception area, watching as we walked toward him. He took my arm, pulling me away from Dunlap as Elliot escorted him out the door.

  “Dunlap Spencer is a client now.”

  “I know.”

  “You go with them, it’s on your own time. You are not a part of this case in any shape or form.”

  “Okay.”

  “And you will continue to make yourself available for cases.”

  “I will.”

  He looked me over for a long moment. “I’ll see you at morning meeting.”

  ***

  I insisted that Dunlap go to bed the moment we got to his house.

  “You need rest.”

  “I need you,” he said, his lips close against my ear.

  I couldn’t help but smile. But then I met Elliot’s eyes in the rearview mirror and felt as though all my thoughts, all my secrets, were suddenly on display.

  We climbed out of the car and headed inside. Elliot made us wait in the living room while he did a sweep of the place. I found myself growing impatient, wondering if this was the way my clients felt when I was in Elliot’s position.

  Finally, I pulled Dunlap up the stairs and into his bedroom. I sat him on the edge of the bed and slowly began to undress him. Every time he tried to touch me, I brushed his hands away. With his shirt gone, I could see the full effect of the accident on his body. There were bruises everywhere. His ribs. His back. His upper arms. His belly. I ran my fingers over each and every one, kissing the ones across his shoulders.

  “You could have been killed.”

  “I think that was the intention.”

  “It’s my fault.”

  He took my face in his hands, pushing me back so that he could see my eyes.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I told her you knew about Colby and the things that happened to her when she was young. If I hadn’t said that—”

  “She might have done it anyway. She’s that determined to get custody of the girls.”

  I chewed on my lip. “If I lost you now…”

  He groaned, lifting my chin so he could kiss me. “I knew you cared.”

  I started to smack his shoulder, but I didn’t want to hurt him. Instead, I pushed him back, forcing him back against his pillows.

  “You need to rest.”

  I got him settled, then went downstairs to find him something to eat. My hands were shaking as I dug through the refrigerator, pulling out the makings for that chicken salad Stevie had taught me to make. Elliot came into the room and leaned against the counter, watching me.

  “You okay?”

  I shook my head, pausing with my hands on a head of lettuce.

  Elliot came up behind me and wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders. I leaned back, grateful for the support.

  “He’s going to be okay. He’s under my watch now.”

  I nodded. I knew that, logically, whoever had done this was unlikely to try again any time soon, especially with Gray Wolf operatives in the house. Then again, anyone who was close enough to Dunlap to mess with his brakes had to have known about me by now. Especially Julep. She knew about me; she knew who I was. And it wouldn’t take much for her and her spies to know that Dunlap was spending a lot of time at my place.

  It wasn’t brain surgery.

  “I’ll take care of him,” Elliot assured me. “Any guy who could put that smile on your face is a guy worth saving.”

  “Thanks.”

  I turned in his arms and reached up to kiss his cheek. Elliot blushed a little, but he smiled. He had a great smile.

  I made the salad and carried it upstairs, but Dunlap was asleep. I stood in the doorway and watched him for a while. I took the salad back downstairs and gave it to Elliot. He settled in the breakfast nook and tucked into it hardily. I watched him, wondering what his story was. I’d known him nearly eight months and felt like I could trust him with my life, but he didn’t talk much about this past. He didn’t invite me to help with his agoraphobic sister like Alexander; he didn’t introduce me to his secret wife and little boy, like Ingram. He was a mystery that I was hoping would unravel someday soon.

  I went back upstairs and undressed, crawling into bed beside Dunlap. His body was warm. Reassuring. We would find out who did this. Tomorrow. Tonight, I just wanted to revel in his touch, just be grateful that he was okay.

  ***

  I showed up at morning meeting the next day, but David didn’t have a case for me. I packed a bag and headed back to Dunlap’s. Elliot wouldn’t let him go to work, so Dunlap was on his cell phone in the study at his house, pacing as he tried to run his business remotely.

  He smiled when he saw me, but it was obvious he was going to be a while. I left him to it, going outside to see what Elliot was up to.

  “You read the autopsy report on his wife, right?”

  “I did.”

  “Anything unusual there?”

  I shrugged. “She was in recovery, but there was a trace of alcohol in her system. And a lot of Oxy.”

  “Was she a regular Oxy user?”

  I shook my head. “No. But I suspect her mother was.”

  Elliot pointed to the hot tub. “The thermostat’s broken on it.”

  “I
know.”

  “You point that out to anyone?”

  “Didn’t seem like it was my job at the time. We weren’t investigating a threat. We were watching the children to be sure the father didn’t do them any harm.”

  “And since?”

  “Dunlap and I have talked about it, but we’ve never gone into depth on it. Why?”

  Elliot didn’t answer. He paced the length of the porch, clearly trying to work something out in his head.

  “What if his wife was murdered?”

  “Then someone was probably trying to shut her up.”

  “About what?”

  I gestured toward the house. “She struggled after their oldest daughter was born. It apparently brought up memories of her childhood that she had repressed. When the second kid was born, she got into therapy and revealed a few things about her stepfather to her husband. I think, maybe, someone found out that she remembered and maybe she threatened to go public.”

  “Any proof?”

  “Nope. Just speculation.”

  “Who would that have hurt?”

  “Besides the mother? I don’t know. No one, I suppose.”

  Elliot nodded, still pacing. “Is it possible Mrs. Montgomery is behind all this?”

  “He thinks so.”

  “Do you?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I had thought so, but now…it just didn’t seem like Julep’s modus operandi. She liked to hide behind her lawyers, to work through the system that she once had wired because of her husband’s position. It was the arena she was comfortable with. Sneaking behind everyone’s backs, messing with someone’s brakes…that wasn’t her style.

  “I think there might be something we’re missing here. Colby Spencer was unfaithful to her husband. What if we’re looking at this all wrong? What if it was a jilted lover?”

  “That’s a possibility. But why would Mrs. Spencer’s jilted lover come after her husband months after her murder?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Someone feels he’s a threat. We need to find out why.”

  “And that brings us back to Mrs. Montgomery. She knows that Dunlap knew about the things Colby remembered in therapy. Maybe she’s trying to shut him up just like she’d done to Colby.”

  “Maybe.” He studied me for a long moment. “Or it could be a jilted lover of his own. Do you know whom he might have been with during his marriage? Or soon after?”

  “No one.”

  We both turned to find Dunlap standing in the doorway, a dark look on his face. I walked over to him and pressed my hand to his chest.

  “Hey, babe,” I said softly. “We were just walking through all the possibilities.”

  “I know, but that’s a dead-end road. There’s been no one in my life other than Colby and you.”

  “I know.”

  Dunlap kissed the center of my forehead. “You’d better off looking at Julep,” he told Elliot. “She’s the only enemy I’ve ever made.”

  “No business rivals? No exes of any kind? No women with unrequited crushes?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  Elliot nodded. “Okay.”

  There was doubt in Elliot’s voice. I could hear it as plain as I could see irritation in Dunlap’s eyes. But neither one was going to budge from his opinion, so I didn’t see the point in trying.

  I turned Dunlap around. “Let’s go inside and see if we can find something for lunch.”

  “Maybe I can finally cook for you,” he said, kissing me gently.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  I glanced back at Elliot as we went inside. He was watching Dunlap, an unhappy look on his face. He didn’t like Dunlap. I didn’t understand it, but I guessed it wasn’t necessary for him to like the man in order to protect him.

  At least, I hoped not.

  Chapter 15

  Dunlap

  Three days of having that man in my house and I was starting to feel a little stir crazy. Elliot didn’t like me, and I was pretty sure it was because of Knox. He didn’t like me because he didn’t like my relationship with her. It made me wonder if he had a thing for her.

  I was sitting on the floor of the nursery, watching Mattie pick up her toys and try to shove them as deep into her mouth as they would go. The girls came home this morning just ten minutes after Knox left. She had a new client, so she’d be gone until late tonight. She’d be sad to know she missed seeing the girls.

  But I was grateful to have some time with them.

  “Daddy, can we go back to Orlando sometime. It was fun.”

  “Was it, baby?”

  Stevie climbed into my lap and buried her face against my chest. “So much fun. But I missed you.”

  “I missed you, too.” I kissed the top of her head. “Did you have fun with Aunt Carin?”

  “She’s nice.”

  “Yeah? What about Uncle Frank?”

  “He was funny. He let me ride on his shoulders when I got tired.”

  “That’s pretty cool. My dad used to do that for me.”

  “Really? Weren’t you too big?”

  I laughed. “When I was still little. Like you.”

  “You were the same size as me once?”

  “Everyone was, once.”

  Stevie touched my face, tracing one of the bruises on my cheek almost like Knox kept doing. “Does it hurt?”

  “Not anymore.”

  “It looks like it hurts.”

  I kissed the tip of her nose. “Now that you’re here, nothing can hurt me.”

  She smiled. “Janis says that you’re a superman. She says that you’re made of steel.”

  “Well, not quite, but it’s nice that she thinks so.”

  “Are you going to marry Janis someday?”

  I tilted my head slightly. “Why would you ask that?”

  “She takes care of you.”

  “She takes care of the office. There’s a difference.”

  “But she likes you. She told me so.”

  “I’m sure she just meant that she likes working for me.”

  Stevie shook her head, her face very serious. “She said that she liked you and that she wanted to take care of you. She said you’d let her someday.”

  I frowned. Janis was a Godsend at the office, but I’d never seen her as anything more than my assistant. She’d been frantic when the cops called her and she showed up the hospital, but she calmed right down. And she hadn’t shown up here at the house…not that I knew of. I told her I was going to hire Gray Wolf, and she said that was a brilliant idea. If she was interested…no, Janis wasn’t interested in me in that way. Stevie must have misunderstood her.

  “When’s Knox coming back?”

  Stevie’s voice was muffled because she had her face pressed into the front of my shirt. I tugged at her braid, pulling her head out of my chest.

  “Do you like Knox?”

  “Yes.”

  “She likes you, too.”

  She smiled, that beaming smile that only a child can produce. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  Stevie giggled, pressing her face into my chest again. I wrapped my arms around her, glad that I could make her happy. I wondered when Knox would feel comfortable being here, around the girls. She was so adamant that we not allow the girls to see us together, that we not allow them to get their hopes up about our relationship. But how long would we have to be together before she would feel comfortable with it?

  I was ready to move on to the next stage now. I wanted her to move in with us. But I knew that the moment I asked, it would be something I couldn’t take back—and if she wasn’t ready…it would not be a good move. Not right now.

  No matter how badly I wanted it.

  ***

  Knox slipped into my bed well after midnight, her body cold, but it quickly warmed under my touch. I rolled into her, drew her under the length of my body, sliding inside of her as though we’d been in the middle of loving when we were rudely interrupted by the reality of the day. She pressed h
er hips up against me, sighing as she wrapped her legs around mine. We moved with patience, kissing with slow deliberation.

  I held her close, even when it was over, my hands exploring every inch of her delicious body.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I whispered against her temple.

  “I never know what to say to that.”

  “Don’t say anything.”

  She kissed my neck, my chest, her lips seeking out the fading bruises that still dotted my chest. I ran my hand down her back, loving the feel of her silky skin.

  “Are you and Elliot…I mean, is he the coworker you were with?”

  She suddenly looked up, staring at me. “Why?”

  I shrugged. “He seems annoyed with me. I thought that maybe…”

  “No.”

  There was ice to her tone. She pulled away from me, once again seeking to abandon our shared bed in a moment of disagreement. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just wondering why he was acting the way he is.”

  “Elliot is a private guy. I don’t know why he would treat you that way.”

  “Okay.”

  “Does it bother you, knowing that I was with one of my coworkers?”

  I had to be honest. I couldn’t lie and then have that lie come back to haunt me someday. So I looked her in the eye and nodded.

  “It does. But only because I don’t know who it was or why.”

  “Do you need to know?”

  “If I did, maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much.”

  She reflected on that, her eyes focused on something far away from me. When she got like that, it worried me. It made me wonder if she was thinking of someone else she’d prefer to be with. I knew what she told me about her past, but there were still insecurities that I couldn’t shake.

  “It was after a night of heavy drinking. We have this habit of going to a bar after a case is finished or just to celebrate whatever’s going on.” She sort of shrugged. “At least we did until Alexander fell in love and Ingram revealed that he was married. And Tony was fired.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She touched my chin with the tip of her finger, her finger sliding over my beard hair. “It was one of those nights. We were drunk, and we were both single, and I guess we were lonely.”

  “It didn’t mean anything?”