Page 105 of My Temptation

Kyle whistled. “I’ll bet there are a lot of sweaty old men trying to hide shit right about now.”

That made everyone chuckle, but the truth was I’d love to see them sweat it out. Knowing what was happening to those girls sickened me, and I hoped each and every man who thought his power and affluence protected him was taught a lesson.

Hopefully while doing prison time.

“What about the girl Nick rescued? Sarah?” I asked.

“She’s in FBI custody.”

“That’s good. Hopefully, they’ll find her parents or, at the very least, get her some help,” I concluded.

Ethan shifted his attention to Brody. “So the only unanswered question is who the hell poisoned Beth? Do you think Samson had something to do with it?”

“We talked about that, but we think it’s doubtful.” Brody gestured between himself and Striker. “It was an awkward attempt. It’s more likely that it was Max Skinner’s idea and Samson went along to show allegiance. It doesn’t have the level of sophistication and planning that Samson has shown and we have no evidence that Samson was involved in that plan.”

I glanced between Brody and Jax. “You think Sullivan hired someone else to poison her?”

Brody nodded. “I do, especially after everything that happened here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Samson didn’t recognize you.” Brody replied. “Think about it. If he was in New Hope at any time since Sullivan’s release, he would’ve seen you, which means you would’ve never gotten into his bar. He would’ve recognized you immediately.”

“That’s true.” Ethan agreed.

“Not only did you get in, but you gave the FBI the proof they needed by asking the right questions.” Brody smiled. “Well done.”

Jax pushed off the dresser he was leaning against. “Except for the debriefing we’ll do with the Director, this case is officially over for us.” He smiled, obviously relieved, and gestured toward Ethan and me. “Get your shit packed. We have a flight leaving as soon as we board.”

I looked back and forth between Jax and Brody. “How?”

“Brody’s got a friend with a plane,” Kyle explained.

“And why don’t we use that more?” I asked, but Brody only grinned when he realized I was teasing.

Ethan stood and grabbed his bag. “In that case, let’s get the hell out of here.”

32

ETHAN

I’d just turned into the parking garage at Elite when I saw her walking toward the door. I’d been away from her for less than twenty-four hours, and I missed her. She looked up from her phone when she heard my truck, stopped, and smiled. Knowing she was waiting for me, I parked and tried to ignore my excitement from just seeing her. We were in a weird place. We hadn’t spoken since we got off the plane. She’d ridden home with Striker since they lived in the same building, and I’d driven home alone, which was exactly what I wanted. I needed time to myself to think, and I couldn’t do that with Mila sitting in the car beside me. I’d walked into my apartment and went straight to the shower before eventually crawling into bed. I slept better than I had in weeks, and after a cup of coffee this morning, I finally started to feel like myself.

I felt like my life was back to normal.

Until my eyes landed on Mila.

Pushing open the door, I grabbed my coffee mug, filled my second cup of the day, and locked my truck before walking toward her.

“Morning.” She smiled.

“Morning,” I replied.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked when I fell into step beside her.

I grinned, appreciating the small talk. I think we both felt a little awkward. We played a couple for so long, and now we were expected to return to being coworkers. “Better than I have in a long time. You?”

She shrugged when I pulled open the door and stepped aside so she could walk through. “I don’t know. I kind of got used to sleeping with someone. It felt a little strange.”

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