Page 42 of My Temptation

Leaning toward him, I pulled my phone from my back pocket and answered when I saw a text from Kyle. “Kyle. It’s the address for the resort in Devil’s Lake. He also sent me a link.”

“Guess he doesn’t sleep either.” Ethan gestured for me to continue. “What’s the link for?”

“Hmm…” I clicked the link and quickly read the article. “Apparently, there’s a festival going on at Devil’s Lake for a couple of weeks and then something called ‘bike week’ the week after. If the pictures I’m looking at are accurate, the festival is pretty big.”

“That’s going to make our job more difficult.” Ethan shook his head and continued. “We have about a two-hour drive to the airport, but at least we don’t have to drive the entire way to Devil’s Lake. I looked it up, and it’s nearly a twenty-three-hour drive.”

“Could’ve been a fun road trip,” I pointed out. “But I think flying in and renting a car is better.”

“We’re flying as ourselves, but renting the car as Joe and April, right?”

“That’s what Kyle said. He said we’re supposed to rent the car as Joe and April, and he also booked our hotel under those names. As far as anyone in Devil’s Lake is concerned, Ethan and Mila don’t exist. At least not in North Dakota.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t just have us fly as Joe and April too,” Ethan admitted.

“Samson can’t connect us to Elite as far as we know so I don’t think Jax and Brody are concerned he’ll hack into the flight logs to check out how Joe and April got to Devil’s Lake.” When he was quiet, I decided to make a little small talk to hopefully help lighten the tension between us. “When’s the last time you had a vacation?”

He seemed to contemplate that for a minute. “I actually don’t remember. I’ve been to Florida to see my sister and my niece, Riley, but I wouldn’t really call that a vacation.”

“Sorry you have to leave,” I said sincerely. “Everly’s coming this Saturday, right?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Hopefully, we’ll be back. I talked to Brody, and he promised to look out for her just in case we’re not back.”

I stared at the side of his face, concern filling me. “Look out for her? Is she in danger?”

“Her ex is a douche,” he said simply.

Understanding dawned on me. “Is he Riley’s dad?”

“He is, but he doesn’t know that, so keep it to yourself.”

“Of course,” I answered immediately. “Is he dangerous?”

He sighed. “He’s shady. Everly didn’t know the shit he was involved in when they were dating. Once she found out, she dumped him, but she was already pregnant. She lied and said it was someone else’s.”

“Has he been bothering her?” I asked.

“Not really, but he seems to show up where she is too often to be a coincidence, so she decided to leave town. The timing was right, and I seriously doubt he’ll follow her to North Carolina.”

“What a dick. Making her feel like she needs to move to be rid of him.”

He snorted. “Yep.”

We were quiet for a few minutes, and I wondered if now was the right time to bring up what happened only a few days ago. The only thing I was sure of was if I didn’t bring it up, we’d never talk about it because he sure as hell never would.

“Sorry about the shit I said.”

My head snapped toward him, and I stared at the side of his face, shocked he was talking about the exact thing on my mind. I guess I underestimated him.

Pushing aside my surprise, I said what I thought he needed to hear and what I needed the answer to. “If we’re going to work together, you need to trust me.”

“I do trust you,” he insisted. “That whole situation was just fucked up. I heard the shot and had no idea what was going on.”

“I never really thought about what it sounded like from outside,” I admitted. I could understand the not knowing. I’d been in that situation myself, and it was hard. “I know I seem impulsive, but I was trained to trust my instincts and react. My instincts told me to get my ass inside that bunker. I can’t promise I won’t do things that seem impulsive while we’re hunting this guy.”

“Can you at least give me a heads-up next time?”

I grinned, looking out the windshield. “Yeah, I can do that.” I tapped my fingers on my knee. “I’m surprised you brought it up. I figured I’d have to.”

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