Page 69 of Forbidden Bond

“Is it all connected?”

“To some degree, everything is connected.”

“Sersha,” Tulip groaned. “Are you giving me the runaround? Why has Nicole got a price on her head?”

“Who named Conn as my grandfather’s killer?” Their eyes locked. “If I raise my voice—”

“Another threat?”

“I’ve given you plenty. I confirmed there’s a price on Nicole’s head. Told you she’s still breathing, and that the McDades did not put out the contract. What else do you want to know?”

“Why she deserves to die.”

“Given we weren’t the ones to call it, I can’t give you the right answer. I can make one up, maybe she’s on Santa’s Naughty List.”

Four guys came to put out salad and sandwiches before disappearing without a word.

“This is serious,” Tulip said, ignoring the spread. “I can’t believe you’d be glib about a woman’s life.”

“And I can’t believe you’d be glib in refusing to identify who wants to hurt my guy. His life is at stake in this too. If his life is at stake, so is mine, so is everyone on payroll. Why do you want to hurt the McDades?”

Startled again, Tulip mouthed nothing for a few seconds. “I don’t want to hurt the McDades.”

It wasn’t a threat, but the woman had to be aware of their location. Intention meant nothing when there were so many heavies in the vicinity. Truth mattered less than her desire. Like she’d said to the guys in the Chronicler elevator. Around the McDades? Her words were orders, not requests. And no one would question them. Power, this was her kingdom. Conn had given her a crown and had no problem with her using it for her own ends. Not that she would, but the potential was intoxicating.

Honestly? She could ask Biggs or Daly to end the conversation, end her colleague’s life, even just take her liberty, and Conn would handle everything else. A fawn in the forest, Tulip didn’t know oblivion hung perilously close.

Conn wouldn’t second-guess her. Would it be complicated disappearing a woman they knew little about? Yes. That wouldn’t deter her guy. He’d handle it, like he handled all her messes.

Planting both hands on the table, she rose just a little to loom near her colleague. “Someone wants to hurt the man I love,” she growled, possessive and unimpressed. “Someone whispered his name into the ear of an enemy,” if the copscould be called that, “meaning him harm. Someone vindictive. Conniving. Callous. With a motive that hasn’t been fulfilled. Anyone protecting that person means to hurt my guy too. Means the McDades harm. Me harm. And that’s not something I take lightly. Do you take the imprisonment of an innocent man lightly?”

“I didn’t know he was innocent.”

“He was with me,” she said, her head rolling a little. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“He’s your lover.”

“Yes, and the victim was my grandpapa. So I ask again, are you calling me a liar?”

Tulip shook her head. “I trust he was with you, he didn’t pull the trigger.”

“No, yet someone pointed the finger at him. Isn’t that a more interesting story than some nebulous contract? What motivated the witness to insult the head of our family?”

“Money,” Tulip said. “Revenge. Could be a power grab or protest.”

Sinking down, she settled, picking up her glass to swirl the liquid in it. “You want a quote?”

Clearly surprised, Tulip blinked. “A quote from… from you?”

“Or Conn,” she said, assessing the woman as she raised her glass to sip the liquor. “A local entrepreneur cruelly ripped from his place of business in the middle of the night. Interrogated by hostile cops. A man related to the victim, by association. Who did the false witness want to hurt? Conn? The McDades? Maybe the McLeods? Could the snitch be covering his own crime?”

A glimmer of fog lifted, revealing a new glitter in the young woman’s eyes. “I can write the story?”

She nodded. “Write it. Show it to me. We’ll give you a quote.”

“You… He’d really talk to me?”

“Providing your article highlights the correct wronged party.”

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