Page 14 of Beautiful Deception

I’ve seen her contact list, and the pinned contact beneath her boyfriend is the vet office for her Samoyed.

“Oh,” Joe mutters, disappointed.

Without a pinch of remorse on her face, Junnie adds the last hit by saying her boyfriend will fight Joe if she gets his contacts. Last time, she described her boyfriend as one of the meekest men she has met.

Honestly, I don’t even know how often she’s thrown her boyfriend under the bus.

I don’t know the details of their relationship, so I can’t judge. Even if I do, it’s still not my place to do so.

“Ready?” Kimberly interrupts, her lips pressing tightly together, perhaps still deep in regret.

She turns to me after taking the DSLR camera from Junnie. “You?”

I shake my head as I shove my hands into my coat’s pockets. I hate seeing myself in photos because of how bad I look. Everyone in my family has a knack for looking good in photos—I, on the other hand, not so much. Junnie claims she isn’t, but her lover enjoys receiving images from her.

“Can I talk to you?” I ask the man beside me.

Remo muses, searching for a relatively quiet spot, and points to the trees opposite where Junnie is posing for her photos. I scan the area for Dr. Kian, but I don’t see him, so I presume he’s checking on Peter.

“I want to hire you.” I clench my fists inside my pockets when a leaden breath stings behind my ribs.

His gaze is steady, but there’s a shred of apprehension in his eyes, weaving on the keen line of intuition and instinctual distrust of an FBI agent.

“About what you said yesterday.” My gaze flickers downward, my fingers twisting and untwisting the strands of a loose thread on my sleeve—a reticent act of the turmoil that accompanies reluctance. “I thought about it more, and you’re the only person who’s capable of protecting me.”

Days have passed, and I still can’t get rid of the looming doubt in my mind, a spineless but powerful hunch not to put too much faith in Remo.

“There’s no sign she’ll do it again,” he says, his voice lowering to a hoarse whisper.

“There’s a chance she might,” I counter, “maybe when you or Dr. Kian slip up and she finds out about it?”

His features are set; not an inch of him moves as he pins me with his inscrutable stare. His presence is biting, and the smooth transition from his standoffish demeanor is unsurprising, but it doesn’t make it any less frightening.

“She won’t hurt you,” he promises, the baritone applying enough pressure into my ears to cause a dull ache.

Then, it dissipates, gone in a split second.

“Twenty thousand a day.” His price doesn’t register in my head, being as peaceful as the breaths I take.

I’ve spent more than that on a stress-relieving shopping trip or a thoughtless car purchase. I don’t really grasp the concept of spending money; I know about it because my parents have taught me, but I don’t have the experience to understand it.

“Why not a set price?” I probe mindlessly as I compute the total for the remainder of my stay.

“To humor you.” He looks to where Joe’s laugh is hollering through the air. “Do you think she’d go down without a fight if she found out?”

“I don’t know,” I admit truthfully, his words coaxing me to think over the possibilities.

“How are you so certain she won’t do everything to keep her secret?” The shadows love Remo’s all-sharp angles as the clouds swallow the sun, and the obsidian in his eyes turns the rawest shade of black.

“Maybe not during this trip. But she will come after those who know her secret.”

“You’re sure about it.” It’s a jab, a rebellious moment of contempt toward his confidence when there is no such thing as certainty when it’s about crime.

“With money, status, freedom, and family, it’s only natural to want to hold onto them, to ensure that others don’t live better than her.”

It’s a blend of seven deadly sins.

“Okay,” I whisper, subtly swaying, and admire the majesty of the winter landscape. “You’re mine until she’s behind bars.”

---