Page 33 of Bad Guys Need Love Too

“Is there enough on his computer or phone to figure out who hired him?” Tenley asked.

Ren squinted at his computer screen while typing so fast his fingers were practically a blur. “It’s there. Encrypted. It’ll just take a little time to find it,” he mumbled.

Lark was still struggling with the fact that she was staggeringly attracted to Ren, who was currently trying to track down her potential murderer. Good Lord, how had this become her life?

Tenley reached over and patted her knee. “Don’t worry.Tonsof people had someone try to kill them at one point or another.”

Lark wasn’t necessarily surethatwas true. But she appreciated the attempt to make her feel better, nonetheless.

“Oh,” Tenley added, reaching into her cleavage. “I stole the guy’s watch. Here, you can have it.”

Ren glanced over. “That’s a nice one.”

“Yeah,” Tenley said. “Vintage. It was affordable when it was made, but now, I bet you could get 10k out of it if you found the right buyer.”

Lark glanced at the killer’s watch. She had zero clue how to go about finding a buyer for a stolen watch—especially a contract killer’s stolen watch. But the look on Tenley’s face was so friendly she couldn’t bring herself to mention that. This was clearly an offer designed to make her feel better about her current situation. “Um…thank you very much.”

“Holy shit,” Ren muttered, giving his laptop a glare so intense Lark was surprised the screen didn’t crack under the weight of all that focus.

“What is it?” she asked.

Then he looked at her, and she wished he would’ve kept his eyes on the computer. Because she didnotlike the look in his eyes as he added, “The computer that was used to access the dark net and hire Fortunato.”

“What about it?” she whispered.

“It was Neal’s.”

In the cold silence that followed Ren’s proclamation, Tenley was the first to find her voice. “Here.”

Lark glanced down to find that Tenley had pressed Neal’s wallet into her hand. She lifted her confused gaze to Tenley’s.

“I stole it from him at the diner before you guys came in.” Tenley shrugged. “Doesn’t feel right to keep it now.”

Yeah. She could imagine.

CHAPTER 16

Tenley headed home after Ren assured her—several times—they’d be fine without her.

Besides, if he had to erase Neal’s entire existence, he didn’t want any of it to tie back to her.

If Ren was a good guy, he imagined the idea of erasing a man’s existence would bother him. But he wasn’t a good guy, and getting rid of Neal wouldn’t make him lose a minute’s sleep.

The fact that Lark had been completely silent on the way back to his house, however, was irking theshitout of him. She now knew more about him than anyone on the planet—even more than Tenley—and she was apparently stunned speechless. Or terrified.

Normally, he didn’t mind when people were terrified of him. It kept them at a distance, which he very much enjoyed. But when he thought aboutLarkbeing terrified of him, he felt like he’d been kicked in the nuts.

Or maybe she was upset about Neal. She’d been engaged to the guy, after all. It had to hurt to think that while they were engaged, he might’ve hired a hitman to take her out.

And somehow the thought of her being upset about Neal was almost as bad as the thought of her being terrified of him.That’show fucked up he was.

Shit. He probably should’ve sent her home with Tenley. Lark would be safe with Tenley and Knox in their fortified mansion. He should know. He’d fortified the place himself. And other than him, there was no one on the planet more capable of protecting Lark than Tenley.

But he couldn’t take that chance. Not with Tenley and not with Lark. He didn’t even want to think about what he might do if he lost one or both of them.

When they got back to his place, he gave Dammit George a quick walk around the block and fed him, giving Lark her space. Hopefully, the time by herself would help her settle in and come to terms with everything that’d happened that day.

He couldn’t bring himself to give her too much space, though. He had to talk to her about next steps. And he wasnotlooking forward to it.

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