Page 17 of The Killer Who Kept Me

In the darkness I remembered his face, his blue eyes, that sinister and sexy smile. How he’d practically offered to save me. In my heart, I knew if I’d told him the truth in that office, I wouldn’t be here right now.

Maybe it was time to climb out of this hellhole and fight back. I just hoped I wasn’t sentencing myself to a darker fate.

CHAPTER NINE

“Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.” ~ Jonathan Swift

Saros

I enteredmy club at eight at night. Em wouldn’t be there until nine, and I wanted to make sure I finished any business before he arrived. Cosmo had been instructed to bring him to my office and from there, I’d have Em to myself to talk with him.

I’d dug into Ramsey Brookes’s operation and well, honestly, it was odd. Benny believed he had political ambitions and needed serious backing, which made me wonder if he was looking to kidnap Dre Hopper to make the governor endorse him. But for what, I didn’t know.

What I knew about Ramsey was that he had married Shyla twenty-five years ago, wasn’t even a little bit faithful, but neither was she. They had one son together, Ramsey Junior, and lived in a house far bigger than he should on the income he reported to the IRS every year.

He had no arrests, though his son had been in a few run-ins with the law—a DUI or two, assault—but miraculously they’d disappeared. Not from me of course, I could find anything…except on Em.

The staff he had on his roster had no one by the name Em, Emmett, Emery, Emerson, nothing. It was bizarre and naturally only made me need to know more.

At nine o’clock there was a knock on the door, and then it opened. Being the office was soundproofed, they wouldn’t hear me call out.

Cosmo entered and closed it.

“What’s wrong?”

His face was a mixture of rage, confusion, and alertness.

“Em is here.”

“Okay, and why isn’t he in here now?”

“He’s not alone.”

I clenched my jaw. Why would he be accompanied by anyone this time and not the last time?

“Who is with him?”

“Guy’s name is Hess, said he’s there for Em’s protection.”

Protection? “And what did Em say?”

Cos scratched his chin, eyes boring into my own. “That’s the thing. Every time I asked Em a question, Hess answered. Em wouldn’t meet my eyes, and his hand has a splint on it, and he’s limping.”

What the absolute fuck?

“Bring him in.” I practically growled the words.

“What about Hess?”

I grinned. “Oh, by all means bring him in too, and stay close.”

“You got it, Boss.”

Once he exited the room, I opened my desk drawer pulled out my .45 caliber full-frame 1911 and slipped it into my gun holster.With my suit jacket on it wasn’t visible, but this Hess guy had to know someone like me was always armed.

I’d just closed the drawer when the door opened. The first to enter, I didn’t recognize. His dark hair was tied back in a ponytail, he was big and broad, had a goatee, and met my eyes briefly before looking away as if he couldn’t even be bothered with me.

Em followed behind him, and I locked on to his hand and a beat later focused on the limp. Nothing else seemed to matter.

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