Page 61 of Shattered Secrets

“Just so you know,” Bean said, expression turning serious, “whatever you tell us doesn’t leave this room unless you say so.”

“And if you do give us the okay to share your info, then it would be on a need-to-know basis only,” Gavin said. “We want to help you. Even if you just tell Bean the basics, with your permission, she can dig deeper into everything. See what the connections are.”

“But we don’t even know this guy’s name.” Disbelief tinged Scarlet’s words as she gestured at the image on the conference room’s giant Smartboard.

Gavin shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s Bean. She’s like...”

“Magic, boss,” Bean said, that smug smile on her face. “The word you’re looking for ismagic.”

Scarlet chuckled, seemingly put at ease by their banter. She caught Matt’s gaze and mouthed,Thank you, then turned back to the others. As she retold her story, pride surged through him. The woman was fucking amazing. Tough. Resilient. Courageous.

Matt knew he was falling in deep with her. Knew that fact should give him pause.

Should.

But it didn’t. Not any longer. Because the more time he spent with Scarlet, the more he got to know her, the more right this thing between them felt. Sure, part of him still worried he’d get burned like before. That this time around, the heartbreak would be even more devastating. However, the more sensible partknew down to his marrow that Scarlet was nothing like his ex-wife, that she’d never do what Krista had done.

He took in the woman beside him and calm settled over him.

For once, Matt was going to put the doubt and second-guessing away. He was going to trust her, and in turn, himself. He wanted to see where they went.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Something had shifted. Scarlet didn’t know what. But sometime between being sequestered in the diner’s office, not knowing what was going on in the restaurant, to now, listening to Bean, Gavin, and Matt discuss their next steps, something had changed between her and Matt. There was a newfound ease she couldn’t quite describe. A familiarity that warmed her heart.

Scarlet wasn’t a touchy-feely person. In fact, aside from a very select group of friends that she could list on one hand, she strived to keep her personal bubble intact. After a lifetime of that bubble being disregarded, it was something she was actively conscious of.

But with Matt? It felt as if holding his hand was the only thing keeping her from flying off a cliff of anxiety. Every time he laced their fingers together or laid his hand on her back or squeezed her shoulders or tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, she felt...

Protected. Cared for. Safe.

Minutes ago, he’d cupped her face in his hands, kissed her cheek, and stunned her with the sweetest words she’d ever heard. Her stomach still fluttered from the thought,along with... something else. Beneath that sweetness and comfort was a simmering heat that was both unexpected and breathtaking.

“So, that’s basically the gist of it,” Bean said, pulling Scarlet from her musings.

She glanced between Bean, Gavin, Matt, and the giant screen, not wanting to admit she’d tuned out the conversation. Rehashing her past with them, even the bare-bones version of it, had been exhausting. So, when they’d begun discussing the technology they were using to track the mystery guy, her mind had wandered. She barely had a ninth-grade education—she wasn’t putting herself down, just stating the facts—and she didn’t understand a tenth of what they’d been talking about.

Scarlet waved at the screen with her free hand. “I’m not familiar with all the jargon and stuff?—”

“We can go over it again,” Bean offered.

She shook her head. “Oh no. That’s okay. I trust you guys know what you’re doing. I’ll just have Matt give me a summary of the highlights later.” Hopefully, in English.

Peeking over at Matt, she was met with a grin, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “I can do that, sweetheart.”

Gavin’s phone dinged, drawing everyone’s attention. After reading the message, his gaze locked on Scarlet’s, and she did her best to not squirm. There was no other way about it. The man was intense.

“Quinn found your purse near one of the dumpsters at the ferry dock. All the cash and cards were gone, but your driver’s license was still in it.” He gestured to the screen. “I let him know about what happened earlier today, and he doesn’t think it’s related.”

“So it was a random break-in?” Matt asked.

Her mind spun, and her eyes ping-ponged between the two men. She had no idea if the news was a good thing or a bad thing.

Gavin nodded. “There was some drug paraphernalia dumped near her purse, too. And he said that a handful of rental properties over by the wineries have been broken into over the last couple weeks. With the electronics that were taken from Wayland’s other apartment, he thinks it was most likely a grab-and-go?—”

“A grab-and-go?” she asked.

“It’s also called a smash-and-grab robbery. Basically, a crime of opportunity where someone quickly grabs whatever they can sell fast for cash,” Gavin explained, then glanced at Bean. “Quinn’s going to send you what he has. I’d like you to double-check things.”

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