Page 40 of Unlawful Seduction

“I’m well aware. You arrived in town for his funeral. Were you close?”

“Excuse me. Both you and your dog were shot by someone, which made it necessary for you to seek help in my veterinary clinic instead of a hospital. You then just appear out of the blue in my home saving me from some crazed man intent on doing God knows what. And now, you’re grilling me like I had something to do with any of it? What the hell is wrong with you?”

A slight flash appeared in his eyes. I didn’t give a shit if I’d made the man angry.

“Tell me about your dad, your relationship, and why you moved back here.”

That meant he’d been checking up on me. I was ready to launch into a tirade, but didn’t have the energy. The shortest method of obtaining information, any information, was to reciprocate. Besides, I had nothing to hide.

“My dad was my rock, the kind of father everyone wanted. My friends were jealous. When we lost Mom, he became a loner, but we were still close even though I lived far away.”

“Richmond, Virginia.”

I swallowed my anger. “Yep. I went to school there and fell in love with the city. I moved back when Dad died. He left me his place. Your turn. Why did you pay all cash when buying thisplace? That just doesn’t happen, like ever. Why were you and Jax shot and how did you know to come to my place?”

He continued the almost droll stare as he studied me and I finally shook my head.

“Just take me home. Okay?” I remembered there was a dead body there and cringed. “What about the dead man?” I certainly knew what calling the police would do to my life. Oh, great. Now I was thinking about being an accomplice to a strange man’s murder? Or was I trying to protect the man I’d… assisted?

“His body has been taken care of. More crudely than I would like, but nevertheless, it’s done.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you won’t need to worry about any police interference and he won’t be bothering you again.” He took another swallow of his drink.

I processed what he was telling me. “You cleaned up the scene. You removed the body.”

He chuckled. “I made certain you didn’t return home to a mess.”

“Who are you? I mean really. Some criminal hiding out?”

“No one you want to know.”

“Yet here I am. Why is that?” My head was throbbing to the point I felt the thudding in my chest.

“Because someone apparently wants you dead.”

His stark, cold, and unfeeling words struck me hard. “Why would anyone want me dead? This is the town I grew up in. My family lived here. I just purchased a business. I’m nobody.”

“There are two plausible answers. One of them I hope is incorrect.”

“What? Just tell me.”

“Have you ever heard of the Valenti family?”

Was this some crazy kind of test? I could tell by the stern look on his face it was. “An Italian family? I have no clue. We do have a high population of Italians in Vermont, Virginia too, but I’m not a huge fan of Italian food. Why are you asking me this?”

“Because they are very bad people, although their population is dwindling.”

Was that just another clue?

I stared into his eyes, trying to make heads or tails of what he was telling me. “Which makes you a very bad man. Are you running away from them?”

Beckett took the time to finish his drink before answering. “Let’s just say I’m escaping a dark life.”

“And you either think I helped this family find you or that because we bumped into each other accidentally more than once I now have a target on my back. Right?” I was half kidding, but a sick feeling remained in the pit of my stomach.

That’s exactly what he was saying.

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