Page 59 of Undercover Desires

She shrugs. “Took you long enough. If it wasn’t for me freaking out over his photo, I would have got away with it.”

I look at her with pity in my eyes. Poor little dear thinks she had one over me. I wasn’t expecting her to be so sassy when I called her out, but I guess this will make it more amusing. “Sweetheart, I worked you out the first night I drove you home and you lied to me, disappearing inside that apartment building then making a run for it when you thought I was gone.”

Her eyes meet mine in shock; she’s hurt I kept all this from her. Now she knows how it feels. “You stayed back and watchedme?” she seethes, irritated that I somehow invaded her privacy. Her privacy. How would she feel if she were me?

I stand, walking in front of her and dropping down so we’re eye to eye. “You don’t get to where we are by trusting people at their word, and I was right to follow you. You were a little spy sent by Reader to snoop on us. Do his dirty work for him.”

Her eyes flash with fear, and I know I have her. She’s screwed, and she knows it. She crosses her arms across her chest protectively. “You have to understand, Kobe, all I have ever wanted was to be a cop. I was just doing my job.” Her voice is lower now, she’s losing her bitchy edge. She knows she’s fucked.

“Just like your dad,” Brandon interjects. I glance back at him, wondering what he’s thinking. He’s worried about her. It’s written all over his face.

“That was the plan,” she agrees with him. “But when you’re a woman, they don’t take you seriously.”

I look back at her. “Who?”

“Reader. He hated me from the moment he laid eyes on me. Told me I should go get a job more suited to my looks, whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

“That’s disgusting,” Brandon agrees with her.

“He is. I took this undercover job so I could prove to him what I was capable of. I guess he was right all along. I wasn’t up to it. It’s only been a month and already I have failed big time. According to you, after one night.” She sighs heavily. “I’ll be sent back to LA, and I’ll lose Nanna’s house now.”

“Nanna’s house?” Brandon asks, concerned.

“She left it to me in her will, but it wasn’t fully paid for. Over the years she must have gotten into some financial difficulty. I didn’t know anything about it until the deeds were handed over to me. There was a second mortgage on it, and it’s more than I can afford on my law enforcement wage.”

“So, you weren’t lying about needing this job as well?” I ask, needing to finally know the truth, all of it.

Her sad eyes go right to my soul. I want to save her from her life. I know I should kick her out of this place and let Reader deal with her, but there is no way I can. She’s my little plaything, and I want to keep her around.

“I’m sure that’s satisfying for you to hear, but yeah, I’m up fucking shit creek right now. I needed this job,” she bites back, her tone extra bitchy when she’s talking to me. I guess she only saves the niceties for Brandon.

“Arabella, you don’t have to do this on your own. She’s my Nanna as well. I can help you get the mortgage under control,” Brandon offers.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” She smiles toward him, grateful. Then her attention is back on me. “So, what now, Kobe, you kill me and bury my body in a shallow grave in the desert?”

I can’t help but smirk at her idea of who I am. “Is that really what you think I’ll do with you? Haven’t we gotten to know each other better than that?” I run a finger up her arm, watching the trail of goosebumps that follows.

“I’m not sure I want to know where this conversation is going,” Brandon mutters.

“Oh, don’t worry, Brandon, your mate here is a real gentleman. He sure knows how to take care of a woman he’s pursuing. I guess now I know why you were so interested.” She rolls her eyes.

“I’m not sure why you’re so irritated with me. You’re the one who was investigating us,” I snap back at her, sick of the attitude.

“But I wasn’t the only one lying, now was I. Why didn’t you throw me out of this place as soon as you knew what I was up to? Was it more fun for you to toy with me?” Her eyes implore me to answer honestly. She’s hurt because she thought something was going on between us. Something real.

“Keeping you around had its advantages.” I smirk, unable to help it. Fuck, I love playing with her. She deserves it.

She stands up, outraged. “You’re disgusting, you know that, right?” she calls over her shoulder, heading for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I yell, my frustration with her reaching a new peak.

She has one hand on the door, but I catch up to her quickly. “I’m leaving this fucked-up place. You can’t keep me here,” she seethes, the look in her eyes vicious.

“I can do whatever the fuck I want,” I erupt, losing my shit. She just pushed me too far. “This is my club, and you came in here intending to fuck us all over. Everything my brothers and I—Brandon over here included—have worked for. So forgive me if I’m a little protective of our slice of paradise when someone who knows nothing about any of us comes in here and decides we’re all the villains. You know nothing about any of us. Nothing real, anyway. Whatever Detective Reader has fed you is lies. All of it. And you think you can just screw us over and walk out of this place like nothing’s happened? Not on my watch, sugar.”

She stares back at me, frozen to the spot. I’m furious, and she now knows it. Most people don’t see this side of me. Most people that are alive, anyway.

Brandon stands and comes to my side. “What Kobe is trying to say is this isn’t all what it seems. You have been given the wrong impression about us, and we want to correct that tonight so you can choose whose side you want to be on,” he interjects, trying to play it down.

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