Page 22 of Play With Me

“Ha! Once she finds out you’re not really a hairdresser, she’s going to run away from here like a wildcat.”

Kate was hardly a wildcat.

“Look, if she’s supposed to remain asleep for hours, I can take her to my place while you report to Emma. I’m a man of my word, Lola. I would never place Kate in jeopardy. Ask Brook. He can vouch for me.”

“I trust him with my life,” I confirmed, only to meet the stern warning on Lola’s face.

She stopped in front of the car. There was a hint of fear in her eyes as she looked from me to Cameron and then back to me again. Or was that just me? Had it been too long since I’d seen her? The past two months, while I’d been running around buying a condo for Cameron and a house for myself and trying to explain to my daughter the importance of keeping wild animals out of the house, had been hectic. And I wasn’t any closer to finding the woman who’d disrupted our lives. I had one more lead to check out, and then we were done. I would need to move on to securing a safe life for my daughter because as long as Aaron Cortez was on the hunt, our lives would always be complicated.

Now that Cameron was back in New York, and we knew that Cortez had returned to his home town of Pace, I hoped we could finally bring an end to our problem and get the Feds on their asses.

“Come on, Lola. You’ve got to trust someone. We all want what’s best for Kate. We can drop her off at my condo, you take care of your business at work, and then come over.”

She looked my way, and I nodded in encouragement. Cameron was right. There was no point in dragging a floppy Kate around.

“All right. But if anything happens to her, I’m coming after you, and believe me, I won’t hesitate to slit a throat.”

I believed her.

“Nothing will happen. Be back in time and I promise you’ll find her in my bed,” my bother added, and I rolled my eyes.

“Seriously?”

“Sleeping,” he corrected. “She’ll be sleeping, and I won’t touch her or talk to her until you get there. I give you my word.”

After a moment of thought, Lola let out a sigh, saying, “Okay, fine. I won’t be long. An hour at most. You’re a lucky fuck that she likes and trusts you, Cameron.”

My brother tried to hide the grin of satisfaction but failed miserably.

We drove to the new condo I’d snagged for my brother. It was the same one our parents used to live in years ago, and when it came up for sale on the market, I didn’t hesitate to buy it for him. I knew he’d been waiting for it for years.

Once Lola settled Kate at the condo, the two of us took the limo back to Cross Enterprises.

“You don’t need to come along, you know,” she said.

“I want to. I’ve missed you. Besides, I have a personal matter I need to discuss there as well.”

“At Cross?”

She wanted to know more, but I couldn’t give her any more. Not yet, at least. I was counting on soon putting my past behind me; otherwise, it would be a long year of waiting before I could finally move on.

I sat in the back of the limo across from Lola. She popped her bubble gum over and over, one bubble after another, while massaging her shoulder. Her eyes were swollen, her pupils were dilated, and worry creased her forehead.

“How many caffeine pills did you take?” I asked.

“That’s not my style,” she replied.

“Are you back for good? Please tell me you don’t need to go back to Pace. What happened?”

“Shit happened. Does the name Cortez sound familiar?”

I nodded. “Cameron called me from the plane. I guess this means you’re back.” I felt the corner of my mouth lift selfishly.

“Yeah, I think I’m back for good. Listen, Brook. About my job—”

“Lola, I don’t need to know. It’s okay.”

“But you do need to know, and I can’t tell you.”

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