Page 83 of Arrogant Bastard

“Are you just going to leave him…wherever he is?”

“There’s protocol for this kind of thing,” she replies evasively. “It’ll be taken care of.”

Faith goes even paler.

“Are we done here?” I snap.

“Not until I have your word you won’t act…irrationally—”

“You have my word that I won’t pay a single dime in the next twenty-four hours. That should give you time to come up with a plan that suits me and keeps Faith out of danger. If you don’t, all bets are off.”

I can tell Fionnella’s not happy with that, but there’s fuck-all she can do. Although I don’t put it past her to try. “You told your guy to put your pilots on standby. Are you staying put or are you going somewhere?”

The decision I toyed with on the way back from Uniondale solidifies. “You seem to have compromised my security, so there’s no point remaining here. Besides, leaving town will create the impression that we’re spooked. That should work in both our favors before we make a plan one way or the other.”

Her frown deepens. “At least tell me where you’re going.”

I want to ask why she’s bothering to ask since she’ll probably find us anyway. But I want her out of here more than I want to argue with her.

“We’re going back to LA.”

She looks over at Faith, whose face is set in a tight mask. Then she nods. “Okay, I’ll be in touch.”

She leaves, taking the thumb drive with her. I don’t mind. Every frame and word are seared into my brain. I don’t follow her either. She let herself in. She can let herself out.

Besides, I have a much bigger problem confronting me right now.

I watch Faith move to the window, her arms hugging her middle. “Aren’t you jumping the gun, assuming I’m coming to LA with you?” she asks with her back to me.

We have a lot of shit to get through, but the issue of her safety isn’t one of them. It never will be. “I told you I wasn’t letting you out of my sight before I knew for a fact that you were in danger. You’re out of your mind if you think that position is about to change now that we have confirmation.”

She whirls around and stares at me with dark, bruised eyes before stalking out of the living room. I follow at a slower pace. She’s stripped out of her shorts and top and is heading to the bathroom when I reach the bedroom. I stare, unable to drag my gaze from her beautiful, naked body. Primal instinct rises to the fore as I track her to the bathroom.

I lean in the doorway and watch her gather her hair on top of her head. She ignores me as she steps into the cubicle and turns on the shower.

Okay. We’re fighting in the shower. I strip too and follow her in.

She smells of her usual intoxicating scent and also faintly metallic. Gunpowder residue from the shooting range. God, was that just a few short hours ago? It feels like a lifetime has passed since we made the bet that got me where I craved most to be. Inside her.

The place I yearn to be now. “Baby, don’t shut me out.”

She whips around, and the pain in her eyes slays me. “I want to know. What she said…is it true?”

“Faith—”

She shakes her head. “Tell me about Matt. Please. Why…why did you really come to Arkansas?”

I grit my teeth. I don’t want to talk about my brother. I really don’t want to talk about him while the woman he had but didn’t deserve is naked and almost in my arms. But it looks like we’re doing this. “His name popped up when we were investigating Galveston. Nothing to do with the actual trafficking as far as we could tell, just…He was mixed up in sleazy deals. He was desperate to get into Washington. He thought he could buy his way in.”

“So you came to what? Spy on him?”

I hesitate and then go for broke. “Yes. And your father.”

Her face leaches of color. Her mouth drops open, and she sways. I reach for her but she holds up her hands. “My father?” she whispers.

I sigh. “His name popped up too, but it turned out to be nothing in the long run.”

She slowly shakes her head. “My God. You came to spy on my family,” she says numbly. Then she tries to slip past me.

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