Page 34 of Triple Threat

“I told you, Shady Brooks, I’m not one of the good guys. I never was, and I never will be.” The water sloshed as he took the steps up out of the pool and I stared at him in open-mouthed horror.

“The next time you want to take a swim,” he said casually over his shoulder, “do it in the nude. I’d like that, and it won’t ruin any more of your wardrobe.” He pulled open the door to the hallway that I’d come through and turned back to look at me with cold, dead eyes and said without emotion, “That was a four-thousand-dollar dress.”

The door swung shut behind him and my eyes followed him down the hallway until he went out of sight.

I drew breath, not realizing I’d been holding it very nearly the entire time I had been in his presence. Gasping, I tried to breathe around the four-thousand-pound boulder on the center of my chest, where his hand had been, where my hands covered even now.

No, no, no, no, no…

My mind turned the word over and over in my head.

No, no, no, no, no…

Fury welled up in the center of my chest and I thrashed to the edge of the pool, taking the stairs that Kyle had just taken. Only one thing on my mind now…

Conan.

I stormed through the mansion and found him, predictably, in his stupid fuckingBat Cave.

“What ever happened to never lying to me?” I snapped. and he tipped up from where he was leaned back in his seat, spinning around to face me. “A lie by omission is still a lie!” I spat at him.

He took me in, his ginger eyebrows crushing down into a frown.

“Where the bloody hell have you been?” he demanded, rising out of his seat. I took a step back and put up a hand.

“No! You stay right there!”

He froze after crossing his arms.

“Were you ever going to come clean?” I demanded.

He raked a hand through his hair and demanded, “About what?”

“Kyle!” I shot back. “Lach! KylefuckingLachlan!” I screamed.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered and turned back to his console, bringing up the swimming pool. Rolling back a dial, Lach and I appeared on the screen. “That cheeky bastard,” he muttered and when he turned back to me, I was shaking my head.

“You just stay away from me,” I said coldly. “Both of you. Just stay the fuck away from me!”

I turned on my heel and fled.

And to think… I was beginning to believe Roan, to trust him that he had my best interests at heart.

What a fucking joke.

Chapter Twelve

Roan…

I echoed Sadie’s sentiment,KylefuckingLachlan. I hadn’t known he was back; he hadn’t given me his itinerary and I hadn’t pushed. Considering the long drive back from Texas, the number of people he had killed, and the intensity of the mission, I had automatically assumed that he would lair up in some large city soaking up his precious gin and indulging himself with high-end trollops until he was ready to come back to the house. He must have driven straight through, only stopping for gas and God knows what sort of tweaker truck-stop pills to keep his eyes open. If Sadie had come to scream at me about being a liar and the rest, he could stay awake for a little while longer, I had a few choice words for him.

I stalked the house; he wasn’t in the bar, or the den, or even the pool. He was in the arsenal, shirtless, in a fresh dry pair of sweatpants, his mouth tight and hands moving quickly. He must have been in a foul mood to be cleaning his guns again and putting them back in their places along the wall himself. Usually, he left that to me. He gave me a side glance when I walked in.

“I heard you coming,” he said.

“I’m a terrible ninja,” I said. “I hadn’t expected you to be back.”

“I didn’t feel like staying in another roadside motel,” he said. “I am pleased that Miss Brooks looks to be much healthier. I amnotpleased that she decided to go swimming in a four-thousand-dollar silk dress. If it comes down to it, I would rather have the grotto drained rather than waste money on expensive drowned dresses.”

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