Page 47 of Nothing to Beat

Days of the week versus weekends probably didn’t factor much into Roxie’s decision making these days.Her life was the same and different every day of the week.Irrelevant.Get to the point.The man hadn’t been disturbed for no reason.From the look of him, he’d been in the shower.Impressive that he’d heard the door at all.

Despite vigilant building security, the danger posed by her relatives probably hung heavy on him.Maybe he was conscious of every little noise.Paranoid?No.Smart.As she was all too aware.She glanced around the doorframe feeling a tickle of it herself.Could be there were cameras somewhere she didn’t see.

Shit.The point.Right.

“I have something for you,” she said, holding her stack of papers aloft.“Something…”

“That might help the prosecution?”

Quick study.“No one can know.Not even Roxie.”

“It’s about your family.”

Obviously, what else would be of interest to him?What else did they have in common?A love of Alice Breckenridge, but that wasn’t a truth she’d keep hidden.

“Can you keep it between us?”The guy could lie, but she had to hear the words anyway.“If this sits uncomfortably for you—”

“Come in,” he said, stepping aside to let her enter.

Despite being there the previous night, she waited, as was polite, until he led her over to the desk and gestured for her to sit.

She settled herself.“You didn’t give me an answer.”

“Can I keep it between us?Depends what it is,” he said, pulling his chair around to sit at the end of the desk.Less confrontational, more conversational.The guy was good.“I won’t make any false promises.Roxie doesn’t know every detail about my life.My boss on the other hand, if it helps the case—”

“It can’t get out that I was the one to provide this.I won’t testify.I won’t sign any affidavits or put my name on anything.As far as the world is concerned, this never happened.”

“If you have evidence of criminality, I need to be able to use it.That means chain of custody.Without that, whatever you share may be useless.Zairn is protecting your sister, she trusted him to—”

“No,” she said, adamant.“I’m not doing this for me.I’m not even doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”A shameful thing to admit.“I’m doing this to be with the man that I love.”With that clarity, Porter’s shoulders went back as he sagged a little.Did he judge her?He should; she judged herself.“I can’t be with him if I’m always looking over my shoulder.”

His nod was slow yet understanding.“What have you got for me?”

Still no definitive answer on secrecy.Nothing was set in stone yet, she could still get up and walk out.Except that would be tantamount to walking out on Breck.Damnit.

“Why did you and Roxie break up?”

The question just popped out.Yeah, okay, maybe it wasn’t her business, but if she was going to entrust her future to this guy, his honesty was important too.If he was cagey with her, why should she be open with him?She’d confessed the truth about her motivation, that was personal.Didn’t that give her the right to ask a personal question in return?

“I proposed,” he said with a flash of a smile.“That was enough to scare her off.”

She winced.“And then she went and got engaged to Zairn?”

He shrugged.“Z worked hard for it and Rox didn’t want to be a congressman’s wife…” Oh, wow, a man of ambition.“It’s a long story.I’m happy for them.Roxie’s a dynamic woman, she needs the life Zairn gives her.”The excitement?The unpredictability?“They’re a better match than Rox and I were.I didn’t see it at the time, I see it now.No hard feelings.”

What happens when the person you see in your forever walks away?Something she didn’t want her or Breck to learn.

“Magnanimous of you.”

“Zairn’s a good guy.I wanted to hate him,” he said, raising his hands.“Everything I thought I knew about his reputation, and he was moving in on my ex…”

“Moving in or moved in?”

“Then the guy went and lined up a star witness.”Hmm, the prosecutor was good at ducking questions.“How could I hate him after that?”

“One step closer to congressman.”

An exhaled laugh.“Yeah, I guess so.”

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