Page 36 of Toxic Temptation
“I needed to talk to you.”
“So you broke in?” I want to sound angry, but mostly, I just sound breathless. “Most people knock first.”
His mouth curves up at one corner. “Good to know.”
I scoot back from him, as far away as I can get while still being in the same room. “I kept my mouth shut, okay? Nobody knows I was there when the shooting happened. I haven’t said a word to anyone.” I hesitate, then add, “Even though maybe I should have.”
One dark eyebrow lifts. “And why is that?”
“Sonya and Adelaide.” My voice cracks on their names. “The nurses who saw us together. What did you do to them?”
He actually looks confused. Maybe even offended. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. They were both on duty that day. They both saw us. Now, they’re both conveniently missing from work.”
“And you think I killed them.”
It’s not a question. He says it flat and emotionless, and somehow, that makes it worse.
“… Didn’t you?”
“Jesus, Vesper.” He touches his jaw. “You really think I’d murder two innocent women to cover my tracks?”
“It seems like something you’d do.”
“Well, I’m telling you right now that I didn’t.”
“Then where are they?” I ask, half-yelling, half-pleading. “Because they’re always working Friday mornings, and today, they were nowhere to be found.”
“They’re on vacation,” he says simply. “Sonya’s in the Bahamas with her girlfriend. Five-star resort, private beach. Adelaide is in Switzerland with her family. All expenses paid.”
“Paid by whom?”
That dangerous smile returns. “You think amnesia comes free?”
As I start to understand, the air rushes out of my lungs. “You bribed them.”
“I prefer to think of it as compensation for their discretion.” He leans back, completely relaxed in my home. “Both women were more than happy to sign the paperwork I put in front of them.”
“At gunpoint?”
He shakes his head in dismay. “I don’t need a gun to get what I want. Just this.”
He smiles then, full and devastating, and my entire body responds without permission. Heat pools low in my belly, my pulse kicks up, and I understand exactly how he got those women to agree to anything he asked. I’d sign on the dotted line, too.
“Fine.” I fold my arms over my chest, back on the defensive again. “So you didn’t murder my coworkers. Congratulations on your restraint.”
“Thank you. I’m sure they’ll send postcards from their five-star hotels.”
“So what do you want from me?” I retreat backward until I bump into the closed front door, still trying to maintain some kind of distance between us. “My own all-expenses-paid vacation in exchange for keeping quiet?”
“Something better than that.” He leans forward, and the space between us shrinks down to almost nothing again. “Much better.”
My stomach flips. “What kind of something?”
“The kind you can’t refuse.” His eyes lock onto mine. “But first, I need to ask you something.”
“By all means, fire away.”
