Page 68 of Breaking Conviction
He nodded and watched her reaction. After a moment, he gave a quick nod and grabbed her hand for a quick squeeze. He did that a lot, she’d noticed. Held her hand. She was beginning to love it more and more every time.
“Yeah… we, uh, had a bead on Andrew Ascot.”
“Y’all found him?” She felt her eyes bug out. “So… what happens next, exactly? Is he willin’ to talk to y’all?”
“Um… he’s not exactly ready to talk to us just yet. But we think he will be in the morning.”
“Not ready? What’s that mean?”
Wes’s lips tightened. “I’m keeping you updated, Naomi, but there are some things that are best for you not to know.”
A sting of pain jolted from her lip and she realized she was worrying it as they spoke. Her imagination was running wild, but all she could do was trust that Wes would do the right thing. After what they’d all been through, they had to be dying to know what the hell was going on in Ashland County like she was.
Her own company, Charitable Technologies International, had been involved with human traffickers, for God’s sake. Had Gail known? Dean’s security company was contracted with CTI, didheknow anything? Had Naomi unknowingly helped when she planned the parties where women were taken?
Each question was worse than the one before it, and she was afraid of the answers. But if she were honest with herself, she was tired of sticking her head in the sand when it came to her life. Besides all that, she didn’t want to be at the facility if BlackStone was doing anything illegal or dangerous.
Morals were all well and good if you had control over your life, but unfortunately Naomi was at the whim of her hosts until she saved up and figured out another safe place for her and Thea to live. At the moment, she was good with trusting Wes to make the right decisions. He hadn’t done anything to ruin that trust…yet.
No, I can’t think that way.She physically shook out the paranoia with a roll of her shoulders and moved on in the conversation.
“So what do y’all do for fun ‘round here besides save the world from trafficking?”
“As noble as the fight against human trafficking may be, secret jobs don’t keep the lights on, so we do have other clients thatactuallypay us.” Wes shrugged. “Aside from that, we do all sorts of things. I read, usually.” She smiled at his idea of a rip-roarin’ time and he rolled his eyes with a shy grin back. “Riveting I know. Anyway, Ellie and Devil are probably together. They’ve been inseparable since they started dating. Jaybird’s obviously with his fiancé, Jules. Like I said, Hawk’s downstairs right now, but as for fun? I’m honestly not sure what he does. He’s not much of a sharer and keeps to himself. And Phoenix…” Wes huffed a derisive chuckle. “He’s probably at a strip club.”
Naomi felt herself jerk back. “A strip club? On a Sunday?”
Wes huffed before leaning against the kitchen counter. “Phoenix isn’t really bound by religious morals. If the strip club is open, he’s probably there or somewhere else with some woman he picked up at a bar.”
Naomi hopped up to sit on the countertop before grabbing a cookie from the plate beside her. They might be on the crispier side, but they were still good, especially after she plopped a dollop of caramel on top. “I mean, no judgment… I guess. I was just surprised.” She leaned back against the cabinet and yawned before taking a bite. “Whew, I’m worn out.”
“Are you sleeping alright? I’m not trying to keep you up.”
She waved her hand. “No. It’s nice to have someone to talk to. I don’t have too many friends, and Dean certainly wasn’t much of a conversationalist.” A shadow of anger passed over Wes’s face and she immediately felt a twist in her gut for putting it there. “I don’t mean to always bring up my situation—”
“No, it’s okay. I want you to share with me.”
“That’s… I like that. Thank you. To answer your question, as for a good night’s sleep… Let’s just say I may have broken it off with him two weeks ago, but I’ve had Thea as a bedmate for much longer. Now I get to share a king-size bed, which is amajorupgrade from a twin-size princess bed. I can’t remember the last time I slept so good.”
“Well, you can stay here as long as you like.”
“I sure as hell ain’t goin’ back to that house. That’s for damn sure.” She took another bite of the cookie in her hand before holding another out to him. “Want one?”
A mischievous glint shimmered behind his glasses and he dove at the treat in her hand, taking a huge bite. She giggled, but kept the remnants in her hand while he ate.
“Gorgeous.” His low voice made her core tighten.
“What?”
Her breath hitched as he traced her lips with his index finger.
“This. Your happiness.” He finished the upward path with a swipe at the corner of her bottom lip. A dark chocolate smear tinted his pale finger before he licked it clean. “I think I could bask in your laugh every day and never need the sun again.”
Her heart stuttered and desire flooded her center. Even though she cleared her throat before speaking, her voice came out breathy. “I’ve definitely done it more the past two weeks than I have in… years probably.”
Wes crossed his arms and leaned back against the kitchen island directly in front of her. “Why do you think that is?”
She scoffed, thinking at first he was fishing for a compliment until she realized he was being sincere. Her brow furrowed as she really thought about his question.
