Page 85 of Possess Me
“Not at all.” A faraway look brought another moment of tightness in my chest. “That’s why you helped me save Bella.”
“Maybe.”
We both glanced at the fur baby. She lifted her head and only had eyes for him. Even the thumping of her tail meant she was happy that he’d noticed her. Surely, he couldn’t be all bad. That had been something I’d been taught a long time ago by someone very close to me. A dog was the best warning mechanism against evil creatures.
“She had a pup named Ladybug that she loved more than me. Trust me. She told me as much a half dozen times. Oddly enough, the pup looked a lot like Bella. The damn thing wandered into the loading dock area where the huge dumpsters were. She was hungry. That’s where the love of my life took her cigarette breaks. No amount of getting her to quit worked, but she saved a pup that day. They went everywhere together, including to work. That sounds like something you’d do.”
“Bella just might become a frequent flyer.”
At least he was able to laugh. “She’ll do very well. Anyway, when I saw you, I had a feeling my feisty girl had sent you somehow as a kick in my butt.”
“To live amongst humans again.”
“Something like that.” Reaching out, he brushed hair from my shoulder. “We don’t know each other, but what we’ve shared is undeniable. A part of me knows that I shouldn’t have you in my life under any circumstances, but the other isn’t ready to give you up. We’re connected somehow in a way that I can’t explain. You’re very special. Not because of the likeness, but becauseof the woman you are. Bold. Beautiful. Unforgiving and very caring.”
“But you’re worried if this continues, I’ll be used as another weakness.” Whatever this was. We’d had sex. Granted, the hottest sex I’d had in my life times six, but… A tiny, but very intense shiver rushed down my spine.
“Yes, I am. I can’t help but feel like you were manipulated into coming here with me and it’s driving me crazy. Whatever game Ludolf is playing isn’t to be taken lightly. I don’t like feeling that way, but with what Ludolf said to both me and to you, I need to discover what he’s hiding and his future plans. He alluded that there is some enemy determined to take down the Dmitriyev regime. I had a feeling it was much more personal than targeting my family in its entirety.”
I looked away as I thought about what Jasmine had told me. There were too many oddities that I hadn’t paid attention to in my grief.
“What is it?” he asked and the previous demanding side of him had returned.
“I talked with a friend earlier today while you were gone, someone who doesn’t seem to like you very much. She warned me about you. She said something about a wife and that you were responsible for her death. Why would she believe that?”
He exhaled, groaning at the same time. “You kept that from me.”
“I wasn’t certain what to say at first. I needed time to process.”
“Don’t hold anything back from me, Fallon.”
His eyes were so imploring. “I won’t. But why is she so convinced you were responsible for what happened?”
“Well, you see the Jamaican police were not happy that there were five dead bodies dropped in the street. They were determined to charge me with murder. Given the way I listedthe reservations at the hotel, they were led to believe she was my wife. A reporter managed to get ahold of the story and before we could prevent him from printing it, it was splashed all over the news. Even now, no number of injunctions will prevent anyone from discovering the article.”
“How did you get out of the charge?”
His smile was almost sly. “It does pay to know people. This friend of yours and her warning, they’re the reason you decided I was no good for you.”
“That and other personal reasons. Anyway, she also used to date Jeffrey. Don’t ask. Our friendship is very unusual, but I can trust her. She mentioned she saw him in a club in Miami the other night, which would be impossible if he’d just had an appendectomy.”
As soon as the words slipped past my lips, he was all business again, closing the distance. “Didn’t you drop him off at a hospital?”
“No. We were supposed to meet for dinner, but he called and asked me to drop by his place. When I did, he had a friend there who was going to take him. That’s when he asked me to take the job. I only had a few minutes to race back to my apartment and stuff a bag with a few things before heading to the airport.”
He immediately pulled out his phone. “Had you ever seen this friend before?”
“No, but I’d been taking a number of trips for the airlines. Then I had to return to Chicago for a family situation and had just gotten back a day before. Plus, we were friends, but since we weren’t dating, I certainly didn’t spend much time with him. What are you thinking?”
“Chicago. You’re from Chicago.”
“I lived there for several years.”
Vissarian looked away for a few seconds. His jaw was clenched as it had been before. “Did Jeffrey introduce this person by name? If not, what do you remember about them?”
Exhaling, I was slightly foggy on the details. “No. He was a big guy wearing a suit and he certainly didn’t seem very friendly. Nothing jumped out at me as being off kilter.” My God. What in the hell was going on?
“What hospitals are close to where Jeffrey lives?”
