Page 11 of The Criminal

“Just get out.” She bit out the words past her clenched jaw.

Damn, she was stubborn.

She gestured to the dog. He stood and bared his teeth. Head lowered, he stalked between Lee and me. He ushered me toward the door. The fucking dog was a man-eater and looked ready to take a chunk out of me. I had no choice but to leave, despite what my gut wanted.

Hand on the doorknob, I hesitated, and the dog gave a few vicious barks. I damn near bolted from the room. Having that beast at my back was supremely disconcerting, especially for someone like me who had seen dogs like him in action.

She might have removed me from her office, but this wasn’t over. I was part of this now. Committed.

I made a few pleasant noises at the sales staff as I left the store. They all gave me a wide berth. The dog’s barks must have branded me as dangerous. It was good Lee and her store had such a fierce protector because I sure as shit hadn’t done my part over the years.

I backed my black SUV from its parking place. The posh shopping center lot was filled to capacity with luxury cars. Around the back, I assumed there would be employee parking. As I drove past dumpsters and the modest cars of those working in the high-end stores, I didn’t examine my plan for moral pitfalls. Nope. I was going with my gut, and no dog would interrupt.

Behind Oleander, picking out Lee’s car was easy. The pearl-white Bentley was one of the few six-figure cars in the employee area. And the wrinkled towel in the passenger seat covered with black dog hair confirmed my guess.

I was happy and surprised at the lack of security cameras pointing at the parking area.

I popped the back of my SUV, thrilled I’d driven my Smith Agency vehicle because it came fully equipped for situations like this one. In a black Pelican case, I located a pair of state-of-the-art tracking devices. I planted one in the rear wheel well where it would be simple to find if Lee came to suspect what I’d done.

Planting the second device required me to get dirty. I scooted under the Bentley. It was a tight fit for a man my size. I reached deep into the car’s undercarriage to attach the backup. The persistent ache in my chest eased as soon as the trackers were in place.

I wriggled out and dusted myself off. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I couldn’t ignore Lee’s situation. Her heart-wrenching near sob had caused a visceral reaction that called all my protective instincts to attention. I might be twenty years late, but she needed me even if she didn’t know it yet.

Chapter 5

Derek

Irubbedasmudgeof grease from Lee’s car off my hand as I pulled open the door to The Smith Agency. My brain was still processing my morning encounter with her. I was a take-charge guy, the man with a plan, but after planting the trackers, I had no clue what the hell to do next.

“Derek, just the man I wanted to see.” Gigi Mills’s perfectly modulated purr pulled me from my thoughts. She leaned one well-toned hip against Quinn’s reception desk. Behind her, Quinn shot me an arched brow.

How had I missed Gigi’s sky-blue Porsche Cayman in the lot? I would have come through the back entrance.

I stifled a groan. Mrs. Mills was a beautiful woman but also a married one. Her flirtations with me had become a running joke at the office. But today, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. Too many weird feelings about Lee had me off balance. Emotions were one area the Navy never trained me in, other than the tried-and-true shoving them into a box to deal with later method. Everything I knew about emotional wellness I’d learned from self-help books.

“Mrs. Mills hired us to run a parallel investigation to Miami PD on the robbery. Her donors are demanding to know what happened to the watches they gave her,” Quinn provided succinctly.

“My insurance company too.” Gigi pouted at me and licked her perfectly glossed full lips. “I brought these annotated auction catalogs for you.” She held out two catalogs with yellow sticky tags poking out. “I added the Post-it notes myself.”

“You should have sent them with a courier.” I reached for the books; Gigi used them to tug me toward her while she stepped closer.

“Delivering them is my pleasure. I’d be happy to review these with you. Point out the most valuable items.” She put one hand on my chest, where Lee had left a bruise. I jerked the books from her hand and put a solid four feet of space between the sexy socialite and me.

I fought and mostly won the battle to keep a grimace off my face. I didn’t like her touching me. Lee gouging me with her nail was preferable. It had been honest and her emotions authentic. To a woman like Gigi Mills, I was only a passing fancy, a distraction, and for the first time, I didn’t think the coy looks and innuendos were harmless. It felt inappropriate.

To distract myself, I thumbed through the glossy book, page after page of stolen watches flipping by. Millions in donations to a charity, gone. It was a shame.

Covering for my lack of civility, Quinn asked Gigi about her travel schedule and the best mode of communication to keep her abreast of any developments.

“Let me get the door for you, Mrs. Mills.” Quinn came from behind the desk to show Gigi out. On the way, Quinn shot me a death glare. I was ignoring one of the agency’s best clients. Between Gigi’s home security and her husband’s company, their invoices more than paid my salary.

“Sorry, Quinn,” I said as soon as Mrs. Mills was safely outside. “Was I imagining it, or was she more…ah, well, just more today, with the flirting?” The behavior had been embarrassing before, but ugh, I couldn’t deal with Gigi’s hormones in overdrive. A flush crept up my neck, and I tugged at my collar.

“After you went full Fabio romance hero at the gala and caught her when she swooned, what did you expect?”

I cursed under my breath in answer to Quinn’s semi-rhetorical question.

Gigi had clung to me like a limpet when she came to, and the paramedics had to pry her off me. It had been an uncomfortable few minutes knowing her husband was in the room, probably watching the scene.

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