Page 13 of Lies Beneath Secrets
“Don’t be silly. I’ll walk you to your apartment door.” Reluctantly, I nod and start toward the stairs. “This is a nice building,” he comments when we get up the first flight of stairs. “No elevator though?”
“There are only three floors,” I tell him with a shrug and keep walking. My apartment is on the third floor. Below me is a couple who moved in about a year ago who seem to argue an awful lot. Across from them is Mrs. More, an eighty-year-old woman with the most annoying lap dog who has bit me on the ankle three times. The place across from me has been vacant for over a month. Before that, an older man lived there who I don’t think ever bought anything other than beer. I know he didn’t pay rent; that’s for sure. He was escorted out of here not long after he moved in. My landlord, Stanford, has the apartment on the main floor. The laundry room is down there as well as the mailboxes.
“Seems to me a three-story building should have an elevator,” he complains again, and I nearly jump for joy when I reach my apartment door.
“This is me.” I go to grab my keys and inwardly panic when I don’t see them in my purse. “Crap,” I say and dig around in my purse, only to have the thing drop out of my hands and fall on the floor in my haste to find my keys. Before I can reach down and pick it up, Eli is already after it. He extends the purse over to me, and I catch the smirk on his face when he glances down into it. I have three condoms stuffed in there because Piper insisted I have some on me at all times. She’s getting an earful tomorrow. I’m about to open my mouth and blame everything on Piper when the door to the supposedly empty apartment across from mine opens. There, standing only feet away from me, is Mr. Freaking Mathews. Dark amber eyes keep me pinned in place for a moment before they fall on something behind me.
The silence in the small hallway thickens and closes in on me until pattering footsteps break the tension. The little girl bounces out of the apartment holding onto what looks to be a small stuffed horse. “Gabby,” he says when she starts walking my way. She pauses for a moment to turn back at him, then she looks over at me again.
“Do you remember me?” I ask, dropping down to her height. She smiles and continues over to me. “Have you colored some pictures with your crayons?” She doesn’t answer, but she does smile and, I think, nods a little.
“That’s Gabby,” her dad says, coming a little closer to us.
“Well, hi, Gabby. My name is Lauren. Are we neighbors?” I ask her but then look up at the man towering over both of us.
“Yeah. I’m Conner. We just moved in today.” I suppose I would have known that, but I’ve been avoiding being at home all day.
“Well, welcome to the building.” I smile at Gabby one more time, then stand. My sister has a son that could be about the same age as Gabby, but I hardly ever see him.
“Thank you.” Conner gives me what I think to be an attempt at a smile, then focuses on something behind me. Eli’s body brushes up against mine, and I nearly jump because I actually forgot he was there. His hand comes around my shoulders in an almost possessive stance. My body moves over on its own before I can even think about it. “Do you live here as well?” Conner asks.
“No,” I blurt out before Eli has a chance to speak. “This is Eli. He was just walking me to my door.” I turn and suck in a deep breath through my nose in an attempt to calm myself. I take that moment to find my keys and stuff those darn condoms down further into my purse.
“It was very nice to meet you, Gabby.” I turn to say to the little girl after I pull my keys out. “I look forward to seeing some of those pictures.” I give her a smile, then look over at Eli. “Thank you for a nice evening.” As quickly as I can, I unlock my door and go inside.
CHAPTERNINE
Con
“Go back inside. Okay, Gabby?” I gently get my daughter back into my apartment and close the door, bringing my attention to Eli.
“The landlord must not run a very thorough background check or is easily bribed.” He’s got a cocky grin on his face as he glances back at Lauren’s door. “Any reason you chose this apartment complex?”
“Was the first one listed. Don’t you have someone to harass, Officer?” I want the sleezy fuck out of this building. We’ve had plenty run-ins with him fucking with the club. He’s also to have been rumored to be in the Flatliners’ pocket.
“Keep out of trouble, Con. Would hate for that pretty little daughter of yours to get lost in the system.” He smirks and damn it all, I don’t know how I muster up the strength to not lunge at him from across the hall. He’s a skinny little prick, and it wouldn’t take much to squash him like a bug. I watch silently as he walks toward me, pausing for a moment. “Stay away from Lauren too.”
“Full of threats tonight, aren’t you? How do you think she would feel if she knew you were the town’s biggest corrupt cop?” A fire flashes in his eyes at my question.
“Don’t fuck with me. I could get you sent to Dodge like that.” He snaps his fingers to prove a point.
“Try it, motherfucker,” I taunt him. He stands there for a moment more, then backs down, laughing a little and shaking his head.
“You have a good night,” he tells me before walking away and down the stairs.
Giving it a moment, I follow after him and look out the window at the end of the hall. Only when I see him leaving the building do I go back into my apartment. Gabby is sitting on the couch, holding the stuffed horse she found in the things Knox gave us from when Kendra was little.
“Feeling better?” I ask her. About an hour ago, I woke to screaming. Gabby was in her room, under her covers, clutching that horse for dear life. Asleep. She was having a nightmare. The second one she has had since I picked her up.
She nods a little at my question, then holds up the piece of paper she showed Lauren. The ease in which Gabby decided to run toward Lauren just a little bit ago in the hallway surprised me. It was as if she had known her all her life or something.
Lauren’s response to her as well. Something there was just natural. In everything I’ve learned about the woman in the past few days, her connection to kids isn’t one of them. She has an older sister who has a son but according to my PI, she only sees her once maybe twice a year, on holidays. Her past is very sketchy thanks to her mother. So many aliases, it’s clear her mother was running from something, or someone. Who or what though? That remains unanswered.
Gabby gets up from the couch and comes over to me, holding up a picture she drew. It looks somewhat like the stuffed horse she has. “Well, look at that. Do you have a name for him yet?” She shakes her head. “Well, I’m sure you’ll come up with a great one. Come on, let’s try to get back to bed.” We walk to her room, and I tuck her into her bed for the second time tonight. “I’ll be right on the other side of this wall, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispers and turns away from me, clutching onto that horse. My heart skips a beat like it always does when she speaks.Okayis a new word for her, and each one to me is a gift.
Closing the door only part way, I walk into the kitchen and take a seat at the table. My life has changed drastically in the span of only weeks, and I’ve barely had a moment to catch my breath. We got moved in here today in record time, all the while keeping an eye on where Lauren was. I didn’t want her to see any of the guys. They would have blown my cover for sure. Pace didn’t relay that she was out with that piece of shit Eli, who was keeping an eye on her. Len left out that Eli was the guy Lauren was fucking. Though, the way she reacted to him tonight leads me to believe they’re far from it. When she tensed up as his arm went around her, it was a dead giveaway. She has zero sexual interest in him. That fact relaxes me a little. The idea of him touching her unnerves me in a way that’s unfamiliar. It’s close to the same protectiveness I feel for Gabby but seeing Lauren tonight, I fear it might be a bit deeper than just protectiveness. Something rooted within me to possess that woman in every way possible. “Jesus, don’t fucking go there, Con,” I chastise myself and stand. No way does that woman need the chaos that comes with the club life to collide with hers any more than it already has. Not to mention the fact she doesn’t know who the hell I am.
