Roman stiffens, eyeing me carefully. If I had to guess, he was expecting me to jump at the offer without any hesitation, and I’ve caught him off guard. “If you don’t want to, you can leave here tonight and we’ll go our separate ways. But I will have constant eyes on you to be sure that you’re not going to the police about anything that happened today. And you can forget about getting a permanent position at St. Luke’s.”
“You’re serious?” I ask. “How did your compromise turn into blackmail?”
“I told you. My top priority is the safety of my son, and I will stop at nothing to make sure of that.” His face hardens. “You know my terms. When you’ve made your decision, I’ll be downstairs.” He hesitates, then adds, “I sent someone to yourapartment to get you a change of clothes. I didn't think you’d want to wear those all day.”
The door slams sharply behind him and I jump. I can’t help but laugh. It’s like he truly believes that sending someone to my house to get me clothes is a thoughtful gesture, not an insane invasion of privacy and gross show of force. Deep down, he wants me to know that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
I should expect nothing less from what he is showing me so far. The man is infuriating, but he’s smart. He knows that the money and positioning is too good for me to refuse.
He presented it as a choice, but is it really one?
I don’t think so.
Chapter Six
Myentirejobisbased on my ability to read people. To pick up on their cues. Read between the lines and anticipate their every word and move.
So saying I was a little thrown off when Madison didn’t graciously jump at my offer is an understatement. Usually, my encounters with women go one of two ways. They’re either paralyzed with fear of me, or falling all over themselves trying to impress me. Either way, it’s pretty easy to get them to do whatever the hell I want, but Madison is different. She has no business getting to me like she does.
With those big doe eyes and hotter-than-sin body, she’s as irritating as she is gorgeous, but it’s her personality that’s got me by the balls. The wit, the stubbornness, the brilliance. She’s clearly not my biggest fan, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the challenge. And besides, sometimes hate sets the stage for some mean sexual tension.
Maybe it’s the emotion of the day getting to me, or maybe I just haven’t gotten laid in a while, but regardless, I’m already thinking things I know I shouldn’t.
Madison Taylor is in my head, and it’s a fucking problem.
I don’t like feeling out of control, so I turn to what I know for a distraction.
“What do we know so far?” Ty is fast asleep on the couch by the time I get back into the living room. Joe and Dante sit next to him, totally entranced by the new Smurfs movie.
At the sound of my voice, they both bolt up in a pathetic attempt to make me think they weren’t slacking off. I gesture to the kitchen, wanting to have this conversation away from Ty.
“Dante has a call in to Chief Howes to see if we can get our hands on some of the evidence. These guys knew exactly what they were doing. It was such a public place that it’s almost impossible for us to investigate ourselves.”
“Isn’t that what I pay Howes for?” I growl. The guy has been on our payroll for the last five years, and his only job is to give me what I need when I need it and keep the force off my ass.
Joe lets out a heavy breath. “I don’t think I need to remind you of all the red tape there is with this. It was a park in the middle of summer. There were hundreds of witnesses and three people were killed. Not to mention we don’t have anything concrete to prove that they were targeting you specifically, or if it was completely random.”
I bite back my laughter. A coincidence? Is he serious? “My kid gets hit on the anniversary of his mother’s death and you’re going to go withcoincidence?”
“We just need to be careful, Roman. Let’s see what Howes comes back with, and will explore other avenues in the meantime.”
“Look into La Eme. See if you can find any local groups they’ve got that we don’t know about. I was on the…” A visceral memoryhits me when I think about that phone call with Leo, and my chest tightens with guilt. I was distracted when Ty got hit, and that will haunt me forever.
“What?” Joe looks at me, confused why I trailed off mid-sentence.
“Leo thinks that La Eme carried out the attack on Talia. I was talking to him when the shooting started.”
“If they came after Talia, then I think it’s safe to assume that this was them, too,” Dante says.
“We’re not doing anything based on assumptions,” I remind him. “Get me something I can use.”
Joe doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t have to be. I’m the one that calls the shots around here. I know that Joe and the rest of my men are perfectly capable of finding these guys and making them pay with everything they’ve got. It isn’t about that, though. This is personal, and I want whoever it is for myself.
“Is Madison staying?” Dante asks.
“She’s still thinking about it.”
“For the record, I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Joe quips.
