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“And I realized Dominic knew you because you called him by name. I think you were stressed, and you slipped up. Detective Cunningham wasn’t wrong about you, was he? He was actually telling me the truth. You have flunkies everywhere.”
They weren’t being tailed. They’d left the prison far behind. He swung the car into a vacant lot, let the engine snarl, and turned to her. “Really don’t like that term. I have friends who help me out. And, for the record, Detective Cuntingham is pretty much wrong about everything.”
She stared back at him. “That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t supposed to be. He really is wrong about every damn thing. And the nickname works. Once you get to know him better, you’ll see it’s accurate, not funny.” He exhaled. How to explain things to her? “I have…friends who want to pay me back for favors they think I did for them.”
“Because you did do favors for them. Tell me about Dominic.”
“This really isn’t the time. We need to get back to?—”
“Your place? Because you aren’t taking me toward the hotel. Are you taking me home?”
Home. “Yes.”
A nod. “And you’ll reveal all of your deep, dark secrets to me there?” Her gaze watched him. Waited.
He didn’t speak. Lying to her wasn’t so easy. Everyone else? Sure. A snap. But not Avalon. He was finding it exceedingly difficult to stare into her green eyes and lie.
“I want your deep, dark secrets.”
Hadn’t he just given her one? He’d told her he loved her. And he did. In his dark and twisted way. Not like he was the guy who’d show up with flowers and wine and take her out to a fancy dinner while they danced the night away.
Instead, he was the man who would have a small army at the ready to protect her from danger. The man who would threaten killers so that they’d cooperate with her questioning sessions and never put so much as a finger on her. He was the man who would stand in the fucking shadows, his heart feeling like it was being cut out of his chest, because he didn’t want to touch her life and ruin it. He’d let her go on dates with some other assholes just so she’d be happy. “I damn well hated them.”
“Excuse me?”
His eyes squeezed closed. “I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Dominic. Let’s start there.”
“Dom’s younger brother was busted on a B&E not too long ago in Atlanta. Good kid. Fell in with bad people. I’m sure you know the story.” He opened his eyes and glanced around the area, just to be sure they were safe. We need to get out of here. “Short sentence, but Dom wanted to make sure the kid didn’t get roughed up or come out trapped in some gang that had forced him to swear allegiance while on the inside. I talked to some people. Made sure he had the right protection in place.”
“You collect dangerous strays.”
“Excuse me?” His turn to choke out the words. “I’m talking about people. Not animals!”
She shook her head. Her hair slid over her shoulder. “Something Royal told me.”
Royal. Right. Not a story he wanted to touch at the moment.
“How did Royal get into your life?”
And, of course, she would zero right in on him. “This isn’t the place. We’re going home.” Home. Where he could be sure she was safe. Where he could close the doors and lock out the rest of the world. The world was angry and dangerous and bloody. He knew that. Had always known it. But Beau wanted to make it better for her. All these years, he’d just wanted to make things better for Avalon.
Unfortunately, he was just screwing up more and more.
“When we get home, I want to know about the Jag you were stealing so long ago.”
He drove out of the lot.
“I want to know about the gang.”
The gang. Right. Another nightmare.
“I want to know why you disappeared from the hospital without a word.”
That one was easy. “To keep you safe.”
