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I straightened up and gave him my full attention. “Yes. I’m listening.”
He locked eyes with me, breathed deeply, then began. “First of all, I meant what I said about Daniel Ling. He’s a dangerous man. You might see me act like his buddy, but know that’s purely for self-preservation.”
“Okay. Daniel Ling equals bad man. What else?”
“Alex Patterson…”
My interest piqued. I leaned closer, as if Neil were about to whisper a secret.
“Your concerns are not unfounded,” he said. “I have my own suspicions. Daniel may have been involved, but I can’t be certain.”
I gasped. “Is that why you have the file? You’re trying to look into Alex’s death… Is that what you were worried Daniel knew about? Why he bugged your office?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Neil said nothing. He just swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“This is what you don’t want to tell me…” I said, trying to work it all out in my head.
“Let’s leave it at that for now. I’ve said enough for one day.”
I masked my dejection, not wanting to push it. “Okay.”
“Needless to say, what I’ve told you this evening stays between us.”
“Of course. Your secrets are safe with me.”
On top of Neil’s suit jacket, Chichi stood up on all fours and stretched. I had forgotten she was there. She walked across Neil’s lap, then settled on mine. Her presence put me at ease. I scratched behind her ears. She purred in response, whiskers bristling.
“She likes you,” Neil said.
I grinned. “Probably because I feed her.”
Neil leaned closer, one arm resting over the back of the couch. “No. It’s not food she’s after. But it’s strange. She doesn’t tend to warm up to other people so easily.”
“A bit like you,” I said without thinking.
Neil swallowed. “Yes.”
Our knees bumped.
My pulse throbbed in my neck. I dared look at Neil’s face and saw him biting his lip, his dark eyes fixated on me. I felt weak and helpless, like if he so much as touched me, I would die.
It was so obvious to me now. This was a crush. A huge crush. No. More than a crush. I yearned for him, ached for him, pined for him.
But it could never be.
He was my boss, and besides, what about that other woman? My mind went rushing back to that scene through the restaurant window. The beautiful woman sitting across from Neil at the table, the palpable intimacy between them.
Who was she?
Suddenly, a light bulb switched on in my brain.
Daniel’s parting words…
The flicker of confusion on Neil’s face…
