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“Names?” I asked.
“This wasn’t in your precinct,” he told me. “It was in the fourth district.”
“So, I likely wouldn’t know them.” I frowned. “Why infiltrate my precinct then?”
He shrugged. “We’ve tried to get an undercover officer into every district. I’m only a small part of the overall investigation.”
“So, if I were to out you, it could risk not just your specific investigation, but also the others connected to it.” It wasn’t a question. I just needed to understand the stakes and voicing it out loud helped.
“Yes. I can’t share any details from those connectedinvestigations though, and I can’t give you the names of anyone involved without clearing it with my handler.”
I supposed that meant that if the blond woman was part of the investigation, I wouldn’t get to learn her identity. But if she wasn’t…
“The blonde I saw you with, is she part of the operation?”
He met my gaze levelly. “Yes. She’s a professional contact and nothing more.”
“But you can’t tell me how.” Again, a statement not a question.
“Not yet.”
I appreciated that he hadn’t ruled it out completely. “Is there anything else I should know?”
He grimaced. “Too much. But nothing urgent. Why don’t we discuss details as the need arises?”
“Fine.” I stood. “I’ve eaten enough.”
His eyebrows drew together. “You’ve hardly touched your food.”
“I’m not really hungry.” Despite the earlier growling of my stomach, it was churning uncomfortably, and I suspected that eating more would only make me queasy. “Are you done?”
He glanced at the barely touched chicken. “Yeah.”
“I’ll clean up then.” We both reached for the plate at the same time. Our gazes met across the table. His was soft, with a hint of pleading in it. I released the plate immediately and stepped backward. “Or you can.”
I strode out of the living area toward the room I’d claimed as my own. I shut the door behind myself, lay on the bed and curled up on my side, drawing my knees to my chest. I breathed in the hint of mint that always seemed to follow West around and groaned.
How was it that his scent clung to the pillow and sheets when he hadn’t slept in this bed recently?
I screwed my eyes shut and let tears spring up behind my eyelids. Why couldn’t I escape the damn man?
I tried to draw in another breath, but my chest constricted so much it was almost painful. Somehow, the thought of getting away from West hurt as much as being constantly reminded of him. It wasn’t fair. He’d lied to me. I shouldn’t be hung up on him like this. After all, what did I really know about him?
He’d pretended to be a bartender. A romantic. He’d claimed to enjoy Chinese martial arts movies and sudoku, but could that also have been a fabrication to get close to me?
I had no idea.
He knocked on the door, and I bolted upright and swiped at my eyes, determined not to let him see me like this.
“Joanna?” He didn’t come in.
“What?” I winced at how abrupt I sounded.
He paused. “Would you like to watch a movie?”
“No, thanks. It’s late, and I need to answer some emails before bed.” And just not be around him.
“You can do that while we watch,” he replied seamlessly.
