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“Will,” I agreed. “You think Hawk is right? That this Will character is really behind the attack again this time? Hawk told me about the situations with Gabby and that other girl.”
“I don’t know,” Maddox said.
“What about you? Do you love anyone?” I asked him.
Hawk had acted worried and protective of me. Did these men feel that way about the women they cared about, too?
Was Duncan worried about something happening to his assistant?
“Himself?” Duncan said, flashing the first smile I’d seen him wear.
The sight was so startling, it made my chest flutter.
“Smiles look good on you,” I said, giving it back to him. “You should try them on more often.”
His smile fell in an instant, and he gave me the fiercest glower. I wasn’t sure which look was more attractive on him. This man could brood with the best of them. Talkabout a smolder.
I couldn’t help my laugh.
Maddox laughed that much harder in response and whacked Duncan in the chest.
“No, I don’t love anyone,” Maddox said as Duncan rubbed his torso.
At this, Duncan smirked, and a devious glint struck his eyes. “Not even?—”
“Let’s not bring her into this.” Maddox said it so casually I nearly missed it, but Duncan quietened down again, sneering at his friend.
From the fierceness in his expression, I suspected the casual approach was a front to hide his true feelings.
Color me curious. I wondered who the woman working for Duncan was. From the sound of things, she knew about his feelings for her but didn’t return them.
Why did she keep working for him, then?
And who was the woman Maddox had insisted Duncannottalk about?
Before I could do more than mull the questions over in my brain, my phone droned. Dad’s face appeared on the screen.
“Dad?” I said, rising from my seat and walking toward the windows.
With the Christmas tree gone, I could approach the glass more directly.
The shades were pulled up this time, providing a view of the busy street a dozen floors below. The cars and peoplelooked so tiny from up here.
“Ella Bell,” Dad began. “I’m going to get right to it, though I do care about how you’re feeling today.”
I giggled. Talking to him again like this was nice. It was like a door had been opened, a door I’d forgotten how much I missed.
“I don’t mind skipping the pleasantries for now. What’s up?”
“You asked if I’d heard anything about your stepsister? She came home and called someone. She was talking loudly enough, I didn’t mind eavesdropping.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She told whoever it was that she got the money. I only heard one side, you know; she didn’t have the call on speaker. She said something about a private source, from a job she did. Then she told him she was meeting with whoever this person was tonight to get the rest of it.”
Eagerness speared through me like an arrow to its target.
“Tonight? Did she say where?”
