AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She steps back. “I’m covered in paint.”
“Do you think I give a damn about that?” I pull her into a hug and kiss the top of her head. “It will always be you, baby. No matter how many women come to my gates thinking I owe them attention, the only one I will ever love is you.”
She giggles. “Stop it.”
“No bullshit,” I say. “You’re the one for me. My one and only.”
Emberly melts against my chest, smearing my shirt with paint. I close my eyes, wanting to savor this closeness. A gunshot rings out and we both jump apart.
“Get into the bedroom.”
“Roman, what’s?—”
“Now!” I bark.
As she darts behind a canvas, I pull out my gun before making my way to the French doors. Gil sprints toward us from the side of the pool, his features a mask of determination.
I meet him at the door. “What’s happened?”
Gil flicks his head toward the mansion. “It’s the cops.”
Behind me, Emberly whimpers, and my stomach drops. I told her to stay in the bedroom. Of all the fucking times for the cops to return, did it have to be when I was finally making inroads with her?
Someone must have found Callahan’s corpse and now they’re throwing shit and trying to see what sticks. Emberly can’t know he’s dead. At least not until after I’ve worked out a way to explain why I withheld the information for so long.
She crosses the room and buries her head in my chest. “It’s Jim.”
I cup her cheeks and stare into her terrified green eyes. “He won’t come through the gates, even if he has a warrant.”
She shivers. “You don’t know what he’s like.”
“And you’ve forgotten that Lafayette dropped the charges. You’re no longer a fugitive.”
The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them. I cringe, knowing I’ve fucked up. I’ve just given her a shot of courage.
She straightens, the fear on her features morphing into something fierce. “That’s true. Jim can’t hold that bullshit over me, so what the hell does he want?”
“Let me take you to the kitchen, where someone can make you a nice drink. I’ll even station some men at the door. What do you want? Iced tea? Hot chocolate?”
“No.” She takes my hand. “I want to confront him.”
My stomach drops like an iron ball and sweat breaks out across my brow. The moment she reaches those gates and discovers Jim is dead, I’m screwed. I wrack my brain for a way to convince her to stay back, but the love I have for her is fucking with my ability to churn out smooth lies.
“They want to speak to the boss,” Gil blurts.
“Yes,” I say, my mind still scrambling for a solution. “Stay here. Let me protect you.”
“Why is it okay for you to fight my battles when I can’t fight yours?” she asks, clearly referring to the incident at the gate with Officer McMurphy.
“Emberly, please,” I reply with a sigh.
“I’m coming with you.” She marches to the door, her hands balled into fists. “I want to know why he paid Dominic and sent that new recruit disguised as a waiter.”
“And let it slip that I shot him in the head?”
She whirls around and meets my gaze with wide eyes. “What?”
“Gil said they wanted to speak to me. It’s probably about that missing cop. If you march over to the gates accusing Callahan of sending him, it won’t take long to give them probable cause to get a warrant.”
