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“Hm.” He nodded slowly. “You didn’t say there wasn’t anything to find, only that I wouldn’t find it.”
That’s exactly what she’d said!
Casper was far more astute than she’d given him credit for being before meeting him.
But she considered the tragedy in her private life no one else’s business but her own. The details were just too painful for her to speak openly about them. Nor did she need anyone’s sympathy for what had happened.
Plus, that lack of knowledge about her past online allowed her to do a job that gave her a far deeper sense of satisfaction at the more immediate results they achieved than being in the military ever had.
“I accept the challenge,” Casper told her gleefully.
Persy winced. “No challenge intended. There really is nothing to find.” She had made very sure of that.
* * *
“There’s always something we would rather not become public knowledge,” Casper assured, knowing from Persy’s closed expression that, in her case, there was definitely something she didn’t want him to find.
“And what are you hiding?” she sneered.
He stilled. “Nothing.”
“No?” She quirked a skeptical auburn brow. “You just said we all have secrets.”
He gave the question deeper thought. “My exploits at school were usually discovered and I was suitably punished for them, so no secrets there. There were one or two incidents at university I was never connected to, but Mike was usually my cohort in crime in the latter, so he can confirm that. The only other thing I can think of right now was stealing a packet of cigarettes from my father’s study when I was twelve. I smoked half the pack, threw up, and never felt tempted to smoke again. The rest of my life is an open book.” He’d never made a secret of being bi, and there were pictures online of him escorting male and female dates to film premiers and restaurant openings as proof of that.
“I think we’ve all tried smoking,” Persy dismissed. “Although in my case, the cigarettes were in my stepmom’s bag, and I only took the one to try it—” She broke off abruptly, no doubt having realized she had just revealed something personal about herself.
Something that Casper hadn’t previously known.
In her application to join Kingston Security and Sinclair’s subsequent request for him to investigate her background before her interview, she had claimed to have only a father living. Her parents had divorced when she was five, her mother having subsequently died in a car crash—ironically—just a year later. There had been absolutely no mention nor evidence of a second marriage or her ever having had a stepmother.
Officially.
But that didn’t mean her father didn’t have a partner and they had never married.
The increasing pallor of Persy’s cheeks and the resentment in her eyes told him she was fully aware of her mistake in having given him even that small amount of personal information.
“Did you puke after smoking it too?” he teased.
She breathed in deeply before answering him. “Profusely. I’ve never even looked at a cigarette again since either.” Those deep-amber-colored eyes dared him to question her further. On any subject.
Something Casper had no intention of doing. He had enough information for now. “It’s time I was getting back to work.”
“And put your arm back in that sling,” Remy called out in reproof before he’d reached the open doorway.
“Yes, Mum.” He would be lying if he didn’t admit that his arm was aching like hell just from the few minutes out of the sling.
Remy chuckled. “I’m practicing.”
“Excuse me.” Persy gave Remy a tight smile. “It’s time I returned to work too.” She strode purposefully across the kitchen toward him.
Casper eyed her mockingly. “You’re going to be very bored standing outside the Batcave all day.”
“I’ll live,” she assured dryly.
He shrugged. “Please yourself.” He was eager to get back to his computer and see what else there was to learn about one Persephone Jones.
* * *
