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“A gift.”
Wasn’t that the same thing?
As he went to the desk, she continued. “I told Steeple I’d write about my grandfather. Keeps the media off our backs if we’re doing something exclusive for The Chronicler. Although we don’t know much yet, I’ll start with a piece about his life. A retrospective type thing—” She stopped when he held up a flash drive. “Is that…?”
He tossed it across the room to her. “The complete police investigation up to now.” Okay, not the flash drive she expected. “Should help with your piece.”
“Yes.” Turning in her hand, she showed him a smile. “I thought it was something else.” He crooked a brow as he leaned on the front of his desk and folded his arms. “Apparently, we’re out there.”
“We?”
“Our sex tape.”
“How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. It could just be a rumor. Steeple said someone called to tip him off.”
“Who?”
“Anonymous. Of course.”
“Want me to track it down?”
She sighed. “We have so many more important things to worry about, Conn. It’s not like the city don’t know we have sex.” One side of his lips sloped up. “I know, we’ve come a long way.”
Sauntering over, he stopped in front of her. “Aye.”
She stood up. “We don’t know how long we have with the people we love.” The atmosphere closed in as she grew more somber. “Lupe said it and she’s right. You know I love you. Do you know how devastated I’d be to lose you? Don’t answer that.” Conn would be pragmatic about it, she wanted to talk and him to listen. “I love you and I need you to know that even if we’re in a fight or pissed off with each other, I still love you. Whatever we say, in anger or grief, it’s nothing to how devoted I am to you.” She blinked and met his serious eye. “And if something happens to me, if I leave you without getting a chance to say goodbye, know my last thought was of you and how much I’m going to miss what we’ll never have. But I’ll be so grateful, I am so grateful, for every second we’ve spent together. Promise me you’ll remember that.”
“You won’t leave this life before me.”
“We don’t know that. We can never know that. Baby—”
“I won’t let it happen.” Cupping her face, he pushed it back and stooped lower. “You hear me? I won’t let it happen.”
Her guy had power and influence in a lot of areas, especially in the city. This, life and death, he didn’t have a say over that. Not a complete say anyway.
That he wouldn’t acknowledge it, that he was so adamant, was touching in itself. He just couldn’t imagine a world without her in it.
“Is Strat still here?”
He brushed her hair from her face and ran his thumb across her chin. “He’s with the guys.”
“Here or…?”
“Somewhere else.”
Okay, not informative. Her questions about what her friend did with her flash drive would have to wait.
Slipping her hands under his jacket, she stroked his hard body beneath his shirt. “Whisper had a guy checking out the logs, you know, the digitized whatever.”
“Mm?”
“Nothing suspect yet. He’s not done though; he’ll keep digging.”
“Feel like we’re getting somewhere?”
“He was my grandfather and I miss him. But I don’t think I really got it, the gravity of… When my mom died, I was too small to remember much. The grief was more curious than visceral. What did I miss out on? I had no idea.”
