Just in case he got any funny ideas.
Aiden
So… tell me more about your job as a developer.
I let out a sigh. Answering questions about myself had always been hard. Mainly as I tried to figure out what answer itwas that people were looking for. But I had to be careful with my lies to Aiden. He’d already shown me that.
Not to mention, there was a weird, uncomfortable feeling in my chest every time I did it.
Thatwas something I refused to look at too closely.
Well, I already told you I’m a land developer. I buy cheap properties that no one else wants and I renovate them or do what I need to in order to change their zoning, then I sell them for a lot of money.
Pretty boring, actually. But the money is good and I get to travel when I feel like in order to check out properties.
Aiden
Do you like it?
I sat back in the chair as I stared down at the phone clutched in my hands. It tapped nervously against the small desk against the wall with the screens, and I frowned as I considered his question.
No one had ever asked me that question before.I’dnever asked myself that question before. There was a convenience to it and it afforded me a very comfortable lifestyle. Plus, it was what my father had done, to some degree.
It’s a job. I enjoy it probably as much as I would enjoy anything else. But it definitely has its perks.
Having multiple shell corporations to buy up land came in handy. I had various safe houses set up around the city and even outside the city limits, where there were off the books—as all my residential properties were because nothing would ever be traced back to me—and usually had either a room or two, orthe basement, outfitted for habitation in case I needed somewhere to lie low.
Then there were places like the one across from Clint where they were monitoring stations. Some of those even came in handy for the kill. And the best part was then they’d shuffle through the hands of a few of my other unofficial corporations before they finally landed withmeand then be slated for remodel. It was a surefire way to keep my hands clean, relatively speaking, and make sure all the evidence was destroyed and cleaned up.
I glanced up at the monitors in time to spot Clint hastily exiting his house.
Shit.
I need to go to a meeting now, little bird. But I will call you when I get home, okay?
Aiden:
Sure. I need to get back to work too.
Talk to you later.
It didn’t escape my attention that twice we had talked about my job and we had yet to talk about his. Not since the wedding reception. I wondered if I was supposed to bring it up.
Would it be too on the nose? I’d looked him up, of course I had, and he was a damn good detective with an impressive record. Not that he’d ever be able to catch me.
But it made me wonder if he was suspicious of me at all. Given that he knew I’d been stalking him, I had to assume he must have caught at least a red flag or two. But he never mentioned anything after his initial confrontation. It almost made me even more uncomfortable.
I let out a sigh as I snuck through a few backyards to get to the car I had stashed a block in the opposite direction of where I’d come from when I’d followed Clint back to his house.
Part of me knew it would be easier if I killed Aiden, but I’d already established I couldn’t do it. He was the only one who had ever escaped through my fingertips.
Not that he went very far, as I still had him in my grasp. Just in a different way than I intended.
It was why I found myself sliding into my car and following the man who dared to put his hands on what was mine.
15
AIDEN
