Page 11 of Playing With Love

“Forget I asked that,” I mumbled.

I knew exactly why Jessica hadn’t approached the police, they would’ve blown her off. Not only was Jessica’s story hearsay, Nu Dawn was in Tennessee, not Georgia.

“After I met with Jessica, I looked into Nu Dawn. She’d hinted at her sister’s concern there might be drugs filtering through the community. It didn’t take me long to find an active ATF investigation.”

Two things happened at once as his admission registered. Neither felt good.

“You knew I was involved in the case before you arrived today?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to⁠—”

“Warn you so you’d get yourself reassigned, or talk to the powers that be and get my team ousted? Fuck no.”

That blow landed, leaving me winded.

“Tucker—”

“You still gonna play the ‘there’s no us’ card?”

I wished with my whole chest there was an us. But there wasn’t and there never would be, so yes, until I found a way out of this mess I would play any card I needed to if it meant stopping Tucker from seeing me for who I truly was. Him thinking I was a bitch and liar was better than him knowing how worthless I was.

“Nu Dawn is an active investigation,” I seethed, latching onto the second part of what he’d said. “How in the hell did you find it?”

“I’d tell you but I don’t trust you won’t report me.”

“I don’t need to know how you did it to report you,” I reminded him.

“But you won’t, because I’m your ticket in.”

I didn’t like the sound of that.

No, scratch that, I hated the way that sounded.

“What does that mean?”

“We’re going in.” My heartbeat was back into the ready-to-have-a-stroke range when he went in for the kill. “Consider this your warning, Lizzy—my team has already secured me and my wife two tickets for next week’s Nu Dawn seminar.”

His wife?

I wasn’t going to have a stroke, I was going to die a slow, painful, broken-hearted death.

Without permission, my gaze dropped to his left hand. He still wasn’t wearing a ring. Maybe he was a man who didn’t like jewelry.

Wife.

Tucker was married.

Oh, God, I was going to throw up.

CHAPTER FOUR

Liza’s eyes had yet to come unglued from my left hand.

The kind thing would’ve been to put her out of her misery and explain.

But fuck, the woman was killing me. The indifference was like a stab to the heart. She wanted to pretend like she didn’t know me, I’d remind her how well she did.