Page 17 of Cash

I wanted to ask if fucking with her in the past had included actually fucking her, but the question would make me sound like a jealous douchebag. Which I was, but I didn’t need these men knowing it.

“She lets her guard down around you,” Hollywood continued. “I thought I’d imagined that eyeroll, but when she flipped you off, I knew I didn’t. Lore never loses cover. Never shows emotions. Never shows a single sign she’s actually human.”

It took more energy than it should’ve to tamp down my resentment. He obviously knew Lore well enough to make those observations. However the question if he knew Stella would remain unanswered because I was too afraid I wouldn’t like the answer.

“I’d stop while you’re ahead, brother.” Badger chuckled. “Dutch’s got three-hundred and eighteen acres of prime body dump land and he looks like he’s plotting.”

Badger wasn’t wrong.

The dude smiled and when he did, I got how he got his nickname. Hollywood looked like an A-list Hollywood actor.

“Never touched her, brother.” My relief was short lived when he tacked on. “And not for lack of trying.” Motherfucker. “But unlike you, when a woman threatens to do harm to my boys I take her seriously. And I think she’s serious, or at least I did before I saw the eye roll. Now, I think she just needs⁠—”

I knew exactly what Lore needed. But more, I knew what Stella needed but she wouldn’t be getting it from Hollywood.

“Just to say my night vision is excellent and I’m good with a shovel so maybe we stop talking about what you think my…” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “About what Lore needs and we get back to work.”

Hollywood didn’t miss my almost slip. Lore wasn’t my anything. And in a few days or weeks she’d be off doing her own thing, and it was very likely I’d never see her again. Or if I did there would be long stretches of time before she came around to visit her friend Nebraska.

“Right. North will be here with Irine Peterson by mid-morning. Her flight from Vancouver lands at LAX within the hour. He’s taking her to a safehouse so she can rest before he puts her in a car for an eleven-hour drive.”

That tracked. From the report I’d read Irine was in her late sixties.

I glanced back at the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Fresh air and mountain views.

“Mind if I have a look around?”

“Not at all. But warning, the electric perimeter fence will put you on your ass.”

“Noted.”

I debated looking for Lore before I headed out to clear my head. But she was part of—no, scratch that—she was mostly what I needed to purge. Not the thoughts of fucking her, but the possessive rage I had no business feeling.

Lore wasn’t mine.

Stella wasn’t either.

And the one thing I knew for certain was, she never would be—I wasn’t built for that shit. A white picket fence and a woman were not in my future—never would be. And the thought of a kid running around that I was responsible for made me physically ill.

Fresh air and sun hit my face as soon as I stepped outside. And to my left, Lore stood holding her phone out in front of her face. Smiling. The woman was smiling—a big, wide, honest to goodness smile. Making each of the grins I’d seen pale in comparison.

Who in the fuck was making her smile like that?

CHAPTER FIVE

I’d almost missed my nightly call. A promise I’d managed to keep in the time I’d been away.

That had to be why my heart pounded in my chest when I answered the FaceTime call. Either that or I was excited to talk to Cara and listen to her ramble on about her day. I still wasn’t sure. I wanted it to be about excitement. I wanted to love her the way she deserved to be loved, but damn if I didn’t have serious doubts. The heart palpitations could also be extreme fear. Fight or flight might be the reason for the uptick. Maybe it was the universe’s way of telling me I should run and leave Cara with her nanny. The truth was Flora had been the one constant in Cara’s life. Even before her parents were murdered. Flora had been taking care of Cara since she was a year old, and Donna went back to work. Flora had moved with the family from country to country.

The information broker and the operative.

God knew why Michael thought it was a good idea to have a kid was beyond me. He should’ve known better that kids and the agency didn’t mix. Not when the kid’s mom was also in the game.

“Lolo!” Cara exclaimed as soon as the call connected. Her cute little face twisted with excitement. “Lolo! Guess what?”

I couldn’t help my smile. There was something about the little girl that made me happy, always had, since she was a tiny little thing and Michael had made me hold her.