Page 76 of Savage Little Lies

Enrico’s jaw drops. “How fucking long will that take? You need to let me go now!”

“Keep an eye on him,” I tell Emil as he stands near the door.

Emil nods. “It sounds like Cara is already here.”

I listen closely, hearing light talking down the hallway. I head that way, reaching Cara and Gabe in the main part of the antique shop before he can take her down the hall.

Cara starts to smile, but her eyes quickly drop to my right hand. “What happened?”

I glance down, seeing the cuts and bruises on my knuckles. I’m surprised that I didn’t break a finger or two. “Business.”

Cara gives me a pointed look as she moves closer to me. To my surprise, she gently takes my hand in hers, peering down at my injuries. “I’m guessing you found Enrico.”

Smart girl.

Yesterday, she worked quickly and diligently to find as much information as she could about the men that I told her to look into. She constantly surprises me.

I thought she would show some more hesitancy or nervousness, but I suppose being with her criminal ex-boyfriend was enough to get her accustomed to this lifestyle.

Or maybe she just likes being a little bit bad.

“He didn’t have any information for me about the shooting, but he told me the name of a local informant,” I say while allowing her to inspect the damage.

“Want me to look into him?” Cara asks before sliding her hand up to grip my forearm. She drags me to the small bathroom. “You need to clean your knuckles.”

I follow her and shut the door behind us. “I don’t need your help with this yet. I’ll send my men to the Strip to find him.”

Cara nods and holds a folded paper towel under cold water before gently dragging it over my knuckles to clean off the dried and fresh blood. “You should stop getting your hands so bloody. Let your men handle it.”

My eyebrow quirks up in surprise. “Why would I do that? I like getting my hands dirty.”

Cara lifts her eyes once she’s done. “You can use your…talented hands for other things. Better things.”

I tilt my head, holding her gaze as heat flickers deep within me. “What did you have in mind?”

Cara tosses the bloody paper towel in the trash before reaching into the back pocket of the fitted gray work pants that caress her thighs and hips just right. She pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it over to me. “I was going to give this to you this morning, but you weren’t at the office.”

“I was here all night questioning Enrico,” I reply before unfolding the paper to reveal a number written in black ink. “One hundred thousand dollars?”

Cara nods. “That’s my price.”

“That’s bold,” I comment before meeting her eyes once more. “And what does that buy me?”

Cara brushes her hair behind her shoulders and lifts her chin more, exposing the sensitive skin of her neck that I want to run my lips over again. “Me in your bed from sundown to sunup. Doing whatever you want.”

The pressure in my chest loosens for the first time in days.

I can’t help but stare at her for a few seconds, making sure that she’s serious.

“Whatever I want?” I reply as I reach out and cup her chin with my injured hand, keeping her eyes on mine. Now that she’s here, the pain is nonexistent. All I can focus on is her.

A soft blush dusts her cheeks as she gives me a subtle nod. “Whatever you want. I’m yours for the night.”

I don’t want her for just one night, but I suppose this is a good start. Once I get through with her, she’ll never want to leave my bed.

“Done. I’ll get the money today,” I tell her, ready to head over to the location where I keep the bulk of my cash. There’s no way in hell that I can keep all my money in a bank.

Before I can pull away from her, Cara suddenly grabs my wrist, making me pause. “There’s one more condition.”