Page 114 of Watching Her

A vision of the photograph Carrington had shown me slipped into my mind. No. I wasn’t going down that road.

The article popped into my box a couple of minutes later and I took the time to read it, realizing instantly what she was talking about. There were no egregious details, but there was an FBI investigation into possible wire fraud. What I also gathered was that he’d been murdered.

I sat back against my chair, taking several deep breaths.

My instincts told me I might know the killer. I had told Christian how much the guy had troubled me, but how was it possible Christian had tracked him down?

I was completely uncertain what to think or how to feel. On one hand, the troll had threatened me. On the other, had what he’d done been deserving of death?

No.

Or maybe…

As I closed my eyes, the face of the man who’d excited me more than any, who’d allowed me to feel joy when I’d thought I couldn’t dare trust myself or another man popped into my mind.

Would he go to those lengths to protect me when he’d already told me I belonged to him?

Or was it just wishful thinking?

If I was to believe he had something to do with either the troll’s death or even the man at the hotel, or with the man in Paris, I could only imagine what he’d do when learning about Carrington threatening me.

I sat back, debating calling Christian and ending what we shared. That would be the sensible thing to do.

However, there was no evidence Christian had anything to do with the deaths of either man. Plus, then Carrington would win and I definitely did not want that. But I did want to protect Christian.

The dilemma was eating me alive.

Perhaps the best thing to do would be to hand him an opportunity to confess his sins. Perhaps I would find the courage to confess mine.

And what if he’d done the horrible things?

All for me.

I suspected Carrington had been pushed against some invisible wall, which meant he was capable of anything. Given the threat, was it possible Christian would be arrested?

And worse…

The ache increased while my throat began to close. There was only one choice in how to handle this.

Only one.

And it just might break my heart.

CHAPTER 24

Penelope

“You don’t like taking no for an answer,” I told Christian from across the cheap linoleum table. His face was highlighted in a reddish hue from the swinging very fake Tiffany-style lamp hanging overhead.

“I already told you once,” he chimed in while lifting another piece of pizza. “I take what I want, and no one can tell me otherwise. The fact you changed your mind about our date wasn’t acceptable.”

Evidently not since he’d shown up at my door. In truth, I’d been thrilled. In chickening out, I’d thought I’d bought myself some time to figure out what the hell I was going to do. In fact, I’d only given myself more reasons to fall into utter despair.

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he munched down on the slice of pie and the way he licked sauce off his chin was entirely too adorable. He’d brought me to my favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza joint, Giuseppe’s.

“I’m in shock.” And I was. I was also trying to decipher if he was capable of killing someone. How could I possibly tell? Was it by his smirk or the way he held his wineglass? Ridiculous.

“Why?” Christian was certainly in a strangely joyous mood, which was evident in his attire.