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There’d always been a clear good guy and a clear bad guy. Criminals broke the law and needed to be punished. It was black-and-white.
But now she was second-guessing everything. What if Atlas was a car thief? He wasn’t a bad guy. She was the cop, he was the robber, but he didn’t belong in jail. Did he?
Mila jumped down from the top of the gate, landing with a grunt as it rattled her whole body. She needed to work out more.
Now that she was over the gate, she finally took a look at the sprawling mansion on the other side. Spotlights pointed in all directions, making it look even more spectacular. Painted white, the house boasted fancy crown molding around each window, hinting at low-key splendor. Perfect for the kind of men the brothel attracted.
Two figures made their way along the fence toward the back of the building. She jogged quietly, glad the fake grass lawn cushioned the sound of her footsteps. Behind the mansion, a parking lot was packed almost to capacity—mostly high-end cars—Mustangs and BMWs.
Fuck. Please please please don’t let my boyfriend be a car thief.
Fox and Atlas scanned the lot, then Fox pointed to something in the third row. They exchanged words then separated. Fox moved alongside the lot, toward the driveway where cars entered and Atlas made his way to the third row.
Was Fox acting as lookout?
Oh god. Atlas was going to steal a car. He was actually going to fucking do it. Her boyfriend was a criminal. Not a steal-his-neighbor’s-cable criminal, an actual goddamned criminal. The kind she put in jail without a second thought.
No. Wait. Maybe she was misreading things and they weren’t about to commit grand larceny. Maybe they had a charitable reason for being there. Maybe she could pretend for just a little longer. She still didn’t have proof.
Ducking behind the cars, she crept closer, watching the man she loved move in toward what looked like a brand-new Mercedes. He dug in his pocket and pulled out some gadget she couldn’t see. After fiddling with it for a minute, the doors to the Mercedes unlocked.
Her ears rang as all of her hopes for her and Atlas caved in upon themselves.
Fuck. What the fuck was she supposed to do now? Turn him in? She loved him. How could she do that to him?
This fucked everything up. She had the sudden urge to scream.
How could he do this to her? To them? This was such a clusterfuck. Teeth gritted, she waged a war in her head. Walk away and pretend she hadn’t seen anything or call it in?
What else could she do? She was a fucking cop. He was a fucking car thief.
She wiped her eyes and stepped out from behind the row of cars, her gun pointed at Atlas.
“Freeze.”
Chapter 14
“Shit,” Atlas said under his breath.
She’d been so sleepy. He hadn’t anticipated for a moment . . .
“You fucking cocksucker.” Mila was a wrathful angel, her dark hair wild and tumbling around her shoulders. “I believed you.”
Deep in his chest something went cold. His heart? No. That was racing haphazardly—hot, not cold. The cold was probably the last scrap of hope that somehow he could convince her they could work things out.
Frustrated, he opened his mouth to say something cutting, about how she hadn’t been forthright with him either, but immaturity wouldn’t solve a damn thing.
“You don’t look surprised to see me, you bastard.” She kept her voice low, but her words were crisp and sharp. “You know what I am?”
“I know exactly what you are.” Mila had meant he knew she was a cop, but that was only one piece of her. He’d wanted to spend forever getting to know her better, but it was looking as if he wouldn’t get that chance. “I’ve known since I met you.”
Out of his peripheral vision, Atlas could see Fox’s hands go up in surrender. His brother wasn’t looking at Mila, though, he was glaring at Atlas. He wished he could tell Fox to leave, but he didn’t think it would go over well. This was an intensely private discussion and now there’d be an unwilling witness.
“So, what? You wer
e just going to keep dating me as a convenient way to throw me off your trail?” Her laugh was bitter. Ugly. Incongruent coming from her beautiful mouth. “For how long? Forever? I fucking fell for all of it. So fucking smooth. And the things I let . . .” She bit her lips together and her gaze rose to the dark sky, as though maybe God would help her sort this mess out.
He took a step toward her, and her gun stopped shaking. She aimed.
