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“You think you’re in love with her. You think the two of you ever have a chance.” Finn shook his head. “That’s the difference between us. I’m not afraid of her being mad at me. As long as she’s alive, she can be as pissed off as she wants. I’m not afraid she’ll stop loving me. Real love doesn’t go away.”
“Finn, that’s enough,” Carpenter interrupted.
Neil’s eyes narrowed. “Finn. Finn James? Her brother’s friend?”
Finn straightened, but he didn’t answer.
“I should’ve known. You’re the only person who’s ever been able to hurt her, of course, you’re a part of this.”
Finn flinched at the words, and Neil met his glare with a cocky grin. Finn’s stomach twisted. He’d ensured Gretchen would be working safely side-by-side with her former lover and the man fucking hated him.
Perfect.
“Remember what I said about people touching her,” he reminded the other man. “I don’t discriminate between the types of touch.”
Chapter 14
Gretchen walked to her car in a daze. After months of working the case against Carlisle, she’d no longer be undercover. At first, she’d blamed it on the attack by Ronnie’s men. Her entire team had reacted with Neil’s same adamancy that she be removed from the case.
When Carpenter had pulled her into his office, she’d been ready to defend her reasons for staying, again. Instead Carpenter assured her they had a legitimate lead inside, and they would bring Ronnie, Carlisle and all his suppliers down. She didn’t care what happened to Carlisle, as long as Ronnie burned in hell.
As the rage had simmered inside her, she’d had to admit Carpenter had made a wise decision. She’d become too close to this case and the people involved. One part of her knew she’d do anything to protect Finn, while the other thirsted for Ronnie’s blood. The lines between right and wrong, criminal and ally, had become blurred, a realization she’d come to the night before as she listened to Finn explain how he’d taken care of her attackers and her only thoughts had been of having him inside her. She wanted to feel guilty that she’d been excited by his lawless nature, but she couldn’t find any reasons to repent.
Unfortunately, now that she wasn’t the one funneling information, she couldn’t keep Finn safe. She’d never forgive herself if something happened to him because of her work. It looked like Lilah had one more thing to do before she retired.
She pulled into the garage beneath Finn’s apartment in her black wig, at almost midnight. When she reached his floor, she knocked swiftly on the door before she turned the knob and let herself in.
“Finn.” She made her way through the entryway and into the open seating area, before stopping abruptly.
Across the room, Finn stood with Ronnie Sinclair wrapped around him like a fucking vise. When he saw Gretchen, he pulled away, though not quickly enough to ease the sharp edge of pain like a knife in her gut. Ronnie turned toward her, obviously pissed off at the interruption. Gretchen only stared back, motionless, too shocked to move. Although Finn had stepped away from the other woman, that hadn’t brought him any closer to her.
Biting down hard on the inside of her lower lip, she tried to gain some semblance of control to no avail. She swallowed the blood she tasted and placed her purse on the counter.
“Is she here to play too? That would be a great way to start training her.” Ronnie winked.
“Why is she here?” Gretchen asked, oddly able to speak despite the rage battling inside her.
“Business.” Ronnie smiled triumphantly, walking her fingers up Finn’s chest.
“I didn’t fucking ask you,” Gretchen raged.
She finally gained their full attention. Finn turned wide eyes on her as if he didn’t recognize her, and she had to admit, since her attack, she’d found it difficult to recognize herself too.
“We were working.” Finn strode toward her. “I’ll call you later if there’s something we need to talk about.” He put his hand on the small of her back, ushering her out of the apartment.
“You want me to leave.” Was it a question or simply a statement? Shock and hurt had her too confused to make sense of anything.
Finn didn’t answer as he took her bag from the counter and escorted her to the door. “We can talk later.” He shrugged absently. “I’m busy.”
Gretchen stopped walking, no longer letting him guide her out. “You’re kicking me out so you can fuck her?” Her voice cracked despite her every prayer that she sounded strong.
“Lilah.” His voice was a low warning.
“Of course you are.” The very last threads to him were snapping, and hysteria clawed its way up her chest. “That’s all you know how to do, right?”
“Stop it,” he hissed. He threw a look over his shoulder to make sure Ronnie couldn’t hear him. “You know good and goddamn well, that’s not all I do. Don’t act like I’m not different with you, that I’m not differentforyou.”
She stared back at him, searching his gray eyes without finding any of the answers she needed.
