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Holy shit.
I’d been trying to see behind the damn thing. There’d been no buttons on the sides or hidden in the frame. I hadn’t thought to actually physically touch the painting. When the painting slid up, it revealed a complicated-looking safe. It looked like the kind of thing that drug dealers in movies kept their cash in.
So if I were an assassin, what would I keep hidden away?
The possibilities were endless. Endlessly terrifying.Mymind helpfully conjured up images of monsters from movies and fiction. Everyone from Dexter to Corleone to Escobar. For all I knew, he was some insane version of all three. There could be a horse’s head and cocaine in there.
Which is why I need to be sure.
Clearly, with that kind of security measure, he didn’t want anyone accessing whatever it was. And that was preciselywhyI needed access to whatever the hell was in there. I was no safe expert, but when I was preparing for this little walk on the get-my-ass-killed side, I’d asked Charisse to contact her brother, who was some kind of computer expert. He’d reached out to some contract technical geniuses. For a hefty price, they’d found me an encryption device that could crack most security panels and safe keys. All that was needed was time—lotsand lots of time. But maybe I’d get lucky. At least I knew where the safe was now. All I had to do was go get the decoder from Charisse.
As Rafe wrapped up his conversation, I tiptoed back down the hall. Then once I hit the living room, I catapulted myself over the couch. The man was huge, but he moved quick. I didn’t want to be up and about, giving him a reason to be suspicious.
You mean like he already is?Those little innocuous questions, the gentle probing—he knew something was up. Or suspected I wasn’t being truthful. Either way, I needed to watch my step or I was going to end up like my father.
Good thing I had moved quickly too, because less than a minute later, Rafe was back in the living room.
His voice was a low, amused rumble. “There you are. Looking for something to watch?”
“No, not really. All that’s on are crappy reality shows. And let me tell you, the Kardashians aren’t so interesting that I need to keep up with them in reruns too. I have my credit cards, so it’s probably time to head to the bookstore. I’ll need a permanent address to get a library card.”
He frowned. “I’ll give you whatever you need.”
“Rafe, you’ve already been generous enough. You’ve given meeverything. I’m not one of those women who needs someone to take care of her. At least not before—” I stopped, realizing what I’d almost revealed. “I can stand on my own two feet.”
“No one’s saying you can’t. I’m just saying if you want to get some books, we can make that happen.”
“Thank you. I—” I sighed and wrapped my arms around my knees, tucking them under my chin. “I’m really grateful. I’m fumbling the gratitude, I know. I just wanted to say thank you for everything. I don’t know where I would be if you hadn’t come along. Things probably would have turned out much, much worse.”
I watched him warily. Did he suspect? Did he believe me? The man was like the sphinx, so goddamn difficult to read.Well, that’s what happens when you get in the den with killers.They were really good at lying. And they made excellent hunters. Right now, I didn’t know if I was the hunter or the hunted.
He cocked his head. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded. “It is. Thanks to you, I now have everything I need.” And I did. As soon as he was at Blake Security, I was getting into that safe. Thanks to letting my vajayjay do the thinking, I’d lost sight of who I was and what I’d come to do.
I’d been distracted by his tongue and his fingers, and well, all that. Getting that close to him had been a mistake. But I was going to remedy that.
I knew where the safe was now. And it was just the reminder I needed that Rafe DeMarco was a killer, not someone I could make into my boyfriend. “Everything is exactly as it should be.”
* * *
Rafe
I watched Diana as she pushed her hips back and up into downward dog.
Damn. Way to get a rise out of me. I’d just showered after my conversation with Noah, but I was so down for another shower. “You know, you could have worked out with me.”
She laughed. “Uh, how do you think that would have turned out?” she asked as she pushed her hips back again.
Oh fuck. My cock pressed against the fly of my jeans as if hearing my call to arms. “Well, I have one or two ideas.”
“I’m sure you do. I actually wanted to get some yoga in. If I’d gone with you, you would have had your hands on my ass, and neither of us would have gotten a workout.”
I grinned. “Oh, we’d have gotten a workout all right. And you would have been just as relaxed as with yoga.”
She snorted and fluidly switched into triangle pose. “I’m trying to concentrate here. You’re distracting me.”
I chuckled. “Not yet, but that can be arranged. How do you feel about naked yoga?”
