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I hung up, but I was still frustrated. With a weary sigh, I went and took a shower and then dragged my tired body to bed.
But as I lay down, my exhausted mind took me back to Chris. Not about him murdering someone but about his touch on me, his thick fingers wrapping around my wrist, the sheer strength in his hold.
And also the heat that was blazing in his eyes.
As much as I hated it, the man got me hot and bothered in all the worst ways.
He made me want to indulge in a fantasy of him being the kind of man who would hold me at night and make passionate love to me and who would care about me and keep me safe from all my demons.
The kind of man who wouldn’t hurt me.
Of course, I knew it was only a fantasy because of my stupid crush on him. Something in me wanted to indulge further, but I firmly refused. Instead, I ran my hands through my hair, urging myself to go to sleep.
I wasn’t going to give in. I was embarrassed that I even had any attraction toward a criminal.
But then again, I’d always had terrible taste in men.
4
CHRIS
“Look who’s here,” a man called out the minute I drove into the compound. “If it isn’t my wayward nephew with the fancy car.”
I glanced at the man who looked like an older, more haggard-looking version of Chase, with a giant pot belly sitting right on his gut. He was seated in a recliner, swirling a beer in one hand and a hot dog in another.
If that didn't perfectly summarize his life's purpose, I don't know what would.
Jamie Galligan was a nobody and a nothing whose only aspiration in life was to constantly be as drunk and useless as possible. Under normal circumstances, he was not someone who should have been able to even talk to me.
But unfortunately, he was family. His claim to family was distant—he was the brother of my father’s second wife. But that was enough for him to claim some of the protection and fortune that the Jordansen name offered him.
Even if he spent all of his on cheap beer and fast food.
“Still playing around with that heart of yours?” I commented mildly as I emerged from my Jaguar. “Because I don’t think it’s going to hold out on you the second time.”
Rather than respond to my words, I saw his eyes flicker greedily to the car behind me. “You’re not going to lock that?”
I smirked at him and shook my head. This was Jordansen territory, and the car was very identifiable. Nobody would dare try to steal it. Not even Jamie was that stupid.
Especially with the murderous rumors that were going around about me now in the streets.
All of which brought me to the main reason why I was here.
“Has there been any movement around here?” I asked Jamie. “Cops sniffing around, that sort of thing?”
Jamie would know if they were. The man was useless at most things, but he was practically an expert at evading law enforcement.
“Nah,” he said. “Not yet. But they might come sniffing around soon with all the murders you’ve been committing lately.”
He gave me a sidelong look when he said it, like he was trying to figure out if I really did it or not.
That was the thing about me that I knew made people uncomfortable. No one could figure me out, really. Was I a businessman, or was I the man they said I was? A psychotic, sadistic bastard. A man who dealt with anyone who messed with him and who could put a bullet in someone’s skull and get away with it.
While Chase was officially in charge of this branch of The Brotherhood, there were tons of rumors about me doing despicable things to people, and no one could figure out if they were telling the truth or not.
I liked it that way. The air of mystery prevented anything from being pinned on me, but I had enough street cred to get whatever I wanted.
But now, the pendulum was leaning too far in one direction, and that meant trouble for me.
