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I take the dessert from Harper, unsure if I can eat anything while my stomach churns mercilessly, but for her, I’ll try. “Thanks.”
Without bothering to remove my apron, I walk from behind the counter and over to a vacant table that’s far from the other customers. Bennett appears on the other side of the small table, his movements unhurried and refined as he seats himself in the chair across from me. This man doesn’t belong in a coffee shop like this, sitting in a plastic chair like an ordinary person. He’s too… everything.
Handsome.
Powerful.
Intense.
He belongs in a high-rise building, a courtroom, or even a mansion, but not here. And certainly not with someone like me who’s powerless and so poor that it’s embarrassing. We might’ve come from the same world of money and influence, but now we’re oceans apart, two people whose paths should never cross.
So why is he here?
I sweep my gaze over his features, taking in every harsh line and smooth contour of his face, illuminated by the sun’s rays streaming through the windows. In this light, he appears less severe, less menacing. Only it’s just a trick, an optical illusion. This man wears darkness like a woman wears perfume, leaving a trail wherever he goes.
We continue to look at one another, and his gaze bores into me. Almost like a physical touch. It takes every bit of fortitude that I have to hold his stare. His light blue eyes are like twin ice picks, stabbing me again and again, searching for something deep inside me. Something I don’t want to give.
Time becomes irrelevant as we sit like this for seconds or even minutes, each one studying the other. I refuse to be intimidated by him. Sure, he unnerves me, maybe even scares me, but my anger on my father’s behalf is enough to keep me from running.
But God, how I want to.
I nearly flinch when Bennett rests his hands on the table and steeples his long fingers. “Miss Green, what do you know of your father’s… interests?”
The sound of his voice, deep and sensual, has my heart stuttering in my chest. Irritation causes my cheeks to warm. “Why are you asking me this?”
“I ran into a friend of yours recently,” he says, his tone threaded with sarcasm. “Mr. Calvin, I believe?”
Hearing the familiar name makes my blood run cold. “And?”
“And he was very eager to part with some information pertaining to Senator Green’s murder.”
“Why would he do that?” I massage my temple with one hand while gripping the cake pop stick in the other. “Everything was supposed to be confidential.”
“The man is an opportunist,” Bennett says. “It’s public knowledge that I was involved in your father’s trial, and that case was one of the few I’ve lost in my career. Mr. Calvin presented me with your file, hoping to entice me with the things he learned. It worked.”
I grip the stem of cake pop so tightly my knuckles lose their color, becoming as white as the vanilla dessert. “I still don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”
“I’m taking over the investigation.”
“No.” My denial comes out as a whisper, a mere puff of air, but it’s all I can manage.
“Weren’t you searching for your father’s killer?” When I nod, Bennett quirks an ebony brow. “Are you telling me you don’t want to bring the killer to justice?”
“I do, but not with you.” The words rush from me before I can stop them, propelled by my unease. And something I won't acknowledge. “I’ll do it on my own or not at all.”
“Miss Green, I wasn’t giving you a choice.”
My lips part on a gasp, half in surprise and half in outrage. I squint up at him and lean forward, despite my body trembling. “I’m not giving you one either. There’s no way I’ll work with you.”
“Even at the cost of never knowing?” he asks. When I nod, his lips thin with displeasure. “What if I were to tell you that I’ve already made headway, but in order to continue further, I need your cooperation?”
I shake my head. “I don’t care. This conversation is over.”
His gaze flashes with disbelief right before his hand shoots out and wraps around my wrist. The cake pop wiggles in my grasp as the heat from his touch sears me. I tug on his hold, but it’s like trying to free myself from an iron manacle.
“Let go of me,” I say between clenched teeth.
“Not until you’ve heard me out.”
