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She walked slowly to the door, opening it as if she was doing so with Pandora’s Box. “Incidentally, I have it on my calendar next week to finalize you becoming District Attorney. As you might imagine, it comes with a significant pay increase, amid other perks. That’s what happens to those considered team players.”
I sucked in and held my breath. I’d never felt such an icy chill coursing through me. “That’s amazing. Thank you.”
“No, thank you. You’ve been a very good girl, a magnificent team player. So you know, Sedona, the court date for the James trial has been determined. It’s one week from today. As you might imagine, the mayor, the chief of police, and the lieutenant governor are eagerly waiting for you to put this heinous criminal away. It will bode well when November rolls around. I do hope you’re ready to face your opponent. While I understand that Mr. Jonny James is as merciless as he is charming, you can’t allow his charm or appeal to sway you. That wouldn’t bode well for our office or for your career. I’m certain you can understand that.” She turned her head slightly, the same maniacal smile crossing her face.
“Of course, Christine. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize anyone’s budding career.” Good girl? That sounded condescending as fuck. No, worse than that. It sounded…
Like a clear and undeniable threat.
“No, I didn’t think so. Youarea team player.”
Translation. She thought of me as her cloned puppet, someone she could manipulate.
Only when she walked out, closing the door with a soft click behind her, did I take a deep breath. The lieutenant governor was a woman. This was all about political gain.
And I’d been used as a scapegoat as well.
Fuck that. No one was going to use me.
Including Jonny.
This changed everything.
Jonny
Succulent fruit.
That’s what I’d been thinking about since walking into the diner, finding a seat without being asked. I’d ordered something from the menu that had absolutely no taste because I’d been spoiled by the juice flowing from the woman who’d gotten under my skin. Sedona had triggered something in me that couldn’t be undone, even though the situation couldn’t be any closer to utter disaster. My father would call me a fool. My brother would laugh in my face.
I’d seen the way every man had looked at her, as if they longed to consume her in exactly the manner I’d done. That made me jealous and angry, possessive in a way that shouldn’t be happening, yet it was something I was completely unable to control. I noticed Michael’s approach from the entrance, his face pensive as he came near.
“And?” I asked as I sat back in my seat.
“You want to know what I found, boss? Nothing. There’s no other organization coming into Louisville, St. Louis, or anywhere else close that I can determine,” he said as he slippedinto the chair opposite me. He’d always had a flair for the dramatic, which normally amused me, but not on this gloomy, dark day. “I checked the South Americans, Russians. Hell, I checked the Cosa Nostra, using every connection I had. There’s nothing on the horizon.”
I glanced over at Zephyr, who I’d tasked to remain by my side as I handled some research on my own. “Please tell me you found something worthwhile.” I twisted the plate of food in front of me, suddenly no longer hungry. Maybe it was the gray day that had soured my mood, or the fact Sedona had left without saying goodbye.
Perhaps I was such a control freak I’d needed her to ask my permission. However, what I’d learned was that she wasn’t the kind of woman to be broken easily. Maybe my behavior with her had been too soft, too romantic. Her actions and need to escape me would no longer be tolerated.
“Nothing you want to hear,” Michael added. “The prosecutor has no skeletons I could find either.”
“Everyone has something to hide, my friend.” I wholeheartedly believed that, but I wasn’t unhappy that mycheriewas as innocent as I’d believed her to be. Still, the situation was becoming more unnerving. I wanted to spend hours with her and nothing more.
Passion wasn’t on my agenda for the day. Breaking heads was, only if Michael was right, there was no one to take out my anger or my vengeance on. I flagged down the waitress, ready for a single drink. That’s what happened when I was out of my element.
“I did hear Liam O’Connor has been rallying his troops,” Zephyr said.
“That’s to be expected,” I told him.
Maybe my mood also had to do with the fact Baron had called letting me know the trial had been set for a week from now. Ordinarily, that would please me so I could get back to my life. Instead, that either told me that mycheriewas a consummate liar, or someone was pulling her strings. Either way, the railroading of my life was continuing with plans on prosecuting me to the letter of the law.
That would mean a life sentence without the possibility of parole, an appeal then taking months. I knew that trials of this nature usually took months to get on the calendar. Only my blushing cherub, the single weakness I’d welcomed into my life knew the truth.
And perhaps the answers.
That meant I’d need to take a stronger tack with her, requiring her full surrender in more than one way.
“It means exactly what I’m saying. There’s nothing evident going on, no wars between entities we haven’t heard about, no sense that you’ve been a target. There’s no one talking except Liam O’Connor, who has all but come out and demanded your death.”
