When He's Dirty (Walker Security: Adrian’s Trilogy Book 1) Page 12

  “I know. I’m not naïve. I’m just saying he’s smarter than to attack in public. And he’s not a killer. He’d send someone else. He meant to intimidate me. He wants me to drop the Waters’ case. Him here today, right after Logan was at my office, isn’t a coincidence. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but it’s not what it seems.”

  Adrian rotates and leans on the sink, with me in front of him. “I think he’s setting up a hit on Ed. If he dies before the election, the case may never be picked up by the next DA.”

  “It will,” I say, “but it could take a very long time. There will be pressure to catch and convict the killer. There will be fear and chaos. The case against Waters will have to be rebuilt and it’s flimsy now without me.”

  “If they even catch the killer. By having several criminals trying to get you to drop the case, it’s harder to pin down who might have ordered the hit. I promise you, Waters has people around him who think they are doing him favors when he’s setting them up.”

  “We’re speculating here,” I say, “and I’d discourage that, if we didn’t have two dead witnesses and a series of questionable characters and behaviors involved.”

  There are three fast knocks on the door. “Adam,” Adrian says, and he steps around me to let him in.

  The next thing I know, I’m in the bathroom with two giant men and Adam’s got my briefcase on his shoulder. “I got rid of Rocketman,” he says, “but I didn’t want to leave behind your work, considering the case you’re handling.” Before I can thank him, he adds. “I couldn’t pin down his real agenda.”

  “He’s a mouse on a wheel Waters is turning,” Adrian says. “I’m betting that he thinks he’s helping Waters. Waters is setting him up to look like the hitman that takes out Ed.”

  “Are we really having a meeting in a bathroom?” I ask. “Should we go somewhere else?”

  “We’ve had them in much worse bathrooms,” Adrian assures me right about the time my cellphone rings.

  I pull it from the side pocket of my purse and glance at the number. “Waters’ attorney again. He apparently likes to call me early. I think I need to buy time for us to find Deleon.”

  “Agreed,” Adrian says. “Time is good.”

  I nod and answer the call with, “No decision yet on the deal.”

  “Maybe we can make it more lucrative,” Daniel offers. “Three for one.”

  “Who?” I ask, my eyes meeting Adrian’s. “Who’s he offering now?”

  “Just offering a name gets around.”

  “Because you buzzed it around,” I remind him. “I did not.”

  “I didn’t buzz it around. See what I mean? Waters wants to talk to you. He’ll decide if he can risk the names when he decides if he trusts you.”

  “Well, he shouldn’t trust me,” I say. “I’m not his friend.”

  “But he hears you’re a woman of your word. Meet him. Maybe I can get him to give you someone even bigger.”

  I hesitate, the idea of sitting down with Waters not sitting well, but then I remember that clawing feeling I had for weeks before I caught Logan with my secretary. I knew something was wrong and it ate me alive. Once I knew the truth, it hurt, but I recovered. I faced the problem and stood taller. I have to do the same now. “When?”

  “Three o’clock.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  “Waters will be pleased,” he says, and with that, he disconnects.

  I glance between Adrian and Adam. “It’s official. I’m going to meet the King Devil himself.”

  Adrian catches my hand and pulls me to him, his energy taut, his expression hard. “No,” he says. “You’re not.”

  “I have to do this.”

  “I will tie you up and hide you away before I let you sit at a table across from that man. Do you understand me?”

  I could be angry. I could push back at how alpha and controlling he’s being, but I don’t. I know that he’s lived in hell with Waters, and right now, I see those demons in his eyes, I see the torment they lay upon him every single day. And I can feel his genuine concern for me, perhaps as a man who lives his life as a protector, but I think also as a man. I press my hand to his face.

  “Adrian,” I whisper. “This is just a prelude to me facing him in court. It’s good practice. People died because of this man. More will if we don’t stop him and we need to buy time to catch his hitman. I have to do this. You know I do.”

  Seconds tick by and I watch those demons play in his eyes before he lowers his lashes, and I know in that moment that he knows I’m right. I have to face Waters, and the truth is, he won’t be the first monster I’ve ever known, but that’s not a detail I’d like to share right now.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  ADRIAN

  I know Pri feels like she’s faced evil before, but Waters is evil incarnate, a man who sees an angel like Pri and wants a taste. I sure as fuck did. And yet, I know I really would have to tie her up to stop her from going and it’s not like I could keep her like that without stalling the trial. Point for Waters. It’s almost as if he knows I’m with her and into her. I hope like fuck that isn’t the case.

  “Adam goes with you,” I say. “Non-negotiable.”

  “If I didn’t know where this was coming from, I’d say you’re being overbearing,” she accuses. “You know that, right?”

  “Damn straight, sweetheart,” I say tightly. “On all other things we can battle it out and you may even win. Judging from how things have gone between us, you will win, but not when it comes to your safety. Not this. I’m keeping you alive.”

  “All right,” she says, but she does so with a firm step backward, before she places me and Adam in profile, her arms folded. “Do we care if Waters knows Walker is involved?”

  “We need to stay in the shadows for now,” I say. “Adam’s a master at becoming someone he isn’t and dresses up real pretty. Can he go in as an ADA doing grunt work on the case?”

  “He can,” she says. “That works.” She eyes Adam. “Does that work for you?”

  “If it’ll keep Adrian from tying you up before this is over, I’m all in.”

  Her cheeks flush. “I don’t think he meant that literally.”

  Adam’s lips quirk. “Of course not. I’ll let you two talk.” He winks at her, the dirty bastard, and then, dirty or not, a man of his word, he makes quick work of leaving.

  The minute the door shuts, I lock it again and turn to face Pri, her pink painted lips begging to be kissed, but right now, I’m thinking about Waters—her face-to-face with Waters, specifically. She’s not nervous enough about this meeting. She’s not ready and I’m to blame. I was with Waters for two years and already I’m in her bed and playing protector. If she underestimates him as she has me, she’ll end up dead.

  “You aren’t taking Waters seriously,” I say, closing the space between us, my hands catching her slender waist, which is cinched tight over a pink dress that hugs her curves.

  Her hands go to my hands at her waist, as if she’s almost ready to push me away, which works. She needs to read my agitation and read it well.

  “I take him plenty seriously, Adrian,” she says. “I’m doing this to save lives. What is your problem right now?”

  I walk her backward until she hits the sink, my legs caging hers. “I didn’t ask for immunity for nothing. Don’t underestimate me.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Because I fucked you? Do you think that protects you?”

  “Okay, that’s it. I want out of this bathroom.”

  “Not yet. I’m not done with you. Is that what you’re going to say to Waters? I’m not afraid of you?”

  “I told you. I’m not naïve.”

  “And yet, I spent the night at your house. How easily you trusted me.”

  “Because it’s you.”

  “Me? You don’t even know me let alone what I did to ask for immunity. I know I have a certain level of protectio
n and I’m still asking for it, Pri.”

  “I have your references.”

  “Blake knows the man I let him know and I learned that from the master himself: Waters.” My gaze sweeps the curve of her breasts and lifts. “You look like an angel in that dress, Pri. The kind a man goes to sleep thinking about. He devours angels. He obsesses over how to turn them or hurt them.”

  “I’m not an angel,” she bites out.

  “He’s sneaky. He’ll seem like Prince Charming and he could kiss you while he’s working to destroy you.”

  “He sounds like my father.”

  “Not even close. Your father manipulated you because he wanted you to follow in his footsteps. Waters wants you to kneel for him. And even if you do, you’re just a disposable soldier. He will slice your throat and laugh about it.”

  “I’ve read his file. You remember that, don’t you?”

  “His file doesn’t tell you shit. Why do you think he wants me dead? I know what you don’t know.”

  “Okay. Can you let me off the sink now?” She presses on my unyielding chest and I catch her hands. “No. I’m not done with you.”

  “We’re done. Completely. I made a mistake. You made your point.”

  My fingers tangle in her hair and I drag her mouth to mine, my hand pressed between her shoulder blades, molding her close. “What point is that?”

  “You’re dirty. I’m just bad. There’s a difference.”

  “And here I thought you liked it when I’m dirty.” I brush my lips over hers and she trembles in my arms.

  “What are you doing, Adrian? I don’t want—”

  “I do. I want.”

  “An angel you can destroy?” she challenges.

  I pull back and cup her face, tilting her gaze to mine. “Never. I will never hurt you. You know that. I know you know that.”

  “And yet you don’t trust me to know better with Waters?”

  “I’ve watched too many people underestimate him, Pri. I’m just trying to protect you.”

  “By being an asshole? I’ve got enough of those in my life, Adrian. I don’t need another.”

  “And I’ve had too many people die in my life. I don’t want you to be next.”

  She studies me, searching my face. “He really affects you, doesn’t he?”

  “You really affect me. I don’t want your trust in me to impact how you see him.”

  “Then next time, just say that.”

  There’s a knock on the door. “We have a line out here,” Adam calls out.

  I lean in and kiss her and she really is the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted. “Change this damn dress,” I order. “Wear something black and baggy.”

  She laughs and there’s another knock on the door. “Seriously,” I add. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” She runs her hand over my cheek and when she tries to step away, I catch her hand again. “I’m sorry.”

  She turns back to me and pushes to her toes, kissing me. “You’re not the monster you think you are, Adrian. Monsters don’t stop someone from walking out a door to apologize.” With that, she grabs her briefcase and hurries to the door, exiting while Adam enters.

  “They all think I’m next in line,” he says, shutting the door. “How the fuck are we going to walk out of here together without the line of women waiting outside thinking we’re knocking boots or some shit?”

  “I’ll go first,” I say, amused by his distress. “I need to protect Pri.”

  “You mean you’ll go first because the last one out gets to explain what we’re doing in here. You owe me on this one.”

  I’m laughing as I exit to find four women waiting. I wiggle an eyebrow at them and say. “He’ll be right out. He has to fix his make-up.” There are a couple of gasps that would amuse me more another time. Right now, I’m thinking about Pri’s declaration that I’m not a monster. She’s wrong and the only way to take down Waters is for me to prove that to her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  PRI

  After leaving the coffee shop, I Uber home and change clothes.

  Not that Adrian got to me, but I still feel more comfortable in a black skirt and black jacket with a cream-colored shell. Basic outfit. Basic attorney. I’m just going to meet Waters as part of a job. I decide that’s how I need to approach this meeting.

  I’m in my kitchen, finishing a slice of cold pizza, just like my old college days, about to punch in my request for a car when Adrian calls. “Did you change?” he asks.

  “Why would I change?”

  “You changed, didn’t you?” he teases.

  “Because you made me paranoid about the dress,” I defend.

  “I liked the dress, Pri,” he says, his voice a low, rich baritone that reminds me of his hands on my body, his mouth everywhere. “Too much for Waters to see you in it, but,” he adds, before shifting to all business, “that’s not why I’m calling. Savage just finished up a meeting with Ed to talk about the seriousness of the threat against him. Savage is going to be staying with him until this is over.”

  “I’m honestly shocked,” I say, perching on a barstool. “I mean, I assumed he’d accept protection to some degree, but I thought it would be harder than that. Ed tends to play macho man and so far he’s declined protection.”

  “Savage scared the shit out of him, which isn’t hard for Savage. Deleon won’t win if he comes at Ed when Savage is around.”

  “Is he openly protecting him?”

  “No,” he says. “We want to maintain a covert operation to surprise Deleon.”

  “I assume Ed doesn’t know about the Waters meeting?”

  “No. I didn’t talk to Savage until after you left the coffee shop.”

  “I’m hoping that talk with Savage really did scare him, and therefore he’ll be in the right state of mind to discuss the Waters meeting.”

  “You think he’ll want to make a deal?”

  “I think a three for one right before an election will sound appealing.”

  “Waters won’t make a deal. Not unless it’s something insane that gets him right back on the street and that would make the DA look stupid.”

  “I don’t think Ed would make a deal that got Waters back on the street on his watch, but ten years from now, maybe. That’s my fear. A sentence of twenty years with good behavior might allow that the happen.”

  “Waters won’t agree to ten years. He’ll kill Ed off first, which means I’ll have to convince Ed not to be stupid before he’s dead.”

  “I don’t want to know what that means, do I?”

  “It’s better than dead. Feel comforted.”

  “And on that note, a very slight change of topic. If Waters has Deleon coming for Ed, then at least the witnesses should be safe, right?”

  “They’re safe because they’re with us and not in the safe houses, but Deleon isn’t likely to be working alone.”

  “In other words,” I say, “you just burst that bubble.”

  “They’re with us, sweetheart. They’re safe.”

  It’s not the first time he’s called me sweetheart, but this time it does funny things to my belly. I’m confused by Adrian after that bathroom encounter and that’s not a good thing when I seem to be falling hard for him. “And you’re all about the truth?”

  “I haven’t lied to you, aide from the name thing, and I won’t.”

  “In other words, when you say you’re dirty, you’re dirty?”

  “I did things I’m not proud of, Pri. You know that.”

  “Are you going to tell me what those things were?” I dare.

  “Only the things that help you put Waters away.”

  That’s an honest answer and I read between the lines. He doesn’t want to tell me anything but will for the greater good, and that really is where his head rests. He could easily push for a deal for Waters to save himself the hell of his confessions, but he’s not. I mean yes, he’ll be granted his immunity deal,
but even with that in place, the world will know his sins. The burden is great. His bravery greater.

  “I’m speaking to you personally right now, Adrian,” I say, “not as a prosecutor, but as a woman. One day, when this is over if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

  “I won’t. You need to know I won’t.”

  “And you need to know that I’m okay with that, too.”

  He’s silent a moment and then he says, “You are not what I expected.”

  “You keep saying that.”

  “And you keep proving me right.”

  “And that’s still a good thing?”

  “It is. And so are you. I’ll see you sooner than you expect.”

  I open my mouth to ask what that means, but he disconnects.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  PRI

  Once I’m at the office, I unload my bag at my desk and head to the breakroom for coffee. I’ve just finishing doctoring a steaming cup my way when I hear, “Anything I need to know, boss?”

  At the sound of Cindy’s voice, I turn to find her joining me, looking pretty and petite in a pink dress. I’m not sure what the universe is telling me with her choice of attire, but I’m pretty sure it’s laughing at me.

  “What you need to know,” I reply, avoiding the topic of Waters, “is that coffee makes the world go round and,” I sip from my cup before adding, “never put tequila in it before going to talk to the DA, even when tempted.”

  She lowers her voice conspiratorially. “Is there tequila in your coffee?”

  “No,” I laugh. “I wouldn’t be standing.”

  “Oh true. I’ve seen you drink.”

  “Barely.”

  “Exactly the point. What’s happening? Why are you meeting with Ed again?”

  “I’m shocked you don’t already know since the defense likes to spread gossip like it’s butter on hot bread.”

  “Okay, you’re killing me here.” She shoves her hands to her hips. “What don’t I know?”

  “Waters wants to meet. He’s offering up three for one.”