He shrugs. “I have teams of people who can handle the optics. If you prefer, I can fly us to Paris. Tokyo. There’s a lovely B&B in southern Tuscany with only ten rooms and a wood-fired stone oven. Best bread of your life. My private jet is on standby. We can be there by dawn.”
I grab my water glass and take a gulp, washing down the delicious meal. “No. Where were you the night of the sixteenth? And the eighteenth?”
“Don’t you remember?” His voice drops to a purr. “I was at Club Empire with you.”
I steel myself to stay upright. My body wants to melt, remembering those scenes with him. “I mean after I left the club.”
“Monday night, I took a car back to this office and worked for a few hours. Then I went to my penthouse to sleep. I have security footage and employees who will swear to it.”
Footage can be doctored. Employees can be coerced.
“Wednesday, I was at a broadcast for the Miss Olympus Beauty Pageant. Then, I returned to Roy Manor. My house manager, Hamish Hitcock, can corroborate.”
He has an answer for everything. “How long did the broadcast take?”
“Filming wrapped up around midnight.” But midnight was when he was with me. I just caught him in a lie, but I’m the only witness.
I stare at him. “And you were there the whole time?”
“According to the footage.”
“You could’ve recorded your portions earlier.” That’s what he did so he could leave early and be at Club Empire to tie me up and hold me.I have gloves.
“I could’ve. But I have an entire television crew who will swear I was there.” He smiles the smile of a rich man who can buy all the alibis he needs.
I’m helpless to stop this from unfolding exactly how he wishes. He won’t even have to admit he was at Club Empire. He owns the television studio. He could easily sneak out a back door, take a car to Club Empire, and then go home. Somewhere in there, he killed someone and left the body on my stoop.
Like a cat bringing its owner a gift.
I stare at him, studying his handsome features. He’s calm under my scrutiny. A man so assured of his power, his dominance, his place in society. He’s an apex predator, through and through.
“You think you’re above the law.”
He doesn’t deny it. “The law is flawed. And even if it worked perfectly, it wouldn’t be enough. The man who killed my parents had never murdered anyone before.”
My breath gushes out of me like I’ve been punched.
“I’m sorry.” I can sense his sadness, a deep blue ocean shrouded in a midnight sky.
“I know.” His hand moves, but I snatch mine into my lap before he can touch me. I’m weak around him, and he knows it.
“I apologize. I shouldn’t have brought it up like that.” He’s watching me so intently. I wonder if he can sense what I’m seeing psychically. He lowers his voice. “I know you feel things deeply.”
I shake my head as if to deny it. It’s not fair that he can intuit so much about me. “It’s okay.” I make my voice stronger. “It’s part of who you are. I’ve been researching you.”
“It’s only fair.” Now he’s back to arrogance, and it’s easy to reignite my temper. No matter how much I research, I have a long way to go before I catch up to what he’s learned about my life.
“You knew about me?” I can’t stop myself from asking, desperate to know what he’s uncovered about my life. No one knows my full history. No one. “Did you look into me before I came to the city?”
“Yes.”
“Before L.A.?” I moved to California a year after I graduated from the police academy, where I’d already made a name for myself unofficially consulting on cases for the FBI.
He hesitates. “One day, Inara, I’ll tell you the truth.”
My breath comes faster, my body prepping me to run. “Tell me now.” If he knew me before California. . . he’s been watching me for years.
“This isn’t the time. You’re not ready.”
