I sucked in a breath, then instantly regretted it. “You went to Mason Deveraux.”
He gave a curt nod. “I did. I gave him all of it, but I asked him to give us a chance to dig into the cops.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because you need to find out what you were on to that scared them enough to discredit you and destroy your career. And I’m going to help you do it.”
I started to tell him he didn’t have to help me, but he’d already told me he would.
I could still hear Nicole’s voice in my head, telling me my mother wished I’d been kidnapped and murdered instead of my sister. And that my father hadn’t wanted me to come home. I still believed something in me made me unlovable, so my brain grabbed the only explanation that felt safe…
What James felt for me was lust. If he wanted to help me, he was probably getting something out of it too.
It was easier to believe that then to think someone could really love me. Believing that was much too dangerous.
I also recognized it was fear talking. Fear of rejection, like I’d been rejected before. Fear of being hurt. I knew deep down I wasn’t unlovable.
But it was one thing to know something and another to truly believe it.
“Okay,” I finally said. “We can start in a couple of weeks.”
“No,” he said sternly. “They’re not going anywhere and they have no idea we’re onto them. We’re going to take two months.”
“Two months?” I asked in disbelief. “What are we going to do for two months?”
“I was thinkin’,” he said in a husky voice as his lips hovered inches over mine. “Maybe it’s time to take a vacation. I can’t remember the last time I took one. If ever.”
“So we’ll start when you get back from vacation?”
He chuckled against my lips. “Like hell I’m leavin’ you behind. You’re comin’ with me.”
It took a second for that to sink in. Part of me thought I should protest, but I couldn’t figure out why. “Where are we going?”
“Maybe somewhere warm with a beach. But if there’s somewhere else you want to go, we can go there instead.”
The urge to protest was strong, but for once, I was going to accept something good. “Okay,” I said. “A beach sounds great. But no crowds if possible. I don’t know if I can handle a lot of people right now.”
He kissed me tenderly, then lifted his head. “I’ll take care of everything.”
I drifted off to sleep soon afterward, and when I woke, I saw Louise walking into the room.
James rose from his chair and dipped his chin. “Deputy. I’ll let you two have some time together.”
Louise watched him walk out of the room and turned back to me.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked, starting to panic. If Louise knew, then the LRPD could find out.
“Malcolm called me,” she said. “He told me you were here under an alias, but he wouldn’t tell me how you got injured.”
“Huh.” I was genuinely shocked James had called her, but then I wasn’t. He knew she’d worry about me.
“I heard there was a human trafficking ring takedown early this morning,” she said. “They’re saying it was massive.”
“You don’t say,” I murmured weakly.
“What a coincidence you got stabbed and beaten early this morning.”
I grimaced. “Little Rock isn’t as small as people think.”
