"Did you bring me in here because you wanted to talk about something?" I asked, not wanting to ruin the moment.
He lazily traced circles around the bruise he left on my breast. His hand stilled. He exhaled sharply. Irritated.
For once, I didn't think it was aimed at me.
"If you don't want to talk about it…” I started.
"I have to," he said. "I should have told you before I got sidetracked." He picked his head up and smiled sardonically. "It's your fault, you know. If you weren't so fucking hot."
I poked him in the chest with my fingernail. "I'm not so hot you couldn't have focused if you wanted to."
He caught my finger and brought it to his lips, kissing me, before letting it go again.
"Says you. You don't understand how distracting you are." His voice was joking but his eyes were troubled.
"Out with it then," I insisted. Evidently it was my turn to be the bossy one.
He dropped his head back and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. "You know how I said Forrest asked me for a favor?"
"Yes," I said carefully. "He wanted you to kill one of us?"
He glanced back over at me. "No."
"Something worse?" I asked tentatively.
Okay, I wasn't sure whatcouldbe worse, but men like Forrest had no moral compass. Nothing was off the table.
"He asked me to rewire his house in the Hamptons." Jules winced.
For a moment I thought I misheard. Hesoundedlike his father asked something horrible.
"Is that all?" I asked slowly. "Was he asking you to work for free?"
Jules snapped his fingers. "That might be it. I knew he was evil."
We both managed a short laugh.
"No, I think it was his intention to pay me," Jules said after a moment. "He's asked me before. Believe it or not, he tips well."
"Not," I said immediately. Forrest Cross didn't seem like the kind of man who'd bother with a little detail like tipping well.
"That's fair," Jules said. "I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it."
"You might have to show me the paperwork later," I said jokingly. "When did he want you to do this?" This whole thing was starting to smell more suspicious than a week-old corpse in the sun.
“Tomorrow,” Jules said, curling his lip. "I have jobs booked but I told him I'd put them off, if he agreed to stay away from me and Cass. It seemed like a good trade-off.”
"Right," I said, Thoughts turned around in my mind. "Did he look like he had an ulterior motive?"
"He definitely had an ulterior fucking motive," Jules said. "I can think of a few off the top of my head. Either he plans to be there next week and wants to try to make amends or…"
"Or he wants you out of the city and away from me," I said. "If that's the case, then he knows about us."
"Or he suspects," Jules said. "Cass works for you. It's not too much of a stretch to think he wants me out of the way because Cass is my brother. He knows I'd do anything to protect him, including protecting you. He might assume I don't know anything about your relationship with him."
"Right." Of course, this was all speculation. We had no real way of knowing what Forrest knew. It made sense that he might want one of his sons away from impending trouble. On some level, he must still care. Thinking of him as a cold, unfeeling monster was easy. He was one. But for some reason, he wanted Jules safe.
"Is he trying to reach out to Cass?" I asked. "Cass works for me, but that doesn't mean we're involved."
