He tucks his hands in his belt and puffs out his chest. “We’re planning for a war. Twenty-One Purple is accusing a rival gang, but who knows?”
Rosalie chews on her lip.
Saul glances at me and looks at her. “Are you okay? You want me to escort you back to the office?” He sniffs again. Loudly. “Damn allergies.”
“I’ve got her,” I say smoothly. “You should get yourself a fucking tissue. The sniffing is annoying as hell.” For Rosalie, anyway. I grasp her arm and pull her away from him.
“Thanks for the evidence box,” she calls back.
He watches us go, and all of his buddies turn to do the same.
The sense of possession, of absolute ownership I feel right now makes every inch of me hot. “Is he someone you dated?” I ask mildly.
“We went out a couple of times,” she murmurs, her heels clicking on the tile flooring as we move. “There was no spark, so I let the whole thing fizzle.”
“Did you sleep with him?”
Her stride hitches and then she regains her gait. “That’s none of your business.”
“Wrong,” I say. “Dead wrong. Answer me or I’ll go ask him.” I’m not joking.
Her sigh is full of exasperation. “No, I didn’t sleep with him. Like I said, there wasn’t a spark. When there isn’t a spark, you’re not going to find one by getting naked.” She tries to yank her arm free, and I don’t allow her the freedom. “What if I had?”
I shrug. “Don’t know. But I wouldn’t want to be the only one in the dark in a conversation between you two.”
She shakes her head, and some of that glorious dark hair falls out of the clip, framing her heart-shaped face. “Last night was just one night, Alexei. Don’t start acting like we’re a couple. I know your past.”
The woman might know my past, but she’s my future. “Everything about you is mine, and the sooner you learn that, the better. We are a couple, and that’s final.”
The sound she makes is a soft one of disbelief. Actions speak louder than words, so I’ll just have to show her. “No more lunches with Saul.”
“I’ll lunch with whomever I want.” We walk outside into a sunny day. “That crack about his sniffing wasn’t necessary.”
“Watching you flinch like you’re being stabbed in the ear isn’t something I’ll accept. And if you lunch with Saul again, they’ll never find his body.”
Since she can’t pull her arm free, she makes do by side kicking me in the shin. Her heel glances off, and I barely feel it. Man, she’s cute. Never in my life have I seen cute and sexy combined in such an intelligent package. “Kick me again, and you’ll regret it.”
Her sharp intake of breath sounds heated. “Stop threatening me. Also, leave Saul alone. We don’t lunch anyway.”
Good to know. I’d hate to kill good old Saul, like I had Paco Gomez last night, slitting his throat, leaving not a trace from myself or any other gang. His former gang must be looking for a good fight. Considering the guy was trying to lure a thirteen-year-old girl into his car when I came up behind him, I didn’t think twice at crossing off the first name on Urbano Reyes’s list.
The other two gang members on the list don’t bother me much, but I need to investigate the businessman. All I know is that he owns one of the Silicon Valley startups.
Then there’s Ella Rendale. Rosalie’s friend. I’d like to figure out why Reyes wants her dead.
Unfortunately, a deal is a deal.
TWENTY-ONE
Rosalie
Back in my office after a quick lunch, I’m still chafing at Alexei being so bossy about me not leaving today until he picks me up. Yes, somebody vandalized my car, but it was because of him, not me, clearly. But he made me promise, and I don’t really want to break a promise to anybody.
It’s not that I’m afraid of him or afraid of what he’ll do, or at least I comfort myself with that thought. I hit speed dial on my phone.
“Yo,” Ella says. “What’s up?”
“Hey, I need a favor. I have a damaged security disc, and I was hoping you could do your magic.”
