“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I was hertarget.” His chest heated. “I can’t trust her. She’s the damn enemy.” He bit out a growl.
“Rein in your anger, Dakota.”
“Like hell I will.”
“You two will have a hurdle or two to get over. Once you do, you’ll work well together. If you want to stay out of prison, you need to trust her completely.” As Luther stood, he said, “Don’t let the past dictate your future.”
What the hell does that mean?
The two men walked down the hall as Felipe exited the conference room. “She’s all set up.”
Dakota walked in and his brain stuttered to a screeching halt.
Holy fuck. Fuuuck. Fuck me.
His personal life slammed head-on into his professional one. When he and Providence locked eyes, she could not hide the surprise. Neither of them spoke. Neither looked away. Combative energy filled the room.
She was an undercover FBI agent and she’d played him for a damn fool. She’d used him and he’d fallen for it. Now, he was supposed to work with her. Which meant he had to trust her. Fury scrambled his thoughts. He wanted to charge out the door and never come back.
Fuck her. Fuck Luther. Fuck ALPHA. Fuck it all. I don’t need any of them.
At the moment that thought ended, clarity forged a crack in his anger.
Sammy.I need to protect my daughter.Dakota would force himself to work with her for the sake of his child.
“No introductions are needed,” Luther said, breaking the silence. “Providence, you have your new laptop. Stop by my office on your way out. Your job is to find Hastings’s killer. And protect Dakota.”
She shoved out of the chair. “Whoa. I’m not a babysitter or a damn bodyguard.”
“I don’t need protection,” Dakota bit out. “And I sure as hell don’t want it from her.”
“You both need to take this down several notches. If you don’t want to get arrested for Hastings’s death, you’ve got to work together.”
“I’m not under investigation,” Providence said.
“Not yet,” Luther replied. “Let me put this in perspective for you two. You were at the club, alone, for hours. You’re linked sexually. You both have access to rope, specifically black hemp rope. There’s no surveillance camera on the back door. Your alibi is flimsy.”
“I had no motive,” Providence said.
“Providence, you sat with Matt at the realtor banquet. If the police find out you were there, you go down in a blaze of ego, right along with Dakota.”
“What?” Dakota flipped his gaze to her. Silence reigned while he ran through the people he met that evening. “Ah, hell. You were Elaine Jones from Boston. I knew you looked familiar.” He rubbed the back of his neck, but the tension wouldn’t release.
This was a damn cluster fuck.
“Watch your backs…and each other’s,” Luther said. “I’ll leave you to sort things out. Do it fast. The clock’s ticking.” He left, shutting the door behind him.
Time for Dakota to face the enemy.
13
Oil and Water
Gritting his teeth, Dakota glared at her. She’d been lying to him from the beginning.Marketing consultant, my ass.
While he could have been impressed that she’d been so believable, he hated that he’d been duped. He had trusted her and she had deceived him. She was the damn enemy sent to gather evidence, build a case, then arrest him.
His blood ran ice cold. He was furious with himself for letting his guard down.
