“I would have insisted she list someone else, if I’d caught that,” Mavis said.
“Did she talk about family?” Emerson asked. “Mention a friend by name?”
“No, sorry.” Mavis sighed. “I learned a lesson. Get to know my staff.”
“Did she have any friends here I can talk to?” Emerson asked.
Stryker rose. “I got this.”
“Thanks for your time,” Emerson said to Mavis.
“I hope you catch him or her,” Mavis replied.
With a nod, Emerson followed Stryker out. They walked down the hallway in silence. Most people made conversation, but not this one. His frustration rolled off him like angry waves crashing against the shoreline in a violent hurricane. But she wasn’t deterred. Her new “partner” hadn’t intimidated her a year and a half ago and he wasn’t intimidating her now.
As they approached the elevator, she snuck a peek at him. His dark brows angled down while muscles in his jawline ticked.
Stopping in front of the elevator, he crossed his arms over his massive chest. “I don’t want to work with you, but I want to catch April’s killer.”
“Ditto.”
His eyebrow arched. “We agree on something.” Then, he stepped so close his delicious scent—a combination of leather and soap—filled her soul. He smelled so good, so intoxicatingly sexy.He smells like a man.
“I need you to see something on the surveillance.” His voice had dropped to a husky whisper, sending heat blasting her chest.
His gaze seemed to strip her bare while chaotic energy swirled around them. All she could do was breathe him in and relish everything Stryker. The attraction was powerful…and infuriating the hell out of her. She was stronger than this. He was just a man. A gorgeous, agitated man who hated her for doing her job.
Despite the silent battle raging between them, she liked feeling his fury and seeing the heat in his eyes.
“What do your employees know about April?” Emerson asked.
“After the club closed last night, I told them she died,” Stryker replied. “That was all I said. The staff talk. If the killer works here, I don’t want to tip them off. This stays between us.”
“Nothing like a shit-ton of secrets from my confidential resource to get a girl’s blood pumping.”
Strangely, a smile tugged at his lips. “I need to bring you into my office.”
“Okay…and?”
“No one comes into my dungeon.”
“Because they never make it out alive?”
His lips twitched as he tapped the elevator button. “Because it’s private.”
The elevator doors swung open, but she didn’t move. “I’m taking the stairs.”
They walked down the three flights in an icy silence. Back on L1, Stryker led her through the noisy space where bodies were pressed together on the dance floor.Are they searching for Mr. or Ms. Right or just looking for some late-night fun?
Emerson’s world was so different from theirs.
Stryker stopped in front of a door marked “Private”. After the retina scanner flashed green, he pushed open the door. She entered another stairwell leading down.
“Your office is in the basement?” she asked.
“Right.” He took a few steps, turned back.
A cold sweat blanketed her and she hugged herself from the sudden chill. He furrowed his brow. “Are you uncomfortable being alone with me?”
