Better When He's Brave
Page 12
“That’s not safe. I saw the texts on his phone. Roark isn’t done with his rampage and he’s unhinged. He furious about something and it’s driving him to do what he’s doing. He wants the Point to fall and he’s going after everyone involved in holding it up after Novak went down. I’m sure he realizes you’re the one that turned him in and took the evidence needed to nail him. Things are going to be really bad for you.”
I laughed drily and lifted an eyebrow at him. I wished I had the nerve to walk up to him and wrap him up in a hug. I think we both really could have used one. “Things are always really bad for me. I had a few minutes of peace when I was pretending to be someone else and her skin never quite fit right. This is what my life looks like, Detective.”
His eyebrows pulled together and there was a noticeable tick in his jaw. “You do understand Conner will more than likely murder you when he gets his hands on you for double-crossing him? He burned down Nassir’s fight club on a night it was full of people. We pulled ten bodies out of the debris. Most of them were younger than you.”
I didn’t need a lecture about how cruel and coldblooded Conner was. I knew. The bastard had tossed the word love at me like I was an idiot. Like I was some simple girl that hadn’t grown up on the streets knowing what a chore it would be to love someone like me. A good man, a man with a purpose and a cause, would never throw the L-word so carelessly at a woman with a past like mine. Right then and there I knew he was up to something I wanted no part of. He thought he could tell me he loved me and I would be malleable and sweet. Instead I lied right back to him and set about really fucking up his plans. Served him right for underestimating me.
“I know what Conner is going to want to do to me if he gets his hands on me, so that’s why I came to you.”
I looked at him from under my long eyelashes and saw his mouth tighten when our eyes locked.
“You are going to keep me alive long enough to testify, Detective King.” He was going to keep me alive long enough that I could take Conner out before he took me, only Titus didn’t need to know that part of the plan.
“What makes you so sure of that, Reeve?”
I sighed heavily and pushed off the door. I walked over to him so that I had to tilt my head back and he had to look down slightly so that we could continue to meet each other’s gaze. He really was a brute of a man but it worked for him . . . and for me.
“Conner is going to know I’m the one who sold him out. I’m the reason he can’t operate out in the open anymore pretending to be good. He’s going to want me to suffer for that, but he’s not stupid and he knows all your fancy policeman tricks. This isn’t some uneducated thug dealing dime bags on the corner. He’s you, Titus, just the evil version.” I crossed my arms over my chest to mirror his pose and a small thrill raced through me when he couldn’t hide the way his gaze dipped to watch how my shirt pulled across my chest. He might not like me, but there was an attraction there he couldn’t always control. There was an inner part of him that pushed against his rough façade when we were within touching distance. That was the part I wanted to snuggle up with and curl around.
“You want Conner; then you’re going to need me to draw him out. He’s going to come for me regardless of what or who he has to get through to get to me, so you need to put me out there and then grab him when he comes for me.”
He was silent for a long, tense moment and I saw his Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed hard.
“Are you asking me to use you as bait? You want to me to throw you out there in an ocean of sharks when the water is already full of blood?”
I lifted my hands and pushed some of my hair off my face and let my head fall so that I was looking at the gross carpet between our feet. The toes of both of our boots were almost touching and everything inside of me longed to take that little, tiny step closer so that we would be in each other’s space.
“If I don’t testify against the rest of Novak’s guys, then my deal with the state goes away, and I’m looking at spending the rest of my life in jail. I’ve done some really awful things and I can’t let Conner pull apart what’s left of this place for no reason. I need you to keep me alive long enough to do what I promised to do, and you’re going to have to use to me draw Conner out. It’s the only way. If he went into hiding you’re going to have to give him a viable reason to show himself. He’s going to know that not only are you looking for him but so are the feds.”
Titus fell back a step and then started pacing again. I could have sworn the white spot in his hair spread a little wider after my declaration. Since I had spent the night in the filthy bed, I was less squeamish than he had been about sitting on it. I flopped down and watched him as he prowled back and forth in front of me.
“Oh, he has a reason for what he’s doing, I just don’t know what it is yet.” His eyes cut to me sharply. “What about going back into WITSEC under the supervision of another marshal?”
I shook my head and leaned back on my hands so that I was staring at the ceiling. There was an unidentifiable stain I hadn’t noticed the day before. Ugh. I needed to get out of this place before I caught something.
“No. If I go back into hiding then you’ll lose any chance you have of getting Conner to show himself, plus I already told you that clean and shiny skin doesn’t fit me right. I want to be here. I need to be here.” He would never understand that I felt like I not only owed it to Dovie after the way I hurt her, but I also owed it to the city. The Point sucked and there were no redeeming qualities about it, but I felt that way about myself as well and I still wanted someone to save me, someone to love me. The city and I were so similar I almost felt like I had to save it in order to save myself. If I lived that long. Titus didn’t look like he was ready to jump on board with my plan anytime soon. In fact he looked like he was about to pass out cold on his feet.
“Did you sleep at all last night?” The question was more personal than I should get with him but the words just slipped out.
He stopped pacing and his head dropped forward like it weighed a million pounds. He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck and his chest rose and fell in a huge sigh that sounded like it had the entire fate of the world inside of it.
“No. I was trying to figure out what to do with this Roark noise. I was making sure my dumbass brother didn’t do something now that he knows you’re back in town. I got home and was there for about twenty minutes when I got a callout about a dead hooker in the District. It took me two hours to track down an ID on her. When I went to notify her family I found out not only was she married but also had two little kids at home. She was tricking out because her old man likes to gamble and couldn’t hold down a job. That kind of shit is my everyday, so no, I don’t sleep much, even when I get the chance.”
I laughed drily and lifted an eyebrow at him. I wished I had the nerve to walk up to him and wrap him up in a hug. I think we both really could have used one. “Things are always really bad for me. I had a few minutes of peace when I was pretending to be someone else and her skin never quite fit right. This is what my life looks like, Detective.”
His eyebrows pulled together and there was a noticeable tick in his jaw. “You do understand Conner will more than likely murder you when he gets his hands on you for double-crossing him? He burned down Nassir’s fight club on a night it was full of people. We pulled ten bodies out of the debris. Most of them were younger than you.”
I didn’t need a lecture about how cruel and coldblooded Conner was. I knew. The bastard had tossed the word love at me like I was an idiot. Like I was some simple girl that hadn’t grown up on the streets knowing what a chore it would be to love someone like me. A good man, a man with a purpose and a cause, would never throw the L-word so carelessly at a woman with a past like mine. Right then and there I knew he was up to something I wanted no part of. He thought he could tell me he loved me and I would be malleable and sweet. Instead I lied right back to him and set about really fucking up his plans. Served him right for underestimating me.
“I know what Conner is going to want to do to me if he gets his hands on me, so that’s why I came to you.”
I looked at him from under my long eyelashes and saw his mouth tighten when our eyes locked.
“You are going to keep me alive long enough to testify, Detective King.” He was going to keep me alive long enough that I could take Conner out before he took me, only Titus didn’t need to know that part of the plan.
“What makes you so sure of that, Reeve?”
I sighed heavily and pushed off the door. I walked over to him so that I had to tilt my head back and he had to look down slightly so that we could continue to meet each other’s gaze. He really was a brute of a man but it worked for him . . . and for me.
“Conner is going to know I’m the one who sold him out. I’m the reason he can’t operate out in the open anymore pretending to be good. He’s going to want me to suffer for that, but he’s not stupid and he knows all your fancy policeman tricks. This isn’t some uneducated thug dealing dime bags on the corner. He’s you, Titus, just the evil version.” I crossed my arms over my chest to mirror his pose and a small thrill raced through me when he couldn’t hide the way his gaze dipped to watch how my shirt pulled across my chest. He might not like me, but there was an attraction there he couldn’t always control. There was an inner part of him that pushed against his rough façade when we were within touching distance. That was the part I wanted to snuggle up with and curl around.
“You want Conner; then you’re going to need me to draw him out. He’s going to come for me regardless of what or who he has to get through to get to me, so you need to put me out there and then grab him when he comes for me.”
He was silent for a long, tense moment and I saw his Adam’s apple dip as he swallowed hard.
“Are you asking me to use you as bait? You want to me to throw you out there in an ocean of sharks when the water is already full of blood?”
I lifted my hands and pushed some of my hair off my face and let my head fall so that I was looking at the gross carpet between our feet. The toes of both of our boots were almost touching and everything inside of me longed to take that little, tiny step closer so that we would be in each other’s space.
“If I don’t testify against the rest of Novak’s guys, then my deal with the state goes away, and I’m looking at spending the rest of my life in jail. I’ve done some really awful things and I can’t let Conner pull apart what’s left of this place for no reason. I need you to keep me alive long enough to do what I promised to do, and you’re going to have to use to me draw Conner out. It’s the only way. If he went into hiding you’re going to have to give him a viable reason to show himself. He’s going to know that not only are you looking for him but so are the feds.”
Titus fell back a step and then started pacing again. I could have sworn the white spot in his hair spread a little wider after my declaration. Since I had spent the night in the filthy bed, I was less squeamish than he had been about sitting on it. I flopped down and watched him as he prowled back and forth in front of me.
“Oh, he has a reason for what he’s doing, I just don’t know what it is yet.” His eyes cut to me sharply. “What about going back into WITSEC under the supervision of another marshal?”
I shook my head and leaned back on my hands so that I was staring at the ceiling. There was an unidentifiable stain I hadn’t noticed the day before. Ugh. I needed to get out of this place before I caught something.
“No. If I go back into hiding then you’ll lose any chance you have of getting Conner to show himself, plus I already told you that clean and shiny skin doesn’t fit me right. I want to be here. I need to be here.” He would never understand that I felt like I not only owed it to Dovie after the way I hurt her, but I also owed it to the city. The Point sucked and there were no redeeming qualities about it, but I felt that way about myself as well and I still wanted someone to save me, someone to love me. The city and I were so similar I almost felt like I had to save it in order to save myself. If I lived that long. Titus didn’t look like he was ready to jump on board with my plan anytime soon. In fact he looked like he was about to pass out cold on his feet.
“Did you sleep at all last night?” The question was more personal than I should get with him but the words just slipped out.
He stopped pacing and his head dropped forward like it weighed a million pounds. He lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck and his chest rose and fell in a huge sigh that sounded like it had the entire fate of the world inside of it.
“No. I was trying to figure out what to do with this Roark noise. I was making sure my dumbass brother didn’t do something now that he knows you’re back in town. I got home and was there for about twenty minutes when I got a callout about a dead hooker in the District. It took me two hours to track down an ID on her. When I went to notify her family I found out not only was she married but also had two little kids at home. She was tricking out because her old man likes to gamble and couldn’t hold down a job. That kind of shit is my everyday, so no, I don’t sleep much, even when I get the chance.”
