“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, huh?”
“If the shoe fits.” I was pretty sure I stood in front of Mr. Hyde.
He nodded. “I use the tattoos to hide my scars.”
And with that, he walked out.
How could my heart ache for the man and my brain scream not to trust him? All his little secrets, lies by omission, warred with my heart—which did trust him. But had he owed me those truths? Were his secrets lies by omission if he hadn’t owed me the truth?
I’d been in his place without his permission. Neither of us had been at fault there. Could I blame him for not waking me? I had been sleeping naked that night. He’d done me a kindness by not startling me. It also explained why Griffin had showed up looking for someone that night.
And the rest… we’d worked through that. So why did it feel as if fate was placing roadblocks in our path? Here he’d been confronted by a vicious woman, and how had I supported him? By telling him I didn’t trust him. He honestly appeared to have known nothing about the inheritance.
I had no idea where to find him in this big house, but I raced to find him.TwentyLizzyTalk about winded! After racing up two flights of stairs and not finding him, I retreated down. In the lower level, I found him swimming laps in the pool Griff had mentioned. Striker’s clothes were in a heap not too far from the edge, leaving him gloriously naked.
He didn’t react at my approach, which gave me time to admire the view as he swam away from me in water as blue as his eyes.
What could I do to fix this?
He stopped at the other end, folding his arms over the edge while looking out the windows. I stepped forward, but my phone buzzed in my pocket. After checking the screen, I backtracked up the stairs as silently and quickly as possible.
“Matty,” I said when I stepped into the main hall. I moved toward the library. “Holy hell, butthead, I’ve been worried sick.”
“I know, I’m sorry. This is the first chance I’ve had to call.”
There were crowd noises, or maybe music, in the background.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“In a phone store.”
“That doesn’t sound good. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, pretty sure. I’m just being careful. They bought that Mr. Black business. In fact, you could say it earned me street cred for banging his wife.”
“Eww, that’s gross.”
“Hear me out. The fact that they thought I was a badass for taking that risk is bad news. Mr. Black is bad news.”
“You mean Connor?” It was getting easier to say that name.
“Whatever he calls himself, he’s in some bad shit.”
“He’s not,” I said automatically.
“It’s just not the streets, Lizzy. The FBI are planning to raid his club tomorrow night.”
“Wait. No.” I glanced back to listen for Striker. When I didn’t hear him, I headed upstairs to put more distance between him and me. “You have to stop it. He’s trying to get the bad guys, not work with them.” I couldn’t explain more without revealing Striker’s secrets.
“He’s connected to a human trafficking ring. He’s on a list of potential buyers for a sale going down this week. If you’re with him, and I think you are, you have to leave now.”
I stopped at the fourth-floor landing. I hadn’t truly explored. When I’d been up here earlier, I’d blown through, just looking for him. “I’m not leaving. This isn’t right. You don’t know him.”
“How much do you know about him? Did you know the club he owns, Flame, is a sex club?”
I hadn’t at first. “Yes. And I’ve been there.”
“Spare me the details. Look, if this guy gives a shit about you, do you think he’ll want you to go to jail for him?”
He wouldn’t.
“I didn’t think so,” Matty said when I didn’t answer.
“I’ll warn him.”
“You can’t. If you do, I could lose my job if they find out who’s the leak.”
I pressed a hand to my forehead. This couldn’t be happening.
“You need to go. That’s the best thing you could do for him.”
“Matt, do something. This isn’t right. Trust me. I would never lie to you. But I can’t tell you all of it. He isn’t guilty. I swear.”
“Leave, Lizzy. For all I know, they’ve upped the date. I’m not on the task force for that case. I’ve only been notified because it’s loosely connected to mine. They could be looking for him now. I’ve talked to Kalen. He’s expecting you at his place.”
“Why’d you do that?”
“I know how stubborn you are. And I only told him you needed to crash at his place tonight. Nothing else. But you need a buffer between you and Connor. One minute you’re pretending you don’t give a fuck about him and the next you’re flying all over the world together. Do Mom and Dad even know you’re married?”