Kenzie peeked at Porter out of the corner of her eye, and a sizzle swept through her as she observed him doing his job. Just like when she watched him at her bookshop, he was so focused, so determined, and it was damn sexy.
“We’ll get all these people identified and then we can go from there.”
Kenzie blinked, instantly realizing he had caught her staring at him, since his eyes were a little more heated. She cleared her throat, reaching for her latte in the cup holder by the gearshift. “What will that do exactly?”
“It’ll give us more knowledge. The more we have, the better we’ll be.” He placed the camera on his lap and grabbed his coffee, taking a sip. “Chloe is researching Adrik on her end and Sawyer is doing what he can, but I want to know who he surrounds himself with. Perhaps we can get one of them to talk.”
It all seemed so simple when he said it, but she didn’t think any of this was that simple. “To give us dirt on him?”
“That’s right. Anything illegal that Adrik might be involved in. There will be something that he can’t weasel his way out of, and we need to use that to build a case against him.”
Kenzie took another sip of her latte, tasting the vanilla hints. “You don’t plan to actually get him arrested, right?” That thought didn’t appeal to her in the least. She’d seen firsthand the type of guys Adrik had working for him, and she didn’t want to be the one responsible for putting him behind bars.
Porter’s expression softened at whatever reaction crossed over her face, and he gathered her hand in his. “My worry is only about you and your store.”
She smiled, touched by t
hat, of course she was. “You know, I gotta admit, if feels good to hunt him. All I’ve felt is hunted.”
Porter gave her hand a final squeeze before releasing it, and then he placed his coffee back in the cup holder and raised his camera, snapping more pictures. “Believe me, Adrik deserves a lot more than to simply feel hunted.” There was an edge to his voice, a possessive, deadly edge.
She wondered if that was simply because a Club Sin submissive was being threatened, or if it was because she was being threatened. The question hung on the tip of her tongue, needing to get out and finally put all this confusion to rest. Yet doubt swept through in nearly the same second. She’d already asked the few questions to see where Porter’s head space was, and he’d given her enough answers for her to conclude he helped her only because it was his duty to her as her Dom.
Duty, not love, she reminded herself.
There was a fine line, but it was such a powerful line that a submissive couldn’t lose sight of it. And Kenzie couldn’t lose sight of it, not if she was to come out of this arrangement with her head held high.
Porter placed the camera on the backseat and then started the car. “I think we have enough for now, and it’s getting late. You must be tired.” Without waiting for her to reply, as if he simply knew the exhaustion weighing on her, he did a U-turn to avoid driving by Adrik.
A few moments passed as the loud engine roared around her before he asked, “I’ve been curious about something. How did you get into owning a bookstore?”
“The store belonged to my gran. When she died, it was left to me.”
“Is that who raised you?” he asked, taking a hard left.
“She raised me since I was eleven years old.” The moment the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake.
Porter, of course, quickly caught on. “Were you with your mother and father before that?”
“Just my mother. I’ve never met my father,” she replied, quickly turning away from him with a hard lump forming in her throat. “I don’t have daddy issues or anything. He wasn’t ever around, so it’s not like I missed out.”
“I never said you had issues,” Porter muttered in a tight voice, passing through the stoplights and taking a right. “I admire that strength in you. It’s impressive how you never let something that someone else does affect you.”
She noted the hard edge in his features and the tension in his jaw. Yet she also knew what he said wasn’t quite the truth. The heartache in her past affected her all the time. But her father—how could she miss someone she had never met? “Well, it seemed like it needed to be said.”
“Okay, then, now I know.” He gave a quick smile that seemed strained before he added, “Mind if I ask what happened to your mother?”
“She passed away when I was young.”
Sadness touched Porter’s voice. “Sorry to hear that, kitten.”
“Don’t be.” She shrugged, feeling the car closing in on her and wishing he’d go a bit faster so she could get out. “Such is life.”
“Not a life any young child should have,” Porter retorted, grimly.
She couldn’t reject the notion that it was hard, of course it was. But that’s why she’d always done her best to forget it. Which she had been doing quite well, until Porter came into the picture. “My gran made life better.”
Porter paused, a muscle flexing in his jaw, yet his voice was soft. “I’m glad you had her. The store is cute, and I’m guessing it reflects your gran, since it’s not your style.”