16
Patrena
Tywin volunteered to escort me back to my room. The energy or whatever it was that bloomed between us each time we were in close proximity of each other had a hold on me and wouldn’t let up. The pulse in my neck went wild and all he had done was press a tender hand to my back before we began our climb up the stairs.
I sensed his eyes on me and found that I enjoyed the attention. My desires were growing heavier by the second with the energy that was steadily racing through my veins. A quick glance and as I expected, his gaze met mine accompanied by a devilish smirk.
How was I supposed to stop my lips from forming a deep smile? Damn, I had it bad for him, and him introducing me as his lady didn’t make matters any better.
He twisted the knob and shoved the door to my room open and waited until I had stepped inside. It pleased me that he followed, closing the door behind him. I strutted across the floor, sensing his eyes were on my ass and took a seat at the foot of my bed. I patted the area next to me, and without hesitation he stepped in and took the seat.
“Where’s Arlo?” I asked, forcing myself to stop at one question. There were a thousand more lined up, Like why didn’t I know you had a son? Who’s the mother? Are you two together?
“He’s still asleep. Probably jet lagged. I share custody with his mother, and he’s logged some sky miles. I get him every other weekend and most holidays, but today was a surprise since we weren’t expecting him until next weekend. He claimed he sweet-talked his mother into sending him this weekend since they received an extra day off for a holiday.”
“I bet he did. He’s an impressive kid. Good manners and already knows how to be a gentleman. He said you taught him how to ride horses, fish, and pitch a tent. He even showed me how to tie a non-slip knot.”
At that revelation, Tywin’s smile was the sad kind, not filling his face with life or shining through his beautiful eyes. I believed Arlo was a sore subject because of the shared custody thing.
“He’s the other part of the half secret you revealed to me, right? Best thing to happen to you from the worst thing that happened to you?”
He nodded, and although he didn’t elaborate on my statement, I was willing to bet that the mother was the worst thing that happened to him. Seeing Tywin appear anything other than vibrant and confident bothered me.
“Do you have a lot of work left? Did you find out anything about who might be after me and why?” I questioned.
He shook his head, but I caught the unreadable glint in his eyes before he glanced down, caressing my hand with a soft stirring of his fingertips.
“The men who attempted to take you today may be linked to the ones who robbed my father’s bank. They entered the mall’s parking structure in two vehicles, the SUV they attempted to shove you into and another one that was left on the second level of the structure. The vehicles were stolen, which takes away our ability to connect them to the men. However, the vehicle left on the second level was identified as one that was seen outside my father’s bank on the date and time it was robbed. A coincidence like that we can’t overlook. Facial recognition didn’t give up anything either.”
“If it turns out that the two incidents are connected, why would the men who robbed your father come after me?”
His shoulders dropped in defeat. “This may be a case of danger by association. You may have been spotted with Mecca and Desiree. Before today, I was always careful in my interactions with you, but that doesn’t mean someone hasn’t seen us together. All it takes is for an enemy to believe you’re important enough to us and they won’t hesitate to use you as a bargaining chip. This could also be from the inquiry alert on your tattoo.”
A sigh of frustration escaped. “I’m officially on someone’s radar now?” I muttered. “Fuck,” I whispered hotly, releasing a heavy sigh before letting my eyes slide close.
Tywin took my hand and brought it to his lap before tightening the hold he had on it. “Would you have a problem staying here at least until we get a good lead?”
“I don’t have a choice. I don’t want to catch a bullet and not know why or end up in the hands of someone who wants to trade me for money or even use my death for spite. We still don’t know why my tattoo is sparking interest either.”
“I’m sorry, Patrena,” he apologized, placing sweet kisses to back of my hand, his soft lips warm on my skin. If this was the way he apologized, he was always going to be forgiven. “I didn’t want any of this for you.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. You were honest in telling me that this was a possibility. Besides, I think we know I have secrets I needed to figure out years ago, but instead I decided to hide from whatever chaos was out there waiting.”
Tywin kept a caressing hold on my hand, his thumb rubbing absently along the back before he brought it to his lips again. It appeared he was unaware of his caring actions with me. They were natural, automatic.
The idea of being hunted down by killers had sent my nerves into a frenzy a minute ago, but I’d be damned if it didn’t feel like Tywin was chasing the stress away from me with his light caresses.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked. “With the search, I mean,” I added, hoping I hadn’t hinted at where my sexually-charged mind was traveling to despite all the drama swirling.
“I’m done for tonight, but I’d like for you to sit with me tomorrow and run through everything that happened today. We’d also like you to view the footage Rhi collected from the mall and around the city. He’s editing a lot of it and will have it ready by morning.”
“Yes. Whatever you need me to do. No offense, but I thought you guys didn’t like to include outsiders or females in this type of thing. And, we still don’t know what type of bombs are embedded in my past.”
“None taken. We don’t believe in that type of exclusion. You may know something that can help us. Besides, I happen to know that all the sweetness you give off is a cover for the bad girl hidden underneath. I know what you do outside of work, remember? And based on how well you handled that weapon today, I’m betting your keepers taught you more than how to hide.”
This man was good at reading my ass, so good, in fact that it was scary.
“Also, we haven’t solved the mystery of the extra guns that were there to help Mecca with the Overtown Haitian situation. I was there, boots on the ground and none of us had a clue, only that they were well-trained and very discreet,” he said with a brow lifted expectantly.