The Private Serials Box Set(58)

We both collapsed, panting, trying to catch our breath, each on our  respective sides of the bed. When I finally felt as though my heart  wasn't going to gallop away, I turned, wrapped my arm around her waist  and pulled her toward me. When she was secure against me, her back to my  front, I brushed her hair aside and kissed her temple. I heard her  exhale a shallow breath, then she settled into her spot, snuggling down.

"Love you," she murmured, which I understood as her telling me goodnight.

I smiled, as if I could help it, and whispered into her ear, "I love you too, sweetheart."

I sighed as she drifted off to sleep, resigned to having our much-needed  conversation the next day. I smiled to myself as I vowed not to let her  distract me with hot, drunken sex again.





Chapter Five

The next morning, I didn't waste any time getting Lena to listen to  everything I had to say. I woke up early, brewed coffee, cut up some  fruit, and set it all out on the balcony. Then I gently woke Lena,  asking her to meet me for breakfast overlooking the ocean. A few minutes  later, when she joined me, I let myself drink her in. Her face was soft  from sleep, her hair pulled up high and piled atop her head, and she'd  put on one of my button-up shirts. She looked delectable, but I couldn't  let myself get distracted.

She came up beside my chair and leaned down, pressing a kiss against my  lips, then sat down next to me, taking a sip of her coffee.         

     



 

"It's gorgeous out this morning," she said, her voice still raspy and fucking beautiful.

I smiled in response because I knew if I opened my mouth some cheesy  bullshit about nothing comparing to her beauty would fall out of it, and  I would mean every word.

"Do you remember how every night, back in Portland, I would sleep in my Lotus outside your house to make sure you were safe?"

She looked confused by my question; I had obviously started a conversation she wasn't prepared for. "Um, yeah."

"I need you to remember that. I need you to remember that, since the day  I met you, I've done everything I could to keep you safe. Remember  that, and trust me. Can you do that?"

"You're scaring me, Preston."

"I'm not trying to scare you, sweetheart, but I do have something to  tell you and it will go more smoothly if you just keep that in mind-that  I've always been focused on you and your safety and your happiness."

She nodded, her expression a little hesitant.

"Yesterday, at the luau, I took a phone call."

"Right, from Parker." Her face paled and I watched as she became instantly panicked. "Oh my God, is he okay?"

"Parker is fine, but it wasn't him on the phone. It was Edgar." I waited  as my words sunk in and watched as realization came over her face.

"The man who tailed us the night of the gala?"

"Right."

"Why would he be calling you? Isn't he the man you were working for when  we met? I thought Derrek got what he wanted and all that was over?"

"Well, it turns out Derrek got what he wanted, but Edgar didn't. Derrek  was in deep with Edgar and owed him a lot of money. When Derrek  disappeared, he did so before he paid Edgar back. And now Edgar wants  his money."

"Sucks to be Derrek," Lena said just before popping a strawberry in her  mouth, chewing with more force than necessary. I tried not to smile at  her sass, but I lost that struggle, my mouth curling upward. Fuck, she  was perfect.

"It does suck to be Derrek, but that's not really news. News is, Edgar  wants me to find Derrek." Lena stopped chewing, her eyes locked on mine.  When she moved again, it was to speak.

"I thought you knew where Derrek was."

"I did know where he was-a week ago. I haven't kept up any investigative  work since I've been here. I could probably find him again, and there's  also the chance he hasn't moved at all. But that's not all Edgar  wants."

"What else?" She sounded nervous.

"He wants me to kill Derrek." I didn't know how else to put it to her,  didn't know any other words to say. It was blunt and to the point, but I  figured she needed it that way. Needed to know exactly what was  happening. Exactly what we were facing.

"Kill him?" Her voice was shrill and scared.

I nodded in response. She remained quiet for a few minutes and I watched  her profile as she looked out to the ocean. She blinked and she  breathed, but she did nothing else. Finally, she turned back to me, her  eyes worried.

"If I ask you a question, do you promise to be completely and one hundred percent honest with me?"

"Yes," I answered instantly.

"I'm not kidding, Preston. I need the truth, even if it changes everything. I need you to give it to me."

"Ask me."

"Have you ever killed anyone before?"

"Never." My answer came immediately and with force. I pushed the word  out as if it weighed a thousand pounds. I needed her to believe me,  needed her to realize that not only was I telling the truth, but also  that killing people wasn't something I did. I turned toward her and made  sure she was looking me in the eye before I continued. "I am not a  thug, a gangster, or a mob boss, Lena. I am a clean, law-abiding private  investigator. I got caught up in one questionable job to protect my  sister. One. And that job led me to you, so I can't regret it. But I am  not crooked. I promise you that." I sighed, feeling some tension leave  my body with my words. "I might have killed Piper's ex, I wouldn't have  cared at the time if I had, but that was different. That was me  protecting my baby sister. He lived. But I've never killed anyone. Not  for the job and not for any reason."

"Okay," she whispered. I reached my hand out and wrapped it around the  back of her neck, pulling her over to me, our bodies stretching out to  meet each other's, my forehead gently touching hers.

"You believe me?"

"Of course I believe you," she whispered gently.

I sighed out my relief. Of course she believed me. I pressed my mouth to  hers, kissing her just barely, then let her go, resting back into my  chair. "I'm not going to kill Derrek." I looked over at her just in time  to watch her nod. "Edgar wants him dead, but we'll find a way to work  around that."

"Do you think if Derrek gives Edgar his money, he'll leave him alone and let him live?"

"I honestly don't know. My instincts tell me no. Edgar may not be the  most prominent boss out there, but he's still dangerous and definitely  means business."

"Wait," Lena said, new worry and panic filling her voice. "If you don't kill him, won't Edgar then come after you?"

"Let me worry about Edgar, sweetheart."

"Where was Derrek the last time you tracked him?"

"Caribbean."

"Do you think he's still there?"

"I don't know. He moved around a bit at first, then landed there and  didn't leave for a few days before I found him, but that doesn't really  mean anything. He could be anywhere."

"I assume that means you'll have to go wherever you end up finding him."

I sighed. "Yeah, these aren't the kind of conversations you have with someone over the phone. I have to go wherever he is."

Lena turned to look back out to the blue sea. "I want to go with you,"  she nearly whispered, her words so light and soft, almost as if she were  afraid to say them, afraid of how I would respond.

"You know I never want to be away from you, but this isn't safe."

"I need to go with you."

"I need to know you're safe, Lena. I need to do my job without worrying whether or not you'll get hurt."

"And I'm supposed to just stay here and wonder whether or not you're safe? That isn't fair to me. That will drive me insane."

"What if you went to Portland and stayed with Parker?"

"I am not going to Portland. Not now. Not yet."

"Portland, with Parker, is the safest place you could be right now,  Lena. The only place where I would know someone would be watching out  for you."

"And who would be watching out for you? Edgar? Derrek? What if Parker came with us?"

This was not an angle I'd considered. Parker was someone I could always  count on, and I had used him before in my work, but not in this way. I  had never asked Parker to help me with something so fundamentally and  obviously illegal. I didn't want him knowing anything about what was  going on. I couldn't implicate him that way. "He can't know what I'm up  to, Lena. That would mean, if I were caught, he'd be an accomplice. I  can't do that to him."

"Now you think you're going to get caught?" She was almost to the point  of panic. Her face was pained, eyebrows arched toward the sky, hands  gripping her thighs, and I swore I could see her pulse beating in her  neck.

"Lena, baby, Derrek isn't dangerous. He's got money, but that's all. He  doesn't have contacts-and even if he did have any, he's abandoned all of  them, gone dark. I'm not planning on getting caught. But if something  were to go wrong, I wouldn't want you and Parker there. It's just not  worth the risk."