“How? How did you realize that you could trust her and her family with your secrets?” Why had he been able to accomplish what she hadn’t?
He lifted a shoulder and spread out his hands in front of him. “I don’t know. I guess I realized I’d rather take that risk than live with the fear that one day, she’d discover the truth from someone else. But . . . ” His lips pressed together in a straight line.
“But what?”
He paused, deep creases forming on his forehead. “That car accident. What happened?”
Her pulse kicked up a notch. She should’ve known her brother would ask. “Sawyer was driving us back to his hotel. The brakes didn’t work, and we ended up hitting a tree.”
He rubbed his hands on the knees of his sweats. “How do you know the brakes didn’t work?”
“He told me.”
His brow arched. “Did anyone confirm that? The police?”
“I don’t know,” she said, confused by his question. “He talked to them when the ambulance took me to the hospital. Why are you asking that?”
He placed his hand on her leg. “Because when you’ve lived the life of a con, you start to smell when one’s being played on someone else.”
Her body jolted at his accusation. “Me? You think Sawyer’s conning me?”
“Think about it. He shows up, and then your place is trashed. Maybe he did it himself or hired someone to do it to scare you.”
“Scare me? Why would he want to do that?” It didn’t make sense to her.
She was scared.
But for Sawyer.
He grimaced, his face growing pinched, as if it hurt him to have to say these things to her. “To get closer to you. You’re staying at his hotel, right?” At her nod, he continued. “I bet you wanted to stay somewhere else, but he insisted you stay with him. Am I right?” He shifted closer to her on the couch. “And then once you got there, he managed to charm you. Seduce you. Get you to rely on him and feel safe with him. And how do you know he didn’t lie about the brakes and hit the tree on purpose to keep you thinking your life was in danger?” He set both his hands on her thighs, his thumbs brushing the inside of them. “I know it’s been more than four years, Annie, but didn’t all that ring any warning bells for you?”
A sinking sensation wreaked havoc on her empty belly. Isn’t that what she’d originally thought at her condo? But she’d quickly dismissed the notion. “Yes, and I considered all that. You don’t know Sawyer. I do. He’s not like that. Besides, what would he have to gain from it?”
“Revenge. You fall back in love with him. Trust him. Tell him everything, including where that money you took from your joint account went and that there’s a journal of all the cons our family has ever pulled. Then he goes straight to the Feds with it. Just like you feared.”
Refusing to even consider it, she shot up from the couch. Sawyer wouldn’t manipulate her like that. Sure, she’d worried he’d go to the Feds, but not for revenge but to save her. “No. He wouldn’t do that to me. He loves me.”
“You sure about that?”
She ignored the churning in her gut. “Yes. I am.”
“I hope you’re right.” Her brother stood from the couch and gave her chin a little nudge. “Because if you’re not, it’s both our asses on the line.”
Chapter Twenty
HANGING UP WITH the cleaning service, Lisa removed the key to Sawyer’s suite from her purse, energized despite the late hour.
She’d spent the entire day with her brother chatting, eating pineapple pizza, and hanging out together like they used to when they were younger. He hadn’t brought up his theory about Sawyer again, and she’d been careful not to mention anything that would renew their conversation, including what she’d found in her office.
There were some things she and Asa would have to agree to disagree on, her husband being one of them. Maybe someday they’d learn to tolerate each other, but even if they didn’t, she refused to allow their petty behavior to bother her.
When she left Asa’s, she’d called Sawyer to let him know she was on her way home. He hadn’t mentioned finding anything more about the hit man, and she hadn’t had the lady balls to tell him he’d likely been barking up the wrong crazy tree. Chad Winters and his hired gun weren’t responsible for terrorizing her. She’d save that conversation for tomorrow, because tonight he had something planned for them, and she didn’t want to do a single thing to jeopardize it.
Standing outside the door to the suite, she moistened her lips with her tongue and brushed her fingers through her hair, preparing herself for him. Her nipples peaked, pressing against her blouse as she breathed heavily. Just the thought of what might be waiting for her sent arousal shooting through her body.