She knew this man. She knew who he was.
“You keep killing your father,” she said quietly, emotion keeping her from speaking any louder. She felt hollow, emptied out. “Is that it, Cruz?”
He gave her a startled look. “I never said I killed my father.”
“You said there was a hit.”
“I never said I was the one who did it.” His eyes were bright. Wide. Perspiration started to bead on his brow.
“You didn’t have to.” She took a step closer. “I know you.” She took another step. “You avenged your mother’s death. You found something you were good at.” She stopped with four feet between them.
Everything in her wanted to hold him, but she stood her ground. She was ready to meet him halfway. But he wasn’t budging. Either physically or emotionally. Close the gap. Come to me. Show me I’m more than a way to scratch an itch. More than a job on your scorecard. “You said you only killed people who were evil to the bone. You protected their victims. They were people who preyed on the small and weak. People like you were as a child. Am I right?”
Cruz plowed his fingers through his hair. “Jesus, Mia—”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Your instincts told you I wasn’t who I was painted to be. And you couldn’t kill me. You couldn’t do it now if you tried.”
He groaned and shut his eyes tight for a moment before locking his gaze on her. “I have feelings for you.”
“I was falling in love with you.”
For several minutes she thought he’d turn tail and leave. But he stood there. Features tight, but blank and unreadable. Strong emotion held his body rigid before he spoke. “This is new territory for me. I never go into a new territory without surveilling and researching every angle. Yet, here I am.”
Not enough. And not a damn answer. Disappointment made her chest feel heavy, and she folded her arms around her waist, hugging herself when what she needed were Cruz’s arms around her. “While you figure that out,” she said coolly, unwrapping her arms and moving across to straighten some papers on the center island, “I have more immediate problems.”
Instantly the cool, calculating killer was back, his eyes sharpened, his body tightened. Emotions clearly weren’t his strength. “Stay here. I’ll find out who’s behind the hit and shut them down.”
“That’s not in your job description, is it? And you weren’t paid to protect me. My safety or lack thereof isn’t your concern. And frankly, I’m damned if I’m going to stay here and wait for you or anyone else to solve my problems. I’ve got a life to live, Cruz. I’m going home to finish my business at Blush. I’ll go through legal channels and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law everyone involved in this. Then I’ll go back to what I was doing with my life before this, and you, came into it.”
“I’ll be your bodyguard,” he said a little desperately.
“I’m not stupid enough to go into this unprotected. Not now, when I’m aware of the reality of these attempts.” She’d hired Black Raven to accompany her back home. They’d be on her jet when it arrived in New Orleans, and with her every moment until the people responsible were exposed and caught. “I neither need nor want your services. You’ve proven to be a security risk, and unreliable. I don’t trust you. I won’t ever trust you.” Come over here. Grab me, kiss me, and tell me you love me. Clearly, that wasn’t going to happen.
“You can’t be so stupid as to—”
“Not stupid. I run a multibillion-dollar company,” she told him, jaw tight. “I control every aspect of my life with efficiency and purpose. Not you or anyone else. I haven’t reached this level of success by trusting every—hell, any—good-looking guy capable of giving me a decent orgasm.”
“I care about you. I don’t want you hurt.”
Was that enough for him not to wake up in the middle of the night one night, and for him to decide he’d like to have the other 7.5 mil?
“How you feel is immaterial to me. I want you to leave now.”
She’d never see him again once they went their separate ways.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her up close to him until there was full body contact, as if that would keep her next to him. “For God’s sake, Mia, this isn’t a fucking business merger. This is life and death. You can’t go back to San Francisco.”
Anger welled up. Anger and hurt and yearning, all mixed up in one huge fucked-up nightmare of a tangle. And there was only one thing she could do to unwind it “Tie things up? Then what? You don’t give me permission for anything, Cruz. It’ll take time to resolve a multitude of critical issues and time to unravel who was responsible for hiring you and your cohorts.”