Page 31 of Find Me

My thoughts race, piecing together bits and pieces of information, his name suddenly familiar to me. I look at him again as I realize I am sitting in front of one of the most notorious crime lords, having read cases about his uncle in law school.

Unsure of whether the whiskey is impacting my judgment, or if I truly don’t have a shred of survival instincts left, I clear my throat, ready to ask another question, wanting to know more about him.

“Your family is… notorious,” I say, choosing my words carefully. “Taking London by storm, and then the rest of the UK, before moving into the international market with their… business.”

He nods. “Sounds like you’ve been reading up about me.”

I blush. “It’s from school,” I say by way of explanation. “I was in school to become a lawyer, and I’m pretty certain I did a case study about your uncle once.” I feel a wave of embarrassment course through my body as I stumble over my words.

“So, um, what did you get caught for when you went to jail?” I ask, desperate to change the conversation away from my research about his family.

“Which time?” He fires back, taking another sip of his drink.

“The first time?”

“Petty theft.”

“That’s not too bad…” I muse, trailing off as I bring my glass to my lips again.

He smiles. “It’s not.”

“And the most recent time?” I put my glass down, slowly.

“They say I murdered someone,” he says, watching me closely.

My eyes flash to his as I feel the shock roll over me, not for the first time tonight. I should be afraid of him, but something in his gaze tells me I don’t need to be. There’s a kindness there that I’m not used to seeing from men, and it makes me feel safe in his presence.

“Did you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugs. “Depends on who you ask.”

“It’s kind of a yes or no question,” I say as amusement sparkles in his eyes.

“My lawyer says I didn’t, the judge says I did. They compromised and I went to jail for a couple months, only getting out thanks to a technicality my lawyer found. It was the first time I went to jail since I was a teenager,” he says casually, as if we were talking about the weather.

I try to do the math in my head. “And that was—”

“—Just after I saw you for the first time at Heat, after I so chivalrously saved you from a night of reckless abandonment.” His eyes bright.

I scoff at him. “If you thought that was reckless… you’ve seen nothing.”

“I saw you last night, and I must say, you’ve redefined reckless since then.”

“I’m glad I’m good at something,” I say, the sarcasm thick in my voice.

I look at him and our green eyes meet. I don’t look away as I begin to speak.

“Speaking of seeing me that first time… What did you mean when you said the fire in me has changed? I know a lot has happened since then, but I haven’t changed… I’m still the same person.”

He smiles, but I can sense sadness behind it.

“No, love, you’re not. You might think you’re the same, and you’re bloody good at pretending that everything is fine, but I can tell. There’s a shadow behind your eyes that wasn’t there the first time I met you. I don’t know everything that’s happened to you in the last few months, but whoever is responsible for that flicker of darkness in you, I will kill them.”

“You sound like a very stable individual with no anger issues whatsoever,” I say blandly.

He almost spits his drink out as he laughs, the shock on his face quickly replaced with a wide smile.

“No one has been this bold with me in a very, very long time.”

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