Page 67 of An Eye For Illusion

I make the move to start pulling her shirt up when my phone rings again. We continue kissing as both of us try to ignore the annoying intrusion. We’re successful when the phone finally stops ringing, only to immediately start up again.

Dammit!

If I didn’t think it might be something important, I would throw the damn thing against the wall. Unfortunately, I can’t ignore it any longer, not when whoever is calling is trying very hard to get in touch with me.

There are too many things in play right now—shit I can’t just ignore.

I break the kiss, both of us panting heavily. My cock is throbbing so hard it feels like it’s ready to explode.

“One second. I need to see who this is.”

She slides back like she plans to stand, but my hands reach forward and grab her around the hips.

“No.” My one word brings her to a stop, and she settles back down on to my lap.

I have no intention of stopping, not if I can fucking help it.

I look at my phone, and my heart sinks in disappointment before it then races at the thought of what this could be about.

I answer. “You have something?” I ask in a rush.

Jade’s eyebrows come together in confusion, but she doesn’t try to get up again.

It’s the call I’ve been waiting for.

Chapter 22

Colin

I hurry out of Jade’s apartment down to my car. As much as I’d rather have her wrapped up in my arms, Hector calling saying he found the car I’ve had him looking for is a call I couldn’t ignore. I pull up my recent call log and tap D’s name; he answers on the second ring, “Donovan, meet me outside your building, I’m on the way over. My guy has the car. We’ll need to stop by Dunn’s storage facility on our way out to swap vehicles. We need a truck to pull the car back.” My words are rushed as I give him the update.

Dunn has a large, unmarked warehouse outside of town where we keep vehicles, computers, spy gear, and a litany of other things we may need while working a case. It also doubles as a pretty sweet hideout when things get hectic at the office in the city.

When things went sideways on one of my cases, I went dark and stayed at the warehouse for a while until things calmed down. Even the other guys didn’t know I was hiding out there. Liam and I decided to keep things as quiet as possible due to the severity of the case. It was a good thing we did because shit hit the fan, but in the end, we got the bastard responsible.

I hated leaving Jade during such a heated moment between us, but getting the call that Hector has the car Vinny wanted me to find needs to be dealt with now. This is another step toward getting Jade out of marrying Elliott Moore, and hopefully, the next step will be toward making her mine. I’ve fought that feeling every step of the way, but after that kiss, I know I want her. All of her.

I can hear Donovan rustling around. He knows this is the break we need to gain Vinny’s trust. “I’ll meet you outside.” That’s his only response before he ends the call.

When I slow to a stop in front of his building, he’s still shrugging into his jacket. The car hasn’t even fully stopped when Donovan reaches for the passenger door to open it. I stop short, and he hops into the passenger seat before slamming the door behind him. I never even have to put the car in park.

“How’d he locate it? Where are we going to pick it up? You didn’t call Vinny yet, right?”

He doesn’t even bother with a hello before rapidly firing questions at me before I can even navigate back out onto the roadway. I’d find it amusing if the situations wasn’t so serious.

“I don’t know exactly how he found it. Last week, he told me he was having a hard time finding it, then he called me today to say it just ‘popped up’. He texted me the address where he had it towed outside of town an hour from here. And hell no, I didn’t call Vinny. I want to have the car in my possession and make sure it’s the exact car before I tell him anything.”

“It’s not a fucking in, man. That’s not how these guys work. It’s not how any of this works. Stealing the car was a test, finding this car is a test, but there will never be an end to it. The first time you fuck up, that’s it. That’s not an ‘oopsie, my bad,’ and you’re out. It’s fucking death. This isn’t a TV show. Rules don’t exist.”

His words are harsh and hit me like one brick after another. The reality of what he said sinks in. He knows far more about this world and people like Vinny than I do. Part of me is worried about what I’ve gotten myself into. The other part of me would do it again and again… For Jade.

After several minutes of silence pass, I ask, “What other options do I have? This case depends on exposing Elliott Moore. That’s what I was hired to do, and I don’t fail.”

“You might be able to kid yourself about all of this just being about the case, but I know this is about the girl.” His tone is even but firm.

I glance at him briefly but don’t deny what he said.

“Look, I get what you’re going through more than you realize. Just don’t get yourself killed trying to save her from something she got herself into.”

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