Page 35 of No Control

“Talk about what?” I head straight past him, heading for my bedroom.

“Talk about the fact that you’re bringing a woman here under completely false pretenses.” He follows me, his footsteps heavy against the bamboo flooring. Jude is just as tall as me, but he’s a little leaner—and definitely not a fighter. He belongs behind the computer.

“It’s not a false pretense,” I counter, swinging open the black bulletproof door. “She’s going to write a book—just like we discussed.”

“But this whole thing isn’t about a book.” He adjusts the dark-rimmed glasses on his face. They stand out on his light complexion, paired with blondish red hair. “You’re bringing her here to never let her leave.”

“Meh, details.”

“This could be a mess. She could claim you’ve kidnapped her.”

“Oh stop, for fuck’s sake,” I snap at him as I toss my bag onto the black comforter. “I swear, you’re such a downer. I don’t have time for this shit. You have a house, you don’t have to be here.”

He sighs. “This is where we work.”

“You can work from home then.”

He lets out a frustrated breath. “I don’t like it.”

“You’ve made that clear already. We don’t have to beat a dead horse.” I ignore the annoyed look on his face, unpacking as quickly as possible. She needs to believe I’ve been back since yesterday. The mask and the placement of the knife I found in Mason’s truck seems to have done the trick.

And now the real fun begins.

I shove a pair of jeans into my black dresser. “Will you go pick her up?”

His eyes widen. “No.”

My shoulders slump with this. “Don’t be so hardheaded. Just go pick her up and be nice.”

His lip curls up. “Why can’t you go pick her up?”

“It’ll be better if you do. I know she’s leery of me.”

“Hard to imagine why,” he replies flatly.

I ignore the jab. “You’ve got a friendly aura about you, and I need her to feel like she has a friend here—other than me.”

“Her friend has a vacation house fifteen minutes away, and she booked a flight. I looked into it when you had me digging into her phone records. Are you sure she’s not just using you for a flight? There’s no contract signed yet.”

I consider the idea but shake my head. “No, I don’t think so. She has the funds to pay for her own flight. I don’t think she’d need me to do it.”

“Touche,” Jude shrugs. “I just have a bad feeling about it.”

“You always have a bad feeling about everything,” I scoff, pulling my gun from its locked safety box beneath my bed. He watches me carefully. “I’ve got to put some eyes on our next target.”

“So what? I’m supposed to bring her back here alone?”

“I’ll be back before then…hopefully. If I’m not back in time, just have her stay in the spare room next to mine. Help her get settled in. Make her some fucking tea or something. She’s been through hell.”

He narrows his eyes. “I can imagine. Why don't you—”

“Don’t ask questions right now. It’s better for you to go into it honestly. Her flight will be here at six. They got a late start because of the storms.”

“Was it the storms?”

I shoot him a wink. “Who knows.” I pat him on the back and head for the door. Jude is my best friend, and while I’m as jealous as a psycho can be over Lydia…

I know he won’t cross any lines. Not in that way.

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