Page 7 of Illicit

The spot between her brows crinkle. “Done?”

I nod. “Did you find out anything about your grandfather?”

She sucks in a surprised gasp, but only loud enough for me to hear. She knows I know.

And, in reality, I don’t know shit.

“No,” she admits and finally catches up. “Mr. Robichaux and I were just getting to that when you interrupted us. You’re being rude—as always.”

“The way I see it, you’re being rude for not introducing me.” I lean in and give her lips one more peck before sliding into the booth while shoving her sweet ass over far enough to make room for me. I stretch my arm behind her and settle in so I can make sure Jules Robichaux understands Stella Hayes is not going to do anything he wants in exchange for information. “Robichaux. I’m Stella’s boyfriend.”

“I see that,” he drawls.

I smile when her hand grips my thigh with a firm squeeze.

It’s meant to be a warning, but I enjoy it too much to take it as one.

I focus on the man across from me. “So where are we at? Consider me a new part of the negotiations. Stella wants her grandfather back. I want Stella happy. And you’re the guy at the table with all the answers. What can I do to speed this along?”

Robichaux leans forward, rests his forearms on the table, and stares at me. “No offense, but what the hell can you offer me?”

“Whatever you want. I’ll make it happen.”

She tenses at my side. “Maybe this was a mistake?—”

I glance down as my arm constricts around her. “No mistake, baby. I’m here to help.”

“I don’t like this.” I brace when Robichaux moves. He digs into his pocket and pulls out a business card like he’s selling us homeowners’ insurance rather than keeping information about a missing person. He tosses it on the table between us and stands. Then he proves he’s the person I thought he was all this time. Someone who likes to play in the shadows and stay out of the public eye. “This is too much attention. I don’t do business in public. If you want to meet, I’ll do it in private. Call me, don’t call me, it's no skin off my back. The old man knew what he was getting into.”

I feel like a sitting duck and want to get the hell out of here as much as he does, so I grab his card in one hand and claim hers in the other.

She struggles out of the booth after me in that damn dress and tries to ignore the fact I have her in a death grip.

“Wait,” she calls. “Don’t leave. You have to tell me something. Why were you and my grandfather doing business in Africa?”

Robichaux’s jaw goes taut as he turns his glare from her to me. “I don’t give information for free. It comes with a price. If she’s not willing to pay it in the only way she can, then it’s going to cost you. Call me if you’re willing to do business. Otherwise, I don’t want to see either of you ever again.”

Before she has the chance to beg him to stay, or worse, agree to what he wants, Jules Robichaux is out the door.

And I’m left standing here with a direct line to the man I haven’t been able to pin down for over a year while holding the hand of a woman who refuses to give me the time of day.

Neither one of us moves, and I do my best to ignore the phone vibrating my ass. It reminds me of the tanning the woman next to me deserves.

She tries to pull her hand from mine, but I won’t allow it.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hisses.

I give her a yank so her front is glued to mine and wrap my arm around her waist. With her hand in mine, I have her arm pinned behind her back, and I lean down to put my lips to her ear. “I’d like to know the same thing about you. What the hell do you think you’re doing meeting with someone like Robichaux?”

Tension bleeds through every inch of her body that touches me. “No way. Tell me why you’re here.”

To anyone else—meaning Taylor who’s probably taking this in over the surveillance cameras—we probably look like lovers having a hushed conversation instead of hissing angry words at each other. “I have reasons of my own. Reasons I can’t tell you.”

She pushes far enough away to stare up at me through angry, dark eyes. “You have the worst memory, Roc. You know how I grew up. You’re here on a case, and you just fucked up what I was trying to do.”

I stare down at her, not wanting to let her go, even though I know the smart thing to do is to get the hell out of here. I make myself do the right thing, since that’s what I do ninety percent of the time, and peel myself away from every curve of her body. With her hand still firm in mine, I pull her from the bar and through the lobby.

“What are you doing?” she hisses.

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