Page 7 of Fourth Point Of Contact

“Sure. No problem.”

I tossed off the covers and slid from the bed, snatching my jeans off the floor. I wasn’t pissed—not about her kicking me out. I knew she didn’t want more than a fling, but I was tired of the distant attitude she kept with everyone, including me. I was in her bed. The least she could do was open up and give me a little indication of what was going on in her head.

“What crawled up your ass?” she asked as she turned to face me.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Jesus, you sound like a woman,” she snapped. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Turning to her, I tugged my shirt over my head. “There’s nothing to say. Honestly. You don’t want to talk, so that’s the way it is.”

“Because that’s not the relationship we have.”

“I’m aware, and I’m not asking you to spill your guts to me, but we can have an actual fucking conversation from time to time.”

“And how would that go?”

“I don’t know, Vira. I might say,How the hell did you end up with that prick chasing you?And then you might answer the fucking question.”

“You already know why he’s chasing me. What good would talking about it do?”

I sighed, scrubbing my hand over my face. This whole thing was getting old. I didn’t mind our arrangement, but not being able to have a simple conversation without her yelling at me was wearing on my nerves.

“I’ll see you later, Vira.” I snatched my wallet and keys off the table and headed for the door.

“I don’t know what else to tell you,” she called out just as I was about to head downstairs.

I stopped, wondering if this time she was actually going to fucking talk to me.

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you anything, but I left my old life behind, and I don’t like talking about it.”

“I’m not asking for much.”

She eyed me for a moment. “The last man I tried to have a relationship with…I really screwed him over. That’s why I keep my distance and don’t talk about things. I know my limitations, Patrick. A relationship or anything resembling one will never happen.”

“I already knew that.”

She nodded with a laugh. “He did, too. And the thing is, I fell hard for him, but I’m not cut out for more. I don’t want commitments, and I don’t want some flowery arrangement.”

I could respect that. I’d never met a woman who wanted that, but who was I to argue with her? “What do you want?”

“Sex.”

“Besides that? What’s your plan in all this?”

“You mean, if I ever get to leave this place?” She shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know anymore. I’ve been hiding out here for so long, I don’t know what to do. I feel like?—”

“Like what?”

“Like this place is the last thing I’ll ever see.” Her eyes drifted to mine, but there was something about the way she was looking at me, like she could see the doom headed her way. “He won’t give up until he gets his way. I don’t know why he’s so desperate for my father’s money. He’s got plenty on his own by now.”

“For some people, there’s no such thing as enough money.”

“But why? He’s made it impossible for me to leave here. No one’s been able to track his movements and get close enough to take him out. Before Cash disappeared, he told me he couldn’t get close to Richard.”

“Arrington, right?”

She nodded. “He’s just a businessman. Why would he be so hard to catch? And why is he so desperate to get his hands on my father’s assets?”

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