Page 77 of Stone
Mantis dropped his head. Monk took a deep breath. Simon stared.
“We agreed to give the FBI time to investigate before you dangle yourself out there as bait.” How Simon managed to talk through his clenched teeth was a feat she’d dissect later.
“That was before someone tried to set your property on fire and before a tree came inches from falling on you,” she retorted,fear making her defensive, the emotion pricking at her like tiny barbs.
“A tree almost fell on you?” Mantis asked.
Simon’s jaw ticked. “It wasn’t that close,” he said, not taking his eyes off her.
“Because a firefighter warned him and he was able to jump out of the way,” Juliana countered, directing her comment to Mantis. Then she felt compelled to add, “It wasn’t on fire, but it was big.”
“We can protect ourselves—and you—just fine,” Simon said. He wasn’t wrong, but that wasn’t what had her concerned.
“They found me, then they found us, then your house in the city, and now your home here in Mystery Lake. If the triad came after you, theywillcome after the club. I don’t doubt you all can protect yourselves—and the people here,” she said with a nod to Dottie. “But I don’t want you to have to.” She paused, not shying away from the intense expression on his face.
“I don’t even know if Agent Parks will agree,” she continued. “She was noncommittal on the phone. And if she does, there’s no guarantee it will work because, unfortunately, these men aren’t stupid. But if itdoeswork, then this ends. I can go back to work, we can go on an actual date, and you all can go back to doing everything you do—there’s enough danger in that as it is.”
“Dangling yourself out there—acting like bait—isn’t a good idea. It’s a cliché that only works in books and movies,” Simon said.
Behind him, Monk shifted, and Mantis raised an eyebrow. “What?” she asked, having caught the subtle movements.
Simon turned. A beat later, he crossed his arms. “Don’t bring that shit up. That was different and you know it.”
“What was different?” she asked, glancing at Dottie. Dottie lifted her shoulders. Juliana frowned. Dottie seemed to knoweverything. If she didn’t know what they were not-talking about, it probably had something to do with their time in the military.
“Stone had a reputation—” Monk started.
“Don’t,” Simon growled.
Monk ignored him. “For holding himself out there as bait. Different kind of situation?—”
“They were insurgents and terrorists and we weretrained,” Simon snapped.
The image Monk conjured wasn’t one she liked, but another thought snagged her attention. “If you had a reputation for being the bait, that implies you did it more than once,” she said, her voice even.
“Different situation,” he answered.
“That’s not an answer,” she said. “How many times?”
Simon’s jaw tightened enough that even from four feet away, she could see the muscles bulging.
“Eight, that I know of,” Monk said.
Mantis snorted, but Simon swore.
“And it worked,” she said. Not a question, but she dared Simon not to answer. His nostrils flared, and his shoulders tensed. She didn’t look away. After a taut silence, he dipped his chin once in an almost imperceptible nod.
“What happened to complete honesty between us, Simon?” she demanded. She wasn’t being entirely fair. Simon’s objections were born from concern. But she had a point to make.
“It was different,” he bit out.
“No doubt it was,” she agreed. “That doesn’t change the fact that implying it doesn’t work in real life is not an honest statement. Your own experience says otherwise.”
He continued staring at her, but the lines of his body eased. He wasn’t conceding, but he was starting to grasp the point she wanted to make. His arms dropped. “Guys,” he said, turning to the others. “Can you give us a minute?”
They started moving away, but Juliana stopped them. “No,” she said. “We need to talk about this out in the open. I get it, you’re scared. So am I. But if we hide behind our fears, what good will that do? If we’re honest, as you’ve insisted from the beginning, we can turn them into strengths.” Her heart beat a rapid tattoo. She was asking a lot of Simon, but no more than she offered herself.
Simon’s chest lifted on an inhale. Slowly, he exhaled and met her gaze. “I just found you,” he said. “I don’t want to lose you. The thought of you facing those men, men who’ve lied and stolen and who are willing to kill…it guts me. You can’t blame me for doing everything in my power to protect you—protect me—from that.”
