Page 3 of Out of Bounds
He shakes his head. “I knew she was seeing somebody, but I’ve been so busy I didn’t meet him. Of course, if I knew it was Liev I would have ended that right away.”
“Jesus.”
Fuck.That woman has by far the worst taste in men.
I guess that explains why she liked me when we were kids and she continued to see whatever good she thought was in me until our later years in high school.
I met Bree Dawson when I was twelve.
She was ten and had just moved in from Mayberry. I was probably the first person in the circle of friends she met. We were at the beach by my grandfather’s resort. I was in one of my moods because of Dad, and she came up to me all nice as pie and sweet like that annoying as fuck nursery rhyme about little girls. I almost thought she’d turn into a pile of sugar if I touched her.
I remember her rich southern accent as it poured from her doll-like lips when she offered me one of the muffins from her lunch box.
I never took it and never answered either.
Poor Bree, she never took the hint I was too bad for a girl like her.
She walked right into my bully radar and that day was the start of the vicious circle of hatred between us.
As the years went by it was like the devil possessed me and I became obsessed with showing her just how bad I could be.
And it looks like Bree Dawson hasn’t learned her lesson one damn bit. She’d get shacked up with the devil if his door was open. She’s still drawn to the worst of the bunch, and this guy is worse than me.
“Please tellme she’s not mixed up in Liev’s dirty dealings.” That’s the last thing I want.
“She’s clean,” Logan replies. “I’ve already done the ground work. She has no connection to any of Liev’s extracurricular activities. They’re just dating.”
At his confirmation my entire body sighs with relief, but I feel like teaching her a fucking lesson.
“The only bad thing is we’ll still have to question her because it looks like he’s been using her account for money laundering,” Logan adds.
Great, Bree. Money laundering?
I bet her sugary ass gave him the passwords to her account or she probably didn’t think twice if he gave her money.
“How much money are we talking about here?”
“Just under ten thousand. It seems he was helping her with her business. I was thinking of speaking to her tomorrow. I don’t want her mixed up in this any more than she is. You know what the feds are like. We need to know what kind of access he has to private stuff.”
Logic is telling me to allow Logan to talk to her, but that part of me that’s always been lured to Bree Dawson wants to overpower anything resembling logic.
Besides, since she’s in the all clear that gives me room to bring home some hard truths she should be aware of if she’s going to go after assholes like Liev Ivanov. Fuck even his name is a warning to stay away, and he has Russian Mafia prison tattoos. I’ll bet she just thought they wereprettyand didn’t even think twice about what they could mean.
“I’ll do it,” I say before Logan can go any further. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Ethan, she’s going to take this news hard. I think I should speak to her because she trusts me.”
“She keeps ending up with these low lifes.” I won’t bother to remind him of Bree’s previous love interests—the ones we know of. They weren’t as bad as this guy, but it needs to be said. “I think a heart to heart with a detective she knows will set her straight and give her a little scare. You can’t tell me this couldn’t have been worse.”
He gives me a knowing look. “I agree, but this is Bree, and you are you. When you guys get together it’s like you’re back in high school all over again. This is serious business, and I really don’t want you to do anything to piss her off when she’s in the clear.”
I’m hearing him but my brain is already conjuring up how sexy Bree Dawson looks when she’s pissed off with me.
I find myself smiling. “We’re a long way from high school, Logan Savage.”
“But you still like her.” He points at me, and I don’t refute the statement because he’s right.
Any man with eyes would like that little firecracker. I just don’t do relationships and I still think a nice girl like her should stay far away from men like me. I might be a cop, but the rebel never left me. I just learned to be the master of my inner wildness.
