Page 75 of It's Going to Be a Chrome Christmas
She ignored his exclamation. “Worse, I find out that he’s been having my head mechanic spying on me and my employees.”
“Come, now, Trixie, it wasn’t like that?—”
Her glare cut him off. “On top of that, I have to deal with my runaway ex-boyfriend stealing from me. And you have the nerve to ask mewhat is going onlike it’s some big fucking conspiracy?”
Jeff was silent for a long time. He opened his mouth many times, but ended up closing it each time. She waited. When Lee had said he’d been keeping an eye on her and her employees, there was only one person who’d come to mind who would tell him anything. The only employee who’d known Lee since he’d been a small boy.
Jeff’s betrayal hurt. Lee was her brother. Why hadn’t he come to her and told her that Lee was asking around about her? Why hadn’t he come to her just to say that he’d seen him? Jeff knew that the Wynns and Trixie hadn’t seen Lee since Marco’s funeral. Jeff knew how much that hurt. Why hadn’t Jeff told them,her, that he knew Lee was still around, acop?
“Lee came to my apartment about eighteen months ago.” Jeff’s voice was low, guilt-ridden. Trixie forced herself to look at her mentor when her gut told her to look away. “He told me he was going after Massey and that under no circumstances could you know.”
“He’smihermano!” Trixie snapped. “I had a right to know!”
“And Marco had a right to justice,” was Jeff’s reply. “If anyone was going to get that for him, it was Lee. He’s smart, capable. He’s a goddamn Marine. I knew he knew what he was doing.”
Trixie snorted. “Well, obviously not well enough, since he ended up shot.”
“Is he okay? Is he in the hospital?”
Trixie shook her head. “Pigheaded man did surgery on himself, slept it off like some twisted hangover, and then walkedright out of my house. I sent Cayden away when Lee showed up and haven’t seen him since.”
“Ah.”
“What?” her eyes narrowed.
“I wondered what your fight was about. The only thing I could think of that could get between you two was family and, frankly, honey, you don’t have much of that left.”
Trixie flinched at his cruel words. “Thank you for the reminder.”
He reached forward. “I don’t say it to be mean. I say it because you’d do anything for your family, just as Lee would.”
“Bringing down the man who killed Marco isn’t going to bring him back,” Trixie snapped. “Revenge isn’t the answer.”
“Isn’t justice?”
“Marco’s still dead.”
“And the man who killed him just gets to walk free?” Jeff asked.
Trixie turned away from the man. She couldn’t face him, knowing that he believed in what Lee was doing. Because, by the laws of transference, it also meant he believed in what Cayden was doing, even if he didn’t know it.
“You should have told me about Lee.”
“He told me not to, for your protection. You know I love you like my own flesh and blood, Trixie. I’d never do anything to endanger you.” Trixie felt a tear slide down her cheek at the confession and quickly wiped it off. “Lee gave me a number to call when we hired someone new or when something strange happened around here. That’s all. I didn’t tell him anything too personal.”
“Really?” She faced the man. “You didn’t tell him about Cayden?”
“I told him he was working here. I didn’t tell him you were dating him.”
Her eyes narrowed and she debated on believing him. Lee knew they’d been seeing each other outside work, but he also could have been watching Trixie beyond what Jeff told him. “Why tell him anything at all?”
“Because he asked to know, and I thought he deserved some peace with all he was sacrificing.”
“Peace?” Trixie raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “You weren’t exactly giving him good news.”
Jeff shrugged. “It was what he asked for, so I hoped it would give him some peace.”
Trixie’s eyes narrowed. “You still should have told me. You had no right to give away our employees’ information, whether or not Lee is family.”
