Page 35 of Twist of Fate

“That’s nice to hear. Neither of them has any reason to.”

“But they do. Both describe you as honorable and basically a good man.”

“Wise men, indeed. You should listen to their counsel.”

“Neither said I should fall into bed with you and let you change me into a tiger-shifter.”

“Pfft,” he said with a wave of his hand, “what do they know?”

Quinn rocked back on her knees and regarded him. He wasn’t at all what she expected, the whole tiger-shifter thing notwithstanding, but she did believe that at his core he was a man who took care of those he cared about and was most likely a formidable enemy.

“We could work on my story together and once I have what I need…”

“No.”

“You can’t just tell me no.”

“I just did.”

“I shared my source with you. I never reveal my sources. Even Levi doesn’t know who Alvaro is. In fact, Levi doesn’t even know that he has been my source on more than a few of my stories.”

“Why would that matter?”

“Because many times when someone is your source on more than one story, they have an ulterior motive that has a nasty habit of coming up and biting you in the ass.”

“If you know that, why keep going back to Alvaro?” he asked, seeming to take a genuine interest in what she was saying.

“Because he’s never steered me wrong, and my gut tells me the thing that drives him is making things better—that somehow that goes a little way to making how his father died easier for him.”

“Most likely.”

Quinn rocked up onto her feet and grabbed one of his shirts from the closet, putting it on before she confronted him. Somehow, she didn’t think doing so naked would be as effective.

“You need to let me place a couple of phone calls. I won’t tell anyone where I am, and you can even be listening when I make them.”

He leaned back and regarded her. “Why would I do that? Who is it you need to talk to?”

She thought about challenging his need to know and what sounded like a tinge of jealousy in his tone of voice. Then she thought about not answering him at all. Quinn quickly surmised that neither would do her a damn bit of good.

“Levi. I need to tell him I had a great time at the party last night and that I’m going down a rabbit hole in terms of a story, so not to expect me in the office for a few days. And I need to call Alvaro.”

“Why not just email him again?”

“Our pattern has always been an email, two phone calls, another email and then a text. If I break the pattern, he’ll know something is up and will most likely presume either they’re onto us or they have me. I promise you, I’m not doing anything more than trying to pursue my story.”

“You think Alvaro will meet you here?”

“I know he sees you as a benevolent force, but I’m not sure he’d want to meet with you—especially about this.”

“Are you looking more fondly on me?”

“The jury is still out.”

“Let me guess, but it would put another check in the ‘good guy’ column if I allowed these phone calls.”

“Two checks—one for each phone call. Seriously, Bodie, what would it hurt?”

“The phone call to your boss is fine, but what is it you and Alvaro are working on?”

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