Once Upon a Friendship

“If, in the course of serving you, I find you involved in something illegal, I might report that.”

“So you’re an investigator, wanting private access to my life.” That made sense. And pissed him off, too.

“I work under contract. The services I am offering you are those of a personal bodyguard. That is the work I will do for you.”

“While you investigate me for someone else.”

“I didn’t say that. I said only that if I find that you’re involved in illegal activity, I might report it.” He pulled an envelope out of the inner pocket of his tweed jacket. “It’s part of my standard contract, issued to every one of my clients, as you’ll see here.” He held the envelope out to Liam.

Standing in the cold, with numbing fingers, Liam took the time to look over the contract.

“I’d like to have an attorney look at this,” he said.

“Gabrielle Miller, I assume.”

Eyes narrowed, certain that he didn’t want this man to get too far out of his sight, Liam nodded.

Tanner handed him a card. “I’ll wait to hear from you,” he said. He walked toward the building and disappeared around the corner. He didn’t look back.

Liam did, though. He looked all around him as he traversed the short distance between his car and the private residents’ entrance in the back of their building.

If Tanner’s goal had been to scare him, he’d failed. Mostly. But he’d been put on notice. Made aware.

And he needed to talk to Gabi.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“THAT WAS GREAT.”

Taking her eye from the path in front of them, Gabi turned to look at Liam. “Yeah, it was.”

Marie, who wasn’t fond of skating in temperatures so cold that her nose hairs froze, had opted to stay at the shop.

And she was busy—one of her nighttime part-timers had called in sick. If Liam hadn’t needed to have this talk, Gabi would have stayed with her.

They’d skated ten miles at top speed—five out and five back—and were slowly coasting down the path as dusk started to fall. As cold as it was, they were the only two out that afternoon, but she was glad to have had the exercise.

To work off some of the weird tension that had been bottling up over Liam.

But she couldn’t shake the guilt she felt about going off with him without Marie. It just wasn’t something either of them ever did.

She’d seen Marie’s look when she’d waved them off. She’d been smiling. But confused, too. Gabi would make it right with her. As soon as they got home.

She’d tell Marie how Liam was paranoid and had needed to talk away from the building.

“I’m not going to put the two of you in danger.” His breath came easy, even after ten miles.

“We aren’t in any more danger today than a week ago,” she told him through her scarf. “Your dad’s a suspect in a white-collar crime. Not wanted by the Mafia.”

In an expensive-looking black jacket over sweats and a black knit cap to match, Liam didn’t seem to notice the cold. His cheeks were red, though.

His leather-gloved hand pulled her to a stop as they reached a lighted cement park area where different tracks converged. They faced each other toe to toe.

“I was approached today, Gabi,” he said. The seriousness in his gaze scared her. Where was the fun-loving playboy she’d always known? “By a guy wanting to be my bodyguard.”

The hissed intake of breath burned her lungs. The sensation dissipated quickly as they stood there, but the shock remained. She hadn’t yet told him what she’d found out that afternoon. They’d opted to skate a bit first.

But now she said, “From the inquiries I made today, I can tell you that something doesn’t add up. Everything points to your father. Everything.”