“Cady?”
Cady turned, her gaze darti
ng around the dark street. There were few people around at this time of night. She took a defensive stance as she saw the large man bearing down on her. Her mind screamed, run, but her body refused to cooperate.
“Who wants to know?” she asked suspiciously.
“My name is Hunter Black. I run Black-Gray investigations. At the moment I’m currently working for Derrick Ashdown and Jacey Reynolds. I believe you know Jacey.”
“Maybe. What do you want?”
“I want you to work for me.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right.”
“Ms Reynolds says you’re smart, tough and can protect yourself. She said you’d been teaching her some self-defense. Can you shoot a gun?”
“Yes,” she said.
“I need you for one night, to help us. Help Jacey. Will you do it?”
“How much are you paying?”
He smiled and her heart stopped beating. Damn, he was gorgeous.
She had to be out of her mind to agree to anything he wanted.
“Three-fifty.”
“Make it five hundred and I want to talk to Jacey first.” No way was she just trusting this man’s word.
“I thought you would.” He pulled out his phone and pressed something on the screen. “Here, please call her.”
Reaching out, she took the phone from him, her fingers tingling where they touched his skin. Her breath caught and she glanced up into his eyes, noticing the way they narrowed in interest.
Shit. She had a feeling she should have listened to her first instinct and fled the moment he said her name.
Chapter Eighteen
Derrick opened the bedroom door before picking up the tray laden with food that he’d placed on the floor. He stepped into the bedroom, swinging the door shut with his foot.
Jacey was sitting up on the bed; she smiled over at him before putting down the e-reader he’d bought for her.
God, he couldn’t believe how much he loved her. This was like nothing he’d ever felt before. How could the love of a woman make him feel like he could do anything? Be anything? He wasn’t sure, he only knew he was never going to let this feeling go.
“What’s all this?” she asked as he placed the tray of food on the bedside drawers. He gave her a quick kiss before sitting, facing her.
“Tiny said you didn’t eat dinner,” he reprimanded softly.
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not hungry.”
Derrick placed a hand on her rounded stomach. “You know you need to eat. For yourself as well as the baby.”
“I know. I just keep worrying about tomorrow night and it ties my stomach up in knots until the thought of food is kind of nauseous.”
Hunter had spoken to Cady a few days ago. After assessing her skill with a gun and her ability to defend herself, he’d given the plan they’d come up with the go-ahead for tomorrow night. Cady, pretending to be Jacey, would go with Derrick to a charity function while Jacey waited in a safe house with Connor and Tiny. Hunter and some of his team would be lying in wait for Evan to make a move on the house.
Damn, he hoped this worked.