She laughs and there’s another knock on the door. “Seriously,” I add. “Be careful.”
“I will.” She runs her hand over my cheek and when she tries to step away, I catch her hand again. “I’m sorry.”
She turns back to me and pushes to her toes, kissing me. “You’re not the monster you think you are, Adrian. Monsters don’t stop someone from walking out a door to apologize.” With that, she grabs her briefcase and hurries to the door, exiting while Adam enters.
“They all think I’m next in line,” he says, shutting the door. “How the fuck are we going to walk out of here together without the line of women waiting outside thinking we’re knocking boots or some shit?”
“I’ll go first,” I say, amused by his distress. “I need to protect Pri.”
“You mean you’ll go first because the last one out gets to explain what we’re doing in here. You owe me on this one.”
I’m laughing as I exit to find four women waiting. I wiggle an eyebrow at them and say. “He’ll be right out. He has to fix his make-up.” There are a couple of gasps that would amuse me more another time. Right now, I’m thinking about Pri’s declaration that I’m not a monster. She’s wrong and the only way to take down Waters is for me to prove that to her.Chapter Twenty-FourPRI
After leaving the coffee shop, I Uber home and change clothes.
Not that Adrian got to me, but I still feel more comfortable in a black skirt and black jacket with a cream-colored shell. Basic outfit. Basic attorney. I’m just going to meet Waters as part of a job. I decide that’s how I need to approach this meeting.
I’m in my kitchen, finishing a slice of cold pizza, just like my old college days, about to punch in my request for a car when Adrian calls. “Did you change?” he asks.
“Why would I change?”
“You changed, didn’t you?” he teases.
“Because you made me paranoid about the dress,” I defend.
“I liked the dress, Pri,” he says, his voice a low, rich baritone that reminds me of his hands on my body, his mouth everywhere. “Too much for Waters to see you in it, but,” he adds, before shifting to all business, “that’s not why I’m calling. Savage just finished up a meeting with Ed to talk about the seriousness of the threat against him. Savage is going to be staying with him until this is over.”
“I’m honestly shocked,” I say, perching on a barstool. “I mean, I assumed he’d accept protection to some degree, but I thought it would be harder than that. Ed tends to play macho man and so far he’s declined protection.”
“Savage scared the shit out of him, which isn’t hard for Savage. Deleon won’t win if he comes at Ed when Savage is around.”
“Is he openly protecting him?”
“No,” he says. “We want to maintain a covert operation to surprise Deleon.”
“I assume Ed doesn’t know about the Waters meeting?”
“No. I didn’t talk to Savage until after you left the coffee shop.”
“I’m hoping that talk with Savage really did scare him, and therefore he’ll be in the right state of mind to discuss the Waters meeting.”
“You think he’ll want to make a deal?”
“I think a three for one right before an election will sound appealing.”
“Waters won’t make a deal. Not unless it’s something insane that gets him right back on the street and that would make the DA look stupid.”
“I don’t think Ed would make a deal that got Waters back on the street on his watch, but ten years from now, maybe. That’s my fear. A sentence of twenty years with good behavior might allow that the happen.”
“Waters won’t agree to ten years. He’ll kill Ed off first, which means I’ll have to convince Ed not to be stupid before he’s dead.”
“I don’t want to know what that means, do I?”
“It’s better than dead. Feel comforted.”
“And on that note, a very slight change of topic. If Waters has Deleon coming for Ed, then at least the witnesses should be safe, right?”
“They’re safe because they’re with us and not in the safe houses, but Deleon isn’t likely to be working alone.”
“In other words,” I say, “you just burst that bubble.”
“They’re with us, sweetheart. They’re safe.”
It’s not the first time he’s called me sweetheart, but this time it does funny things to my belly. I’m confused by Adrian after that bathroom encounter and that’s not a good thing when I seem to be falling hard for him. “And you’re all about the truth?”
“I haven’t lied to you, aide from the name thing, and I won’t.”
“In other words, when you say you’re dirty, you’re dirty?”
“I did things I’m not proud of, Pri. You know that.”
“Are you going to tell me what those things were?” I dare.
“Only the things that help you put Waters away.”