This Love Hurts (This Love Hurts 1)

“Nothing,” I lie in a quickly hissed answer. Why did I lie? Why hide the truth? Shame runs down my spine with a chill that rolls down my body and I find myself pulling away. My arms cross over my chest as I slip backward.

“What did he say to you?”

“Nothing,” I repeat, feeling the spiked ball grow in an attempt to suffocate me. “Wait, no, no, he left information. He left it.” My own story confuses me and I can imagine what it does to Cody. He doesn’t answer for a moment, a long moment and I finally come back down from wherever I was, grounding myself and getting ahold of what happened. My eyes open slowly and I rest my head on Cody’s chest. My lashes brush against the jacket while I’m staring at nothing, but seeing everything.

“Did you see him?”

Shaking my head against Cody’s chest doesn’t give him a quick enough answer. He turns fully, granting me his full attention as his arms wrap around my waist.

He kisses my hair and his body heat lingers, warming me slowly. Yes, this is what I need.

“Did you see him?” he repeats his question and I finally pull back, crossing my arms in front of me, the ghost of this reality still very much present.

“No,” I say and shake my head again. “But I know it was him. It sounded like him and he knew things.”

“What kind of things?” Cody’s tone shifts. It’s no longer comforting and it seems his interrogation is starting.

With his gaze narrowed and on me, I remember what happened. “He said he knew who left the note. A hired man from Brass. And he left the proof. He also said one of Taylor’s men is in Brass’s pocket.”

“Shit,” Cody sneers the curse, apparently believing Marcus instantly. “Taylor’s crew is gone,” he says and nods at his own decision, shifting his weight as his hand rubs the back of his neck. It’s his tell when he knows shit has gone south and we have to pivot tactics. He truly does believe Marcus. With his eyes pinned on me, he repeats, “Taylor’s crew is gone and I’ll hire a new one. I know the firm. Consider it done.”

It’s hard to swallow, seeing the devotion and commitment Cody so obviously has to keeping me safe. My heart refuses to stay where it’s supposed to, beating wildly. I don’t have long before the moment is over, Cody hell-bent on taking control and quite honestly, I easily give it to him. With a nod, Cody seems to right himself, the man I know from work shifting back to the man I know from the bar and my bed.

“He left information?”

The single question stirs between us and I nod in the direction I heard the clink. Sure enough, a small metal USB flash drive lays there on the counter. “He said it would all be on it.”

“Are you okay? All he did was come in here and deliver information?”

“That’s all he did,” I say then swallow harshly at the lie, doubling down on it and then I look into Cody’s eyes, the shades of blue staring back at me with regret, remorse, but something more than that, something deeper. “He didn’t hurt me. But it scared the shit out of me, Cody. I didn’t have my gun and I thought I was safe here.”

I ask the obvious question when silence sets in. “How did he get in here?”

Cody’s gaze moves to the back hall once again and his jaw sets firmly in place. “Do you know how he got in? Window or door?”

“I don’t know.” I repeat myself as he stares down at me, “I don’t know.” In the back of my mind I think it shouldn’t matter, the security locks were engaged. The alarm should have gone off either way. Unless he knew the code.

It doesn’t seem possible, but somehow Cody’s large frame gets closer to me as his hands grip my shoulders. “You need to give me something about how he got in,” he tells me, his sharp blue eyes begging me even though his statement is barely spoken, it’s a dark whisper.

With one hand shoving his right hand off of me, I step away from him, regaining myself.

“I was standing right there,” I say and point over by the coffee maker. “And I heard him before anything. He knew my name. He broke into my house yesterday.” The sudden exposure, voicing out loud the lack of boundaries that man has, leaves me feeling numb all over.

“I know,” he says and Cody’s voice is gentle, consoling even. “I know he did that. He left roses. But that was yesterday and that was your apartment, not here…” his voice trails off and then he adds that Taylor told him. Taylor didn’t know what to think, but Taylor hasn’t worked against someone like Marcus before.