“You’re not giving her enough credit. She’s stronger than you think. Spread your legs.”
Caught off guard, she directs a lethal glare my way. “That’s unethical.”
I slide my chair forward and, sitting back down, kick her ankles apart. “Wide.”
Her chest rises and falls quickly, her breathing labored. With more reserve than I feel, London casually inches her skirt up and parts her knees.
“Wider,” I say, voice thick.
She spreads her thighs until her knees nearly touch the armrests.
I lick my lips as I take in every inch of her exposed skin, feeling no shame. “I want to talk to Lydia only.”
A tense tremor of lust crackles the air. Just her exposed position makes every word I say suggestive, erotic. Evoking the emotions London is trying to suppress.
“Recently,” I say, “I conducted an important meeting with a man who’s working the crime scenes in Rockland.”
Her eyes widen. “Grayson, what—?”
“Listen,” I cut her off. “I’m talking to Lydia right now. She would never interrupt me, would she?”
I like this would never game. It’s useful.
The column of her throat drags upward in a hard swallow. “No manipulation,” she says.
“I would never harm you.” I admire London’s intelligence too much to try to twist her in that way. “I just want to get to know Lydia. Understand this side of you. It’s important to me.”
She concedes with a nod.
“Take off your suit jacket.”
This time, she complies without resistance. She removes her jacket and drapes it across the back of her chair.
“The second murder in Rockland has helped narrow the suspect pool,” I say.
She blinks rapidly. “How did you select the victim?”
“I didn’t. The copycat did.”
She narrows her gaze, uncertain.
“You thought it was me,” I say, reverent. Her guarded behavior makes sense now.
London lifts her chin. “I wasn’t sure, to be honest. The time between murders seemed too quick. The method was easily enough mimicked, more simplistic—” she licks her lips “—but it was also more impulsive, personalized. I thought the copycat would need more time to be sure it was you before making a move.”
I tilt my head. “If you thought it was me, then you must’ve been worried. Nervous that I’d give us away.”
“Your compulsion to torture and take life will always dominate you,” she says coldly.
“Regardless of us,” I add.
“Regardless of anyone or anything, but yes.”
I study her closer. Look for her tells. “And if I was devolving, what lengths would you go to in order to protect yourself? To protect Lydia?”
“That’s an unfair question,” she says. “Since you clearly kept me in the dark about the suspect that you’d already discovered beforehand, I have to assume you did so on purpose to test me.”
I smile. “We’re a team, London. You already passed my tests.”