Tormented

Standing up, he tossed her his cell. “Check your email.”

“My email?”

“The lab results should be in.”

Oh. That. Yesterday, he’d had a nurse draw blood. He had not undergone the Scarlet Auction’s STD testing. She had already engaged in some risky sexual activity, but he hadn’t penetrated her yet without a condom.

On his phone, she navigated to her email service provider and logged in. Near the top of the inbox was an email from a lab. She clicked it and read the message. She wasn’t surprised that all the test results were negative, but it was still comforting to have confirmation.

“What does it say?” he asked.

“You’re clean,” she replied as she logged out before tossing him back his phone.

He took off his suit jacket and hung it over the back of one of the barstools at the kitchen counter. “So how is it an office assistant in a financial firm knows about an Oakland planning commissioner and a Chinatown community leader?”

“My parents live in Oakland. I guess I heard or read about Dawson and Carlos.”

Why is he asking so many questions?

“And why are you so convinced De Reyes won’t go against ACPA?”

“I understand they’re close.”

“How close?”

“Close enough that Carlos won’t go against Dawson.”

He was staring at her with a mixture of the wolf wanting to eat Red Riding Hood and something else. Maybe she should stop talking. She was trying to be helpful but had the feeling she was going to get herself in trouble somehow.

“So you know De Reyes and Chang—excuse me, Carlos and Dawson.”

She faked a nonchalant shrug. “I’m sure a lot of people could tell you that Carl—De Reyes and Chang are close.”

“Yet no one has. Not even the lobbyist who I’m paying good money for information like that.”

“Maybe you should get yourself a new lobbyist.”

He had rolled up his sleeves and took a step toward her. “Or maybe I could hire you. How about it? You tell me exactly what you know. I’ll compensate you what I’m paying the lobbyist. His retainer is twenty thousand a month.”

Twenty thousand?! Holy crap.

But there was no way she would divulge what was told to her off the record.

“I don’t know that much,” she downplayed. “Certainly nothing worth twenty thousand dollars.”

“Funny that. Most people try to negotiate the dollar amount up.”

“I’m keeping it real. I’m not going to scam you, even if I did know anything worth paying for.”

“I’m offering twenty thousand dollars. You were hard up enough for money that you got involved with the Scarlet Auction. I doubt you’ll see twenty thousand from them.”

“That’s different.”

“How so?”

He was closing the distance between them.

“Mind if I help myself to some water?” she asked, trying to skirt around the sofa and head to the relative safety of the kitchen.