She could tell by his expression that she needed to brace herself. “What is it?”
“A large, professional-looking website selling weapons of various descriptions, mostly guns. All untraceable, as they boast.” His lips were a grim line.
“Guns?! Who at the gym would do that?” She shook her head but the sight of Ramón’s gun case flashed through her mind. “I can’t imagine anyone there being an arms dealer at that level.”
“Then why would they route traffic through the gym’s deep web node? There must be a connection.” His face was tight with resolution. “You have to step away from this. It’s too damned dangerous. Especially after what you’ve been through.”
She wasn’t sure if she liked being told what to do. However, she drummed into her self-defense classes that a gun changed the whole equation. “Are you stepping away?”
“I’m getting Tully involved. He’s former FBI. He knows how to deal with this kind of situation and he can bring in the right people.”
“You didn’t answer the question.” She laid her palm against his cheek. “I don’t want your body that I’ve worked so hard on training to end up riddled with bullets.” She’d been trying to joke but an image of him bleeding as he lay on the gym floor seared itself into her brain.
“I have a bulletproof vest. Tully insists.” His expression gentled. “I have training in self-defense, kidnap avoidance, and a bunch of other things that people don’t realize I need.” He made a wry face. “Hell, I didn’t realize I needed them until Tully pointed out that founding partners in a highly visible international firm are targets, especially when they’re traveling. So I’m used to some level of threat.”
Natalie’s warning about Leland’s success making him different from a normal person echoed through Dawn’s mind. No one else she knew—except Leland’s other partners—needed to be adept at kidnap avoidance. Certainly, no one owned their own personal bulletproof vest. That was the dark side of rising to the top of a prominent profession, something she hadn’t had even the faintest clue about. His revelation underlined the vast gulf between their lifestyles in a way that made any hope she’d had of a real relationship seem distant. The incredible sense of intimacy she’d felt when she’d told him her story began to waver.
“I like Tully more and more all the time.” She wiggled off his lap and onto her lounge, as though that would help distance her feelings for him too. “I think arms dealers are even worse than kidnappers. Kidnappers want to keep you alive. Arms dealers not so much. Not to mention that they probably know how to use what they sell. And they have a lot of inventory to choose from.”
“I don’t intend to get shot,” he said. “It would prevent me from making love to you in the pool again. And that would be a terrible thing.”
A strange nostalgia jabbed at her chest. She hoped they would return to the pool but she wasn’t convinced it would happen. “I assume there’s no harm in me looking at the website. I might spot something that ties it to the gym,” she said.
“I was going to suggest that, but only if you feel up to it.” Leland scanned her face, his jaw tight with concern.
“Do you really think I’m going to have a problem looking at a website, even one with guns?” But his hesitation touched her.
It took him a moment but he shook his head. “I’m the one who’s still processing your experience.”
She smoothed a lock of his hair back from his forehead. “It was a lot to have dumped on you. I’m sorry.”
“I’m glad you told me but I just want to . . .” He made a slashing gesture of frustration. “Those men should have been punished far more severely.”
“That can’t be changed. My goal is to forget them so completely that they don’t exist for me.”
He nodded somberly before he stood up, drawing her with him. “Let’s get dressed and catch some present-day bad guys.”
“One problem,” she said. “My clothes are soaking wet, thanks to you yanking me into the pool.”
Guilt threw a shadow over his face. “I don’t know what got into me. I apologize for that.”
“Hey, I’m kidding. It’s no big deal. I just don’t know what I’m going to wear.”
“How about a bathrobe while I call my concierge service to pick you up some dry clothes? They have robes in the locker room here.”
“Your concierge service? What does that mean?”
“When I need something,