Texas Proud and Circle of Gold (Long, Tall Texans #52) - Diana Palmer Page 0,28
Cash understood at once that he wasn’t to tell Bernie anything. “It’s something to do with a case Paul’s working on,” Cash told Bernie with an easy smile. “No worries.”
“Okay,” she said, and smiled shyly.
“We’ll be right along.” Mikey took the speaker off the window and put it on its stand, powering the window up afterward. “Sorry about this,” he told Bernie.
“You’re related to an FBI agent,” she said. “And I don’t mind. Really.”
He caught her hand in his as he turned onto the road. “You’re easy to be with,” he said softly. “You don’t complain, you don’t fuss. Even when you probably should.”
She laughed. “I love being with you. Anywhere at all.”
“That’s how I feel.” He curled her fingers into his and drove the rest of the way to Paul’s house in silence. He was worried, and couldn’t let it show. It must be something big if Paulie wanted to interrupt a date. His cousin wasn’t the sort to interfere unless it was warranted. Which led Mikey to worry about exactly what the new development was.
His first thought was that they’d found Tony in some sort of horrible condition. They knew that Cotillo had a contract out on him, and that he could probably figure out that Tony was in the Bahamas since he and Marcus Carrera were close. He hoped Tony was still alive, even though it put Mikey in more danger.
He glanced at Bernadette and felt his heart clench. He was already attached to her. He couldn’t bear the thought of letting her get hurt because of him. And she still didn’t know anything about him, really, or the danger he was in. He was putting her in danger. If someone came looking for him, they’d go after the weakest link. An hour in any restaurant or bar around, and they’d know that Mikey was dating this cute little paralegal who worked for the DA. Bernadette could be used against him. In fact, so could Mrs. Brown and her other residents. Mikey had a weakness for motherly women, and people knew about it.
“You’re worried,” she said softly from beside him.
His head turned. His shocked expression said it all.
“You hide things very well,” she continued. “You really do have a poker face. But it’s inside you. I can feel it.”
He let out a long breath and his fingers contracted. “You see deep, just like Paulie’s sister-in-law.”
“Merrie was always like that, even in school.”
“You’ve lived here a long time, haven’t you?”
“Well, off and on, yes. I was born here, but when I was little, my parents moved to Floresville. My dad worked on a cattle ranch there as a foreman.” Her face closed up. “Dad and I moved back here when I was about ten years old.”
He was reading between the lines. Something had happened in Floresville that still caused her pain after all that time. He wondered what it was. But he wasn’t going to ask. Not yet. They had time.
“I lived all my life in Newark,” he said.
“Yes, you told me. You said you own a hotel in Las Vegas,” she added, fascinated. “It must be a lot of responsibility, taking care of something so big,” she added.
He chuckled. “You have no idea. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I had some spare cash and I thought it would be fun to own something big and elegant. It’s not what it’s cracked up to be. The labor problems alone are enough to send me to the nearest bar.”
“I guess a lot of people work for you.”
They did, but not in the hotel business. He employed a number of men who worked just a little outside the law on various projects for him. He wasn’t about to go into that with her. He thought about the life he’d lived, the things he’d done to get rich. It had seemed so important at the time, as if nothing was more important than having things, having expensive things, having money. He’d come out of the armed forces with a lot of contacts and even more ideas, and he’d put them into practice in the years since then. Now, when he thought of Bernadette and what a straight arrow she was, he felt uncomfortable. What would she think of him when she knew what he was, what he’d been, what he’d done? Already, the thought of losing her trust was painful.
“You have to stop worrying about things you can’t change,” she said, reminding him of a conversation they’d had