to see someone else and just had the misfortune of running into you.” He looked around. Still didn’t see anyone. But that could change at any moment.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You must really think I’m a fool. When are you going to stop with your ridiculous lies? You saved my life this afternoon, Tony, and I—”
“Then don’t have it be for nothing,” he clipped out, no longer able to control himself. “Turn around and haul your butt back home, Linda. And stay there. For God’s sake, you’re a sitting duck out here.”
“So are you.”
“Yeah, but if I got shot and killed the world would be a better place. If you did—”
Her eyes widened at his inadvertent compliment and he mentally cursed. Shit. He was losing it. Messing things up big time.
“Jesus,” he murmured, then gently took her arm and started walking back to her house. “Go home, Linda.”
She stopped and wrenched her arm away. “No,” she said.
“Damn it!”
“Not unless you come back with me,” she challenged.
His eyes widened. “What?”
“I told you when you were still in jail, Tony. I want answers. I need them. Come back to my house. Talk to me. Convince me that you’re the baddie you’re trying to pretend to be. Only then am I going to let this matter drop.”
“This matter, meaning what?”
“This matter, meaning the little charade I think you’re playing. I want answers about why you’re playing it.”
Tony stared at her in frustration, then swept the street again. He’d wanted to make sure her neighborhood was clear of any obvious threats. And he’d wanted to call Yee and make sure Linda got some protection. The last thing he’d wanted—no, the last thing he could allow himself to want—was more alone time with her.
Especially out in the open. Exposed.
If anyone drove by and saw them together...
She’d left him no choice. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go back to your house. Ask your questions. I’ll give my answers. And believe me, Linda, after that, you’ll finally accept I’m exactly who I say I am. Don’t blame me if you get all the answers you never wanted to hear.”
Chapter 15
Tony was back. Inside her house. Inside the home they’d shared before Linda’s life had imploded that evening in her kitchen when she’d found him with that damn bag of pills. Granted, he was only back to convince her he was not just a druggie, but a murderer, but for a moment she relished the picture he made standing in her living room anyway.
“Do you...do you want something to drink?”
“No. I want to answer your questions so you’ll leave me alone. I have a girlfriend, Linda. Or have you forgotten that? I don’t want to be with you anymore.”
The hurt was like a thousand knives piercing her body. The pain unleashed something inside her. Something wild.
She shook her head. He wanted to play dirty? Fine. She was no longer content to simply ask him questions. Now she wanted more.
“That’s not why I asked you here and you know it.” She stepped closer. Close. And she could see his discomfort on his face. His unease.
His desire for her.
She got to him.
And the only reason she’d get to him was if he still cared about her and still wanted her.
“Ask me your questions, Linda. Or despite having a girlfriend, I’ll give you what your body’s obviously craving and then walk out of here anyway.”
She stared at him. Lost her nerve. In this game, he seemed the expert and she the fledgling player. With a sigh, she backed off.
“Fine.” She’d hit him where it would hurt the most first. “Do you even care about Mattie and Jordan anymore?”
He didn’t even flinch. “No.”
She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of his lie. “So you don’t care about me, and you don’t care about them, either?”
He glanced away. “It doesn’t matter if I care about them. They’re gone. Safe.”
“Safe. That’s an odd way to put it. Do you mean safe from Guapo? Or safe from you?”
When he said nothing, she said, “Fine. Let’s get back to me. Why did you save me?”
“That’s your next question? Not whether I killed Guapo?”
She shrugged. “I’ve already asked you that. Multiple times. You’ve implied you did or dodged my questions altogether—”
“Then let me clarify. I killed Guapo. Clear enough? As to why I saved you? What can I say? It was like a reflex.”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe you. Not about Guapo and not about why you saved me. On some level you still care