When He's Bad (Walker Security Adrian’s Trilogy #2) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,64
it and shakes her head. “That’s the guy speaking on the recording?”
“It is,” I say. “I don’t know him either. Blake will track him down.”
“I could just ask my father tomorrow.”
“You want to stay,” I say, and it’s not a question. I knew the minute she accepted the dinner reservation, her mind was made up.
“I promise to let you try and talk me out of it while we eat.”
“And I will, Pri. You know I will.”
Her lips curve. “I have no doubt.”
She’s smiling at this one but I’m not.
There’s a ticking clock to that trial and the longer we’re here in this city, the same city as Waters, the more we tempt fate.
Chapter Forty-One
ADRIAN
A few minutes later, Pri and I are side by side on the bed, lasagna, and wine in easy reach.
“This is my favorite Italian place ever,” Pri says. “Well, in the States. I went to Italy a few years back. That’s the best Italian food. Try it.”
She went to Italy. Damn, I hate the clawing feeling that tells me it was with Logan. But I dig into the pasta and offer my easy approval. “Excellent. I approve.”
She glances over at me. “I went with my mother. She was having some identity crisis.”
“I didn’t ask, but I would have. I’m glad it wasn’t him.”
“I wouldn’t be talking about it if it was. He’s another reason to stay. He’ll confront me. He’ll be angry and maybe he’ll tell me something worthwhile.”
Logan is the last person I want to talk about right now, I think, but I say, “I’ll have to make you some of my mom’s tamales for Thanksgiving.”
“That was a dramatic shift of topic and I get the point. No Logan talk right now. As for the tamales. Thanksgiving?” she asks, sipping her wine.
“Yeah, baby. You think I’m going to let you spend it without me?”
“Good,” she says, setting her glass down, her lips hinting at a smile, her eyes bright. “I want to try those tamales. Your mom must have been a good cook.”
“The best. She was Mexican and my father was white, but you know that. My mom was a little thing with a big personality.”
“You miss them,” she observes.
“I do, especially at the holidays.” I decide this is a moment to at least offer a little truth. “My brother, Alex, and I thought Waters had my father killed.”
“That’s why you both went undercover with the Devils.”
“Yes,” I say recapping at least some of what I told Blake. “We didn’t tell the officials. We knew they’d say we were too close to the case.”
“And did he kill your parents?”
“Someone working for him did. Ironically, Waters had the guy killed six months into my undercover work.” I glance over at her. “I won’t lie and say it didn’t please me. But for Alex, it created some weird misplaced loyalty to Waters, and Waters didn’t even know who the guy was to us.”
“That’s when Alex turned bad?”
“Alex was always a little bad, Pri. He wasn’t ever right in the head. Dad and I knew. We always knew. We sheltered Mom from that side of him. And Raf was so much younger than Alex, he was spared at least some of Alex’s shit.”
“What does Raf think happened to Alex?”
“He believes he was killed while undercover, which isn’t wrong. He was. And one day I really will tell him the story. He deserves to know. And so do you.”
She strokes my cheek. “And when the time is right, you will.” Her hand falls away. “Which brings us to now,” she adds. “And why you can’t tell me. Whether we leave tomorrow morning or tomorrow night isn’t the real issue, now is it? If I drop the case, we could run away and hide for the rest of our lives, but I leave my parents at Waters’ mercy. If I continue with the case through trial, they’re at his mercy. I feel like a horrible person for saying this, but sometimes,” she cuts her gaze, “sometimes—”
“Sometimes what, Pri?” I prod softly.
Her chin lifts and her eyes meet mine. “I wish you would have killed him.”
I turn to her, hands on her shoulders. “I can’t turn back time, but we can still end this.”
“How?”
“Once I tape my testimony, killing me doesn’t save him.”
“Even if that’s true, he’ll be out in no time. You know that.”
“And he has friends, I know enough to turn them into enemies. I’ll make his freedom his nightmare.”