make it more lucrative,” Daniel offers. “Three for one.”
“Who?” I ask, my eyes meeting Adrian’s. “Who’s he offering now?”
“Just offering a name gets around.”
“Because you buzzed it around,” I remind him. “I did not.”
“I didn’t buzz it around. See what I mean? Waters wants to talk to you. He’ll decide if he can risk the names when he decides if he trusts you.”
“Well, he shouldn’t trust me,” I say. “I’m not his friend.”
“But he hears you’re a woman of your word. Meet him. Maybe I can get him to give you someone even bigger.”
I hesitate, the idea of sitting down with Waters not sitting well, but then I remember that clawing feeling I had for weeks before I caught Logan with my secretary. I knew something was wrong and it ate me alive. Once I knew the truth, it hurt, but I recovered. I faced the problem and stood taller. I have to do the same now. “When?”
“Three o’clock.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Waters will be pleased,” he says, and with that, he disconnects.
I glance between Adrian and Adam. “It’s official. I’m going to meet the King Devil himself.”
Adrian catches my hand and pulls me to him, his energy taut, his expression hard. “No,” he says. “You’re not.”
“I have to do this.”
“I will tie you up and hide you away before I let you sit at a table across from that man. Do you understand me?”
I could be angry. I could push back at how alpha and controlling he’s being, but I don’t. I know that he’s lived in hell with Waters, and right now, I see those demons in his eyes, I see the torment they lay upon him every single day. And I can feel his genuine concern for me, perhaps as a man who lives his life as a protector, but I think also as a man. I press my hand to his face.
“Adrian,” I whisper. “This is just a prelude to me facing him in court. It’s good practice. People died because of this man. More will if we don’t stop him and we need to buy time to catch his hitman. I have to do this. You know I do.”
Seconds tick by and I watch those demons play in his eyes before he lowers his lashes, and I know in that moment that he knows I’m right. I have to face Waters, and the truth is, he won’t be the first monster I’ve ever known, but that’s not a detail I’d like to share right now.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ADRIAN
I know Pri feels like she’s faced evil before, but Waters is evil incarnate, a man who sees an angel like Pri and wants a taste. I sure as fuck did. And yet, I know I really would have to tie her up to stop her from going and it’s not like I could keep her like that without stalling the trial. Point for Waters. It’s almost as if he knows I’m with her and into her. I hope like fuck that isn’t the case.
“Adam goes with you,” I say. “Non-negotiable.”
“If I didn’t know where this was coming from, I’d say you’re being overbearing,” she accuses. “You know that, right?”
“Damn straight, sweetheart,” I say tightly. “On all other things we can battle it out and you may even win. Judging from how things have gone between us, you will win, but not when it comes to your safety. Not this. I’m keeping you alive.”
“All right,” she says, but she does so with a firm step backward, before she places me and Adam in profile, her arms folded. “Do we care if Waters knows Walker is involved?”
“We need to stay in the shadows for now,” I say. “Adam’s a master at becoming someone he isn’t and dresses up real pretty. Can he go in as an ADA doing grunt work on the case?”
“He can,” she says. “That works.” She eyes Adam. “Does that work for you?”
“If it’ll keep Adrian from tying you up before this is over, I’m all in.”
Her cheeks flush. “I don’t think he meant that literally.”
Adam’s lips quirk. “Of course not. I’ll let you two talk.” He winks at her, the dirty bastard, and then, dirty or not, a man of his word, he makes quick work of leaving.
The minute the door shuts, I lock it again and turn to face Pri, her pink painted lips begging to be kissed, but right now, I’m thinking about Waters—her face-to-face with Waters, specifically. She’s not nervous enough about this meeting.