When He's Dirty (Walker Security Adrian’s Trilogy #1) - Lisa Renee Jones Page 0,56

for you when you let him down. And having Rocketman visit me was not cool Logan.”

His expression registers surprise, but he’s a master actor, and I am not fooled when he asks, “Rocketman visited you?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know you know. He sounded just like you.”

“I told you, there’s buzz out there that you’re in danger. And I didn’t make a deal with Waters. A lot of bad people fear they’re going down if Waters goes down.”

“Your people, right?”

“That’s not the point. You’re in danger,” he repeats.

“You mean you’re in danger if you don’t make me listen.”

“We’re connected. I go down. You go down. Your parents go down.”

I don’t want to be affected by his words, but I’m concerned for my parents. I’m also all too aware of the way Adrian is setting himself up as a target, refocusing the danger on him. It’s brave. He’s brave. And there are things going on here I need to talk to him about now.

I refocus on Logan. “I need to go.” I step around him and start walking, my lips parting in surprise at what I find: Adrian, out in the open, leaning on the black SUV he’d promised awaited me. And my God, he’s gorgeous. Dark and ravishing in jeans and a T-shirt, his inked arms, his goatee. He’s dangerous, I know, but while he claims to be dirty, the only dirty I’ve known him to be, I liked.

“Who the fuck is that?” Logan demands as he figures out I’m walking right to Adrian.

Adrian pushes off the vehicle and steps into me, his hand possessively settling at my hip. “Ready?” he asks, his eyes warm, even gentle, when they meet mine, but his energy is sharp, almost threatening. He is not pleased about Logan.

“Who the fuck are you?” Logan demands.

Adrian’s lips quirk and his eyes meet Logan’s. “Your worst nightmare,” Adrian replies, “if you do anything to hurt her. Any questions?”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

ADRIAN

There are men and there are boys in men’s bodies. Logan’s a boy in a man’s body.

He stares me down, a fool who thinks he’s a big fish, but what he doesn’t understand is when a fish swims among the sharks long enough, eventually a shark catches him. I’ll be that shark if he’s not careful.

“I never hurt her,” he claims, but he cuts his stare for the briefest of moments, a liar’s tell. He not only hurt her—he knows he hurt her.

“We both know you did,” I say.

“Who are you?” Logan demands again.

“No one you can call friend.”

Pri tugs my arm, trying to garner my attention. “We need to go. Now.”

I don’t look at her, my gaze remaining on Logan. “You heard the lady,” I say, my lips twitching. “We need to go.”

I turn away from him and help Pri into the backseat, while Logan calls out, “Pri, damn it. We need to talk. Think about your parents. Think about keeping them safe.”

Attention-hungry bastard. Now he has mine. I turn back to him. “Play this game cautiously, Logan. It’s a dangerous one.” With that, I follow Pri into the vehicle, and pull the door shut.

Adam is behind the wheel and I motion him forward. We’re already moving when I rotate to face Pri to find her angled in my direction, waiting on me. “What are you thinking?” she demands. “What was that? What are you doing?”

I scowl, bristling at her attack. “Are you protecting him?”

Her brows dip. “Who? Waters? I’m protecting Waters? What are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You,” she says. “Who else? I’m talking about you putting yourself out there for bait. Why? Why is that necessary? You don’t get to come into my life and make me care about you and then just die.” She pokes my chest. “You don’t get to do it, Adrian.”

She’s talking about me, not Logan. She’s protecting me. My temper burns out in about two seconds, and in that moment, I recognize how alone she’s been since Logan burned her. And yet, she let me in.

“Did you go along with this, Adam?” she demands, tapping his seat from behind.

Adam eyes her in the rear-view mirror. “I plead the fifth.”

“That’s a yes,” she says. “He’s your friend.”

I slide closer to her and catch her waist, my hand settling on her lower back, molding her close. “I’m going to be fine. And I’m not going anywhere. I’m here.”

“Until this is over or you’re dead. You made yourself bait.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I repeat. “And I have resources and a team, friends