As she watched his car turn into the condo complex, she knew excuses wouldn’t work. She was here and fired up to talk, and she wouldn’t back down. She needed to say what she wanted to say now, whether he wanted to hear it or not. She could handle this. She could handle him.
But as she watched him open his car door to get out, one leg at a time, and saw how each powerfully built thigh eased from the red two-seater, her throat suddenly went dry. And got even drier when he began walking toward his front door with that sensuous strut he could do so well, full of cool sophistication and overflowing with sexiness. He was wearing an Armani suit, and there was that air of natural confidence and casual arrogance that he exuded like no other man she knew. It turned her on when it should be turning her off. It was at times like these when she really got frustrated with herself. The very thought that her body would respond to anything about him was totally exasperating.
And here she was, outside his house, sitting in her car, determined to follow through with her mission to set the tone for a peaceful truce. She despised him; that couldn’t be helped, nor would it ever change. But for her sister and his brother, they could at least tolerate each other during those few times they were in each other’s company. She was willing to make the sacrifice and hoped he would be, too.
Knowing she needed to get it over with, confront Dalton and have her say, Jules was about to unbuckle her seat belt when she noticed a car pull up, a black sedan with tinted windows. Its approach was timed perfectly to when Dalton reached his door, opened it and went inside his condo. Only then did the driver slide the vehicle into a parking spot that provided a perfect view of Dalton’s front door. Maybe the driver lived in the complex, as well, but she had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right...so she waited.
When the driver of the vehicle killed his engine and didn’t make a move to get out of the car, she knew Dalton had been followed. Jules had been on enough investigations to recognize a tail when she saw one. Why had someone followed Dalton home just to sit there parked? Watching? Waiting?
She knew all about the Grangers’ background. About how their father, Sheppard Granger, was in prison serving time for killing their mother, although all three sons were adamant he was innocent. Just over a month ago someone had kidnapped Jace and was intent on killing him—not to mention that it was only a few weeks ago that someone had tried to run Caden down and kill him, as well. All were unrelated incidents but with the same purpose. Based on these facts, the idea that someone was following Dalton was highly suspicious.
And why should she care? He was definitely not her favorite person, and if someone had it in for him, then that person could stand in line behind her. But in reality, she knew there was logic and there was reason, and her mind couldn’t separate the two. Despite how she felt about him, if Dalton was in any kind of danger, she had to react. She blamed it on her days of being a cop, when protecting someone’s life had been her calling.
On instinct, she scanned her surroundings, this time with a different eye. If she got out of her car, whoever had followed Dalton would see her. That meant she couldn’t circle around on foot and catch the person off guard. She didn’t know if she was dealing with a man or a woman. All she knew was that not only had the person followed Dalton home, but also it seemed as if he had Dalton under surveillance and was settled in for the night. She knew she was right a short while later when Dalton had turned off all the lights, yet the vehicle did not move. Did the driver assume Dalton would be leaving again to go elsewhere?