The safest place for her was with him, yet it was also the most dangerous to her heart.
He nodded, looking imposing and so damn determined through the mist. “Two things. First, there’s no need for you to be frightened. You’re smart, and you need to be alert, but I’ll stand between you and danger every time. You’re safe. And second? I’ll show you exactly what’s going to happen next.” He pulled her to him, and his mouth descended on hers.
*
Ryker kept to Zara’s six as she climbed the stairs of her law firm, truly appreciating her lush ass in the black pencil skirt. She wore a frilly pink shirt on top that made him want to unbutton its tiny pearl buttons to get to the beige cotton bra beneath. Although it wasn’t as skimpy as some of her bras, there was something hot about it. Maybe because it cupped her full tits perfectly.
Yeah. That was it.
He discreetly adjusted his jeans and tried to force his brain to focus somewhere other than on Zara’s nude body. He’d just taken her in the shower, for pete’s sake, and he wanted her again right now. Wanted to feel her around him and know she was safe.
Needed to know she was safe.
There was a moment during the fight in her house that he realized if he lost, they’d get her. He’d lose her. Everything in him had rioted and then calmed in a deadly way that now freaked him out a little. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.
He didn’t want to return to those cold days when she wasn’t brightening the world with a simple smile. God, he was getting maudlin.
She pushed open the wide wooden door and smiled at the receptionist, an older lady with wild gray hair and sharp blue eyes. “Hi, Mrs. Thomson.”
Mrs. Thomson pushed green spectacles up her nose. “Morning, Zara. And it’s Mr. Jones. Back on a case, are you?”
Ryker nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Brock hired me this weekend.”
Mrs. Thomson snapped her gum. “I assume it’s the Pentley case. So sad. Such a terrible outcome to a divorce.” She shivered.
Ryker took a quick inventory of any possible attack points in the reception area. They should get a couple more bookcases to provide cover. “Have a nice day, Mrs. T.”
She winked at him and turned to answer the phone.
Zara tripped ahead of him and regained her balance, winding through desks to reach her office toward the back. “What’s your plan, Ryker?”
To bend her over the desk and fuck her hard and make sure danger never came within a mile of her again? Ryker cleared his throat. “I plan to have a quick meeting with Brock and then set up in either an open office or the conference room like last time.” In the meanwhile, Heath was checking in on the Copper Killer case, and Denver was tracing Julie’s movements for the last two months. “Do you have any contacts at the police department?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Brock usually works on civil cases, not criminal, so we don’t have a lot of work with the police. In fact, if this ends up being a criminal case, Brock will pass it off to the criminal litigation department.”
“No problem. I think Heath knows a couple of cops, so we’ll see what we can find out.” Ryker stretched his still-sore knuckles. That Jonny had had a hard jaw. “In fact, if I remember right, Heath may have dated a cop last time we were here.” Man, he had to call Heath. The time was definitely ticking down for another victim to be taken, and none of them could face another dead girl. Failure was weighing on them already.
Zara moved around her desk and sat. “Heath dated a police officer when you worked the last case for us?”
Ryker brought himself back to the most immediate problems. “Yeah.” An accountant had fled with his client’s money, and the firm had represented the client. They’d hired Lost Bastards to track the accountant down, and Ryker had found him in Mexico, having a really good time on a white sandy beach. “I’m pretty sure Heath and a cop named Bernadette got together.”
“Okay.” Zara opened a manila file, looking ready to get to work and solve all the mysteries in her life. “Have fun with Brock.”
Chapter
23
Well into the afternoon, Zara straightened her shoulders and walked into the small conference room with her notepad in hand.
Brock glanced up from a stack of papers spread out on the mahogany table.
Jay Pentley looked at her from the head of the table, no expression on his face. Dark circles marred his eyes, and scruff covered his jaw. Even his button-down shirt appeared wrinkled and tired. “What happened to your jaw?” he asked.
“Tripped on my front steps,” she said, drawing out a chair to sit.
Brock sat back and gazed from the new bruise on her jaw to the older one right below her eye. He blinked several times, glanced at Jay, and then obviously decided to have a chat with her later. “We’re trying to go through the police report from Julie’s murder as well as trace her steps.”