“She’s a woman, Donald,” he yells. “How is a woman going to restrain and bring in a man his size?”
I jerk and lift my head to glare at Julio. “And you’re a dick, but that doesn’t stop you doing your job properly, even though I’m sure the size of your ego constantly gets in the way. Careful, Julio, one day you’ll trip over it and it’ll be me pointing fingers at you.”
He opens his mouth to fire something equally as harsh back, but Don cuts him off.
“You disrespect anyone on my team like that again, Julio, you’ll find yourself without a job,” Don barks. “I don’t tolerate that kind of behavior. Grace has the same rights as any member of this team; her being a woman has nothing to do with it. Grace is smart, she’s well trained and she knows what she’s doing. I have all faith she will find a way to bring him in.”
“She’s tiny,” Julio protests but it comes out as a pathetic huff.
Don flinches and leans forward on his elbows. “And you’re walking a fine line, Julio. I’ve made my decision.”
Go Don!
Julio’s chair skids back and he throws his hands down onto the table, glaring at me. “You’ll fail, and I’ll be waiting when you do.”
With that, he storms out.
“Such a child,” I mutter as he leaves.
Vance chuckles and Don clears his throat. I turn back and straighten my back. “I can do this Don, so hit me with it. What am I dealing with?”
He slides a folder towards me, and I flick it open. My entire world comes to a screeching halt when I take in the picture of the drop dead gorgeous male on the front and I gasp. Then my eyes move to the name, Raide Knox. Oh no. Oh fucking no. This can’t be right. This can’t be the man who had me pinned against a wall last night. The man that made my knees weak. The man who burned himself into my brain.
Shit.
“Is everything okay?” Don asks.
“Ah,” I squeak. “Raide Knox?”
“You’ve heard of him?”
You could say that. I didn’t know his name until now but I’ve seen enough of everything else. I’m not about to tell Don I was getting aroused over the man, and smart mouthing him, less than twenty-four hours ago. That’s hardly going to show him I’m good at my job. No, he can’t know that I came that close to Raide and that we discussed his sword. Raide the criminal. He didn’t look like a criminal. He certainly didn’t look like a murderer … or at least someone who wanted to murder another person.
“I’ve heard his name, yes,” I answer, giving him the best I’ve got.
“Well you know he is quite well known and powerful. You need to be careful with this one, he’s smart and he’s cunning.”
That he is.
I flick through the folder, reading over his charges, his trial dates and when he was meant to check back in for those. “Where was he last seen?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
“He was sighted three days ago at East Gun Shop.”
“Okay,” I say, closing the file. “I’ll study this over the weekend and on Monday, I’ll get started. What’s my deadline?”
“Two months.”
I nod, and stand. I turn to Vance. “You still coming around tonight?”
He nods, grinning up at me. We have a weekly movie night, where we watch all the action comedies. It’s just our thing. I flash him a smile and then turn to Don who is rolling his eyes – he knows about Vance and my weekly movie night and he chooses to stay out of it, after all, we’re not breaking any rules. “Thank you, Don. I won’t let you down.”
“I know that, Gracie,” he smiles.
And with that, I leave.
*
“I’m freaking out, Kady,” I whisper down the phone. “How the hell am I supposed to get him in?”
“With your mind,” she says with amusement in her voice. “And your body.”
I frown. “My body?”
“Don’t you see? You’re looking at this all wrong. You’re expecting to be able to just go over and drag him in but you can’t do that. Whether you like it or not, you don’t have the physical power to bring a man his size in. So start thinking outside the box.”
She’s piqued my interest. “Go on.…”
“Seduce him.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
She huffs as if my question is completely unwarranted. “Seduce him.”
I laugh nervously. “Kady, I met him and basically abused him for being a player. Then I told him girls like me never sleep with men like him, and now you’re asking me to approach him and try to make him believe I’m interested?”
“Precisely.”
I close my eyes. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“What are you going to do, then?” she challenges. “Waltz up to him and order him to come in? He’ll run before you get your damned gun from your purse.”
I laugh. “I know how to use my gun, thank you very much—I’m just not allowed to use it unless it’s life or death.”
“Seriously, Gracie,” she says, softer now. “Think about it. You seduce him, get him interested, then you set him up. You could do something as simple as making him drop you to work one day—and, bam, he’s in.”