26. Gunner #2
She laughs. “Not tempting in the least. I have money. I steal plenty, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
So your offer of money was moot. With that money comes freedom to buy any apartment anywhere I want, so your offer of a penthouse at Griffin Plaza was moot.
You’re cute, Theo, and you certainly have the Bishop genes that I’m attracted to, but in my eyes, you’re like the off-brand version of Jay.
And why would I want off-brand when I can have the real thing? ”
“Ouch.”
She snickers. “I just mean in my eyes. Just like Jay is the off-brand version for Jess. We have the Bishop we want, so your offer for sex, implied or otherwise, wasn’t tempting. I had my very own Bishop right there and already in love with me. Why give that up?”
She’s not looking for a verbal answer, so all I do is watch Libby.
“The only temptation you provided that day we met was your brain. Theo Griffin surely had the brain of someone I wanted to know. So…” She waves her hand toward me.
“That’s exactly what I got. You’re here, we’re pals, I’ve been picking your brain for weeks, and I still get to go to bed with my Bishop. It worked out kinda perfect, really.”
“Sounds very tidy… and manipulated.”
She laughs. “I’m always the smartest person in the room. It’s a curse, really. Oh, look.” She turns her laptop and shows me a map with a moving dot. “Our dude is moving.”
“He’s coming closer.”
“Yeah, and we still have no clue who he is. You’re using your smart brain, right?”
“I really don’t know who. Annaliese is my employee with the highest clearance.
But I trust her. I really do. She’s good at what she does, and she’s loyal.
Olly is my friend, and has been for a long time.
My legal team is good at what they do, and they’re paid well.
Not only that, but they don’t even know my connection to Bishop.
I wasn’t lazy, Soph. I kept my worlds separate. ”
“So maybe it’s not one of your people,” she ponders.
“Dude could have literally sat in your lobby and done those searches. He could have sat in the bathrooms in a stall and did his work, and you have so many people walking through that place on the daily, we would have no way of knowing who’s who.
Our guy has more than the average person’s computer skills, but not like yours, and not like mine. ”
I frown at the implication in her words. “Why did you say it like that?” I sit up and meet her eyes. “ Not like yours, and not like mine . Why not just say ‘ not like ours ’?”
“Because our skill levels are different.” She grins. “I’m way smarter than you, so I deserve my own sentence.”
I push her shoulder so hard that she squeaks and falls to the side, and because her laughter draws the eyes of the guys standing with Lib, I earn a brand-new scowl from Jay.
He’s so fucking angry at me, and it’s purely on the back of hitting on his girl.
She’s the only thing that matters to him.
Not his life, not his work, not even my plans to eliminate his brother.
The rest is important to him, but nothing means as much as she does, and my failed attempt at luring her away has set us up for a lifetime of distrust and hatred.
When he’s spending time with Spence and doesn’t realize I’m near enough to hear, I get a glimpse of Jay’s complete opposite side. He’s silly and funny. He’s the group jokester. Which means he’s been wearing this mask of fury purely for me.
But this isn’t something a guy can apologize for. I couldn’t say it, and he wouldn’t listen anyway. This is a chasm that just won’t be leapt. I picked the wrong target, and now her man – my brother – won’t forgive.
“Don’t show your fear,” Soph reseats the laptop on her legs. “I still choose him. I will always choose him. Soon, he’ll be able to see that.”
“You gonna say yes to one of his proposals soon?”
She laughs. “You’ve heard him?”
I nod. “He’s asked you three separate times in the last couple weeks. You keep saying no. That’s not helping my case, ya know.”
“Oh,” she waves me away. “My denials have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with him. He needs to ask me without an audience, without a big production, and without showing off. He needs to humble himself, and when the time is right, he needs to ask properly, quietly, and without being a douchebag. I want to marry a man, not a child.”
“You’re mean.” Rolling to my hands and knees before she hits me, I pop up to my feet and walk toward the wall of dudes and my sweet cop standing in the middle.
I walk past Spence and his army ranger clone.
Ironically, Jay and Lib tend to hover near each other whenever she’s part of the guys group.
She doesn’t have a problem with Spence or Romeo, but maybe she’s drawn to Bishops in general.
The way Soph can be my friend, maybe Lib does the same with Jay.
And the fact she can do that with him, but he won’t give me a second of his time, annoys me beyond words.
Fuck him.
“Lib.” I reach out and take her hand. Pulling her through the group and taking her under my arm, I turn and wait for her to holster her gun. “Walk with me?”
“Sure.” As soon as she clips her gun into place, she wraps her arms around my hips and snuggles against my ribs. “Hey, Soph.” She smiles as we pass the ballerina still sitting in the grass.
“We have plans at seven.” Soph’s eyes meet mine. “Meet us at the hotel.”
“Okay.”