CHAPTER 10 #2
I shook my head, frustration bleeding through now. “You show up at my jobs. You tip like you’re trying to buy goodwill. You jump counters. You make statements to my boss like you’re issuing orders. That doesn’t end well for someone like me.”
“‘Someone like you’?” he repeated.
I held his stare. “Someone who can’t afford to make mistakes.”
The air between us shifted as he stepped closer, not crowding me, but near enough that I had to tilt my chin up.
“I don’t indulge curiosities, Eden,” he said, and his voice had lost its teasing edge entirely. “And I don’t start things I don’t intend to finish.”
“I’m telling you to stop,” I whispered desperately.
He studied my face like he was memorizing it. “No,” he said simply.
The word wasn’t loud or aggressive . . . it was absolute.
“You don’t get to decide for me what’s worth my time,” he continued. “And you don’t get to push me away because you’re scared of what it might cost.”
My throat tightened. “Please.”
He grinned and leaned in until his lips were brushing my ear. “I don’t stop, Eden,” he said. “Not when I’ve found something I want.”
The words stole the air from my lungs.
“And you,” he added, “are most definitely what I want.” Jagger abruptly stepped away as if he hadn’t just shifted the axis of my entire morning . . . and possibly my entire life.
“I’ll see you soon, Eden.”
Jagger got into the car, and just before it pulled away, his gaze found mine one last time through the glass.
Then he was gone.
And I was left standing in the sunlight, knowing with awful clarity that Jagger hadn’t heard my warning at all.
Jagger
I leaned back in the rear seat, my phone pressed to my ear, while Zachary, my driver, steered us off the Strip and into traffic that crawled like it had nowhere better to be. “How did it go?” I asked Eli.
There was a long exhale on the other end.
I could picture our PI leaning against a brick wall with his baseball cap hiding his face, pretending to scroll while he stalked Eden’s husband.
“He showed up already trashed,” Eli said.
“Eyes blown, hands shaking while he filled out the form, grinning at the receptionist like charm was a substitute for sobriety. Does your girl know he’s picked up a habit? ”
I closed my eyes. No, I was positive she didn’t.
Thanks to the cameras I’d had installed in her apartment, I’d witnessed their conversation this morning. It had been easy to hear how nervous Ryan was for his interview. The little shit hadn’t had to do one in a while since he’d been depending on Eden to fund everything.
“They still gave him a shot,” Eli continued.
“And?” I asked lazily, already knowing what he was going to say.
“And he fell apart,” Eli said. “Started rambling. Lost his point mid-sentence and started sweating. Five minutes in, security was called, and he was walked out.”
Zachary flicked a glance at me in the rearview mirror, and I’m sure I looked like a maniac the way I was grinning.
“Any detours after?” I asked.
“Liquor store,” Eli said without hesitation. “ATM. Then back to the apartment. Passed out on the couch before noon. He got up an hour ago, though, and left.”
“What about women?” I asked. “Did you find anyone he’s been with?”
“Oddly enough, no,” Eli replied. “He goes to bars and clubs with the same group but always stays away from the women.”
That was annoying, but I guess even an idiot could understand there wasn’t an upgrade from Eden.
I leaned forward slightly. “Where is he now?”
There was a brief pause as Eli checked. “Corner of Maple and Fourth. He’s walking, and he just popped something else judging by the way he’s weaving down the sidewalk.”
I glanced at the street sign and saw we were actually not too far from there. I covered the receiver and looked at Zachary. “Maple and Fourth.” He nodded and made the turn down a side street without comment.
I brought the phone back to my ear. “Keep watching him. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” I told him before hanging up.
I stared out the window, already mapping out possibilities.
Was I really about to do this?
I wasn’t a man who let opportunity rot. If something rare crossed my path, I took it. That rule had built everything I owned. It was why Cruz and I worked so well—we didn’t hesitate.
Ryan was clearly digging his own grave. I didn’t have to shove him. He was high before noon, bombing interviews, draining their funds . . . The man was doing a stellar job of ruining his life all on his own. A cautionary tale in real time.
The problem was that Eden was standing right beside him while he shoveled.
The ultimatum I’d heard her give him the other day or not, I wasn’t sure she had it in her to actually walk.
She was still acting like everything would magically change if she just worked harder, loved harder, and held everything together with both hands.
Eden was stubbornly, and painfully, loyal. Which I guess was just another reason I wanted her. Even if it was inconvenient at the moment.
That loyalty meant that I needed to be careful, though. I didn’t want her sanctifying the man and unable to love me just because he’d met a tragic end before she was done with him.
I’d have to give her one more chance to see him fail so completely she couldn’t rationalize it away. If she walked on her own, I wouldn’t have to do anything permanent.
If she didn’t . . . then I would.
My jaw tightened as I spotted Ryan stumbling down the sidewalk, one hand dragging along the brick wall like it was the only thing keeping him upright.
“Pull over,” I told Zachary, and he eased the car to the curb.
“You want backup?” he asked, and I scoffed because the idea of me needing backup for someone like Ryan was hilarious.
“I’m offended that you just said that,” I answered, and Zachary rolled his eyes like he thought I was being cocky as I reached down and opened the small compartment hidden beneath the center console.
The safe was built into the frame of the car, reinforced and invisible unless you knew exactly where to look.
Inside were a few items I kept for . . .
situations. I grabbed the baggie of white powder and slipped it into my pocket.
I stepped out of the car, and the stench of rotting food and stale beer immediately assaulted my nostrils.
There were trash bags slumped against a battered dumpster halfway down the block, one torn open and bleeding its contents onto the sidewalk.
I started walking toward Ryan and nearly stepped on a rat that shot out from the curb.
Fucking hell.
Ryan didn’t notice me at first; he was too busy bracing himself against the graffitied wall, breathing hard as though he’d just done something strenuous.
“Long day?” I asked.
He flinched and snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot and wary. “What the fuck,” he muttered. “Where did you come from?”
His reaction reminded me of what had happened to Eden this morning, though, and I had to force myself to focus on the task.
I held up my hands innocently. “Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
He squinted at me as if he could place me. “You a cop?”