STOP WITH THE DEBATES, he chastised himself. It was unhealthy and unprofessional—but he couldn’t seem to keep his mouth shut. She brought out the worst in him. Maybe he ought to call Kane and have him take over. But even as the sensible thought flitted across his mind, he couldn’t actually commit. He didn’t want anyone else handling this case.
Maybe because giving up would feel like a failure, or maybe it was because of something else, but he just wasn’t ready to let go. And the fact that CoCo was calling him on his bullshit was something that he hadn’t expected. Yeah, she was smart. She’d seen right through the fact that he was deliberately baiting her. Sure, the place was safe—he wouldn’t lie about that—but there were other places he could’ve picked that were just as safe but not as squalid.
The thing about the bed, though, that’d come as a shock. In the past when he’d used this place, there’d been two full beds. But it’d been a while since he’d come around and the management must’ve decided to spruce things up. He could try to switch rooms but he couldn’t give up the strategic position, and he wasn’t about to take chances with CoCo’s life even if she did irritate the shit out of him.
He made quick work of finding a burger joint, ordering enough food to last them for the night, and then returned to the hotel. This time, he told himself, he wasn’t going to let her get under his skin. He was a professional and he was going to start acting like one. With a quick look around to make sure that nobody was watching him, he let himself into the room.
Time to start fresh. “Look, since we have to work together for the next couple of days, how about we call a truce? I won’t needle you and you won’t needle me and we’ll get along just fine.” He handed her a bag of burger and fries.
She accepted the food offering with a small nod. “I guess that’ll be okay. But this place sucks. Surely we can go somewhere else, somewhere less third-world country.”
“Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Right now we need to hole up and make sure that the place is secure.”
She made an exasperated sound, wanting to slap him silly right in that too-hot-for-his-own-good face. “Enough with the dire warnings of imminent death. What an enormous wet blanket you are. Do you realize how many times somebody has threatened my dad’s life? People are crazy. But nothing has ever happened to him and we’re going to be fine.”
“Have you read any of the threats that have come his way?” he asked.
She shook her head. “My dad doesn’t let me see those things but I know he’s been threatened before. The thing is, when you have a lot of money, you have a lot of enemies. And it’s not because you did anything specific, it’s just because some people with less hate those who have more.”
“Sometimes,” he agreed. “But sometimes they also have a reason. Do you think there’s any reason why your dad might be targeted?”
“No. This is the work of someone who’s just crazy. I’m sure of it.”
But Rian wasn’t so sure. Enzo had to believe this was a credible threat to bring in the big hitters. “I can tell you that the FBI doesn’t get involved unless it’s a real threat. I think your dad is right in keeping you out of harm’s way. You are an easy target. If whoever is threatening him got a hold of you, all the power would be in their hands.”
Obviously she hadn’t thought of it that way. “But I don’t understand who would hate him so much that they would do this. I don’t understand it at all. My dad makes shoes, for crying out loud. It’s not like he’s trading in state secrets.”
“How do you know? A shoe business would make a great front.”
She hit him with a dark look.
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “I’m not calling your dad anything. I’m just playing devil’s advocate.”
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The Bodyguards Sweetheart
RomansaCoCo Abelli is the last woman Rian Dalton wants to protect. A spoiled heiress to a designer shoe empire with a reputation for hard partying and getting into trouble? Nope, Rian wants nothing to do with CoCo's kind of trouble. Especially when she has...