Ruthless

Chapter 12

Colin pulled into his parking space at the garage across from his apartment and looked over at Jean. She'd handled the whole situation well so far. Maybe even better than he had. If she hadn't been there to pull him back, he didn't know whether he would've stopped. That man had broken into Jean's room... He'd hurt her.

Colin hadn't been thinking straight. Hadn't been thinking at all. All he knew was that the son of a bitch needed to pay.

The ID read Tony Marsh and seemed to be real. The fact that the guy would even bring his ID with him to an assassination attempt was a sure sign he was an amateur. Now the only question was which of the Farrell brothers hired him.

He hadn't told Jean his theory yet. She was already stressed enough. But he'd need to tell her before they met with Robert tomorrow. Well, later today he supposed. By the time the police left, it was well past midnight.

He also hadn't let the police know his little theory. He knew from firsthand experience that the police couldn't touch people like the Farrells. He was normally the one Walter hired to make sure the police didn't get what they wanted.

Jean glanced around at where they were parked. "Are we allowed to be here? It says reserved parking."

"It's reserved for me. I pay more for this parking spot than the monthly mortgage on your trailer would be. Come on." He got out of the car and grabbed their bags from his trunk as she followed.

"So you have a decent amount of money already, don't you?" Her words were just the slightest bit slurred, betraying how tired she was.

"Walter paid me a good salary. Enough to keep me going for a bit."

"So why all this? Why bring me here?"

"Because I don't want just enough to last for a little bit. I'm trying to get set for life. So I don't have to follow anyone like the Farrells ever again."

"Hmmm," murmured Jean as he led the way out of the garage and across the street to his apartment building.

"It's a fourth-floor walkup. Hope you don't mind." From the way she was walking, he was half convinced he was going to have to carry her.

"I got it," she insisted as she proved her point by starting up the stairs.

He stayed behind her, just in case she did stumble, but she seemed to have it under control.

"I guess I'm pretty lucky," she said ahead of him.

Funny. He thought she'd feel pretty damn unlucky after what just happened. "Why's that?"

"You heard me. You just happened to be getting back when I screamed. That's luck."

He scoffed. If she'd really been lucky, he would've been there before the bastard ever had a chance to hit her. Except Jean didn't know the true story of what happened. He'd told the police officers who showed up to arrest Tony Marsh that he'd heard her scream and went in. But he hadn't come in through the connecting door. He'd used his own key to enter her room, determined to ask her what she thought about spending the night with him instead of alone. Who knew what would've happened if he'd been even a few seconds later? Or if he'd spent the night with Shannon?

Jean made it to the fourth floor without a problem but swayed as they came to a stop in front of the door. "Whoa there." Colin dropped the bags and set a hand at the small of her back.

"You better have a comfortable bed, Stranger." She leaned back into his arms.

Colin let his eyes close for the briefest moment as he leaned down to inhale her scent. After what almost happened, it felt damn good to have her in his arms. But she was coming off an adrenaline high and had been exhausted even before all this.