“Tell me what you know and then I’ll decide if I need you or not.”
He was gruff. He was rude. He was unflinching. I couldn’t blame him for any of that. The Point was under attack and the innocent and not so innocent were becoming casualties. If there was one thing a man like Titus didn’t like, it was casualties.
It was a long story, one he only knew the beginning of, and there were parts I didn’t want to tell him. Parts like the conclusion, where I had fallen for the traitor. I didn’t want to admit that I had been taken in by the general who fired the opening salvo in this battle mostly because on the surface that general reminded me so much of the imposing man in front of me right now.
Conner Roark had swooped in and offered me the one thing I had craved for longer than I could remember. Security. Safety. A shot at a life where words like murder didn’t have to dangle suffocatingly around my neck. All of that had been the cake and my sweet tooth started to ache, but the icing, the sugar fix that sent me into a full-on rush towards madness, was the fact that he was also tall, broad, had wavy dark hair, dreamy midnight eyes, and spoke with the softest Irish lilt I had ever heard. I couldn’t sign up for all of that fast enough and because it was attached to a man with a badge, a man that promised to uphold the law and do right because he had belief and conviction, I couldn’t tie my stupid heart up in a bow and give it away fast enough. Not that it was a gift many wanted.
Only Conner Roark was nothing like Titus King. No man was and I was a fool for ever thinking otherwise.
“The marshal that put me in WITSEC . . .” I had to look away. It was hard to admit how easily I had fallen for a cheap imitation of what I would never be able to have. The worst didn’t get the best and Titus was definitely the best man I had ever met. “Conner Roark. He’s as dirty as they come. He sent a man after Hartman once he was out of jail and in a safe house. He wanted Race Hartman to know that taking over where Novak left off is a bad idea.”
Titus didn’t say anything for a long time. He silently watched me and I could see him turning the words over in his head. “Why? Why does Roark care who takes over the Point? What’s it to him and why is it worth destroying his career with the marshals?”
I crossed one leg over the other and tapped my fingers on my knee, pretending to be far more composed than the swirling, uncertain mess I actually was on the inside.
“That I don’t have an answer to. He hates the city. He hates the people that live here to a degree that borders on fanatical. I can’t tell you why he did it. I can only tell you that he did.” I bit down on my lip a little watching Titus try to fit the pieces together.
I finally cracked. My bottom lip trembled and I felt emotion start to claw and scratch its way up my throat. He couldn’t decide if he was going to believe me or not, and that hurt. Titus put his hands on his hips and threw his head back so that he was looking up at the ceiling.
“You’ve got to be kidding me with this.”
I slowly shook my head and sank my teeth into my lip. “I wish.”
He sighed heavily and suddenly bent forward and put his hands on his thighs like someone had hit him in the gut.
“How exactly do you know all of this, Reeve? Why would a dirty federal marshal let a woman under his protection in on his plan and his crime? Why wouldn’t he simply take Hartman out and go about his business? Why does he trust you enough to let you know what he’s up to?”
I heard it, the disappointment in his tone, the knowledge that things were worse than he could imagine and more dirty law enforcement was involved. I was right at the center of this particular shit show and he knew that meant I was right. He needed me.
“Why do dangerous and desperate men do anything they do, Detective?”
“Because of love,” he said emotionlessly and flat.
I nodded solemnly. “I started seeing Conner almost as soon as he whisked me away from here. After everything that happened with Dovie, I felt awful. I never wanted her to get hurt, but I had to do what I did because of the deal I made with Novak. Conner made me feel loved despite the fact that I betrayed my friend, despite the fact that I’m a horrible person. And he made me feel safe.” I really wanted you, but I knew there wasn’t a chance in hell of that ever happening, so I settled on what I thought was the next best thing . . . That part went unsaid, but I knew it was probably there, leaking out of my eyes as we looked at each other.
“This whole story is goddamn unbelievable.”
Tell me about it. Even when I thought I was doing something good, it turned out to be just the opposite.