“Yeah. Old enough to be the kid’s father. Can I get you a glass of wine or another scotch?”
“I’ll take a glass of wine, if you don’t mind.”
“What color? Wait, let me guess. You’re a white wine kind of girl.”
“Very good, detective.”
“I’ll be right back.”
I sat there grazing on some cheese and crackers while I stared out at the dark water and listened to the rustling of the waves.
“Again, Grace.”
“I can’t.”
“You can and you will. You will work on it again and again until you master it. I’m going inside. You stay and practice. Listen to the ocean as it speaks to you. Concentrate, Grace.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I glanced over at him as he handed me a glass of wine. “Thanks.”
“You looked like you were zoned out.”
“I was just listening to the waves.” I smiled.
“Where did you learn to fight?”
I knew that question was coming sooner or later.
“I just picked up some things here and there.”
He stared at me for a moment as if he didn’t believe me.
“There’s one thing I want to make very clear to you, Grace. There are no lies allowed here. Your captain thinks you’re in Cabo on vacation, you came to California for personal reasons having to do with Victor Ives and his crew, and your fighting skills are impeccable from what I can tell just by the fact you took down three men today on your own. If you want my help, you better be straight with me.”
“I didn’t ask you for your help, Simon. But if you really want to know, my name is Grace Elizabeth Adams. I was born and raised in Salt Lake City Utah, my parents are John and Deborah Adams, and I’m an only child.”
“The one thing that makes me such a good detective is the fact that I have excellent instincts. And right now, my instincts are telling me you’re still lying. And another thing, if you didn’t want my help, you never would have called me after you took down those two men in your motel room.”
“Listen, we’re both after the same people,” I said. “Let’s just focus on that.”
“I’m after them because it’s my job and my case. We need to get these assholes to save people’s lives. For you it’s personal, and I want to know why.”
“And I’ll tell you when I feel like I can trust you.”
“You don’t trust me right now?” His brows furrowed and I looked away from him. “Well guess what, sweetheart, I don’t trust you either.”
“Fine.” I set my glass of wine down. “Then I’ll leave.”
I got up from my chair and stormed into the house.
“You’re not going anywhere. It’s late and you’re tired.” He followed behind me as I ran up the stairs.
Grabbing my bag, I threw it over my shoulder and stood in front of him as he blocked the doorway to the bedroom.
“Get out of my way, Simon.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Put your bag down.”
“You really want to do this?” I slowly shook my head. “You have a hurt shoulder as it is.”
“You wouldn’t dare. I’m not the bad guy here. All I want is for you to tell me the truth about who you really are.”
“I already told you. Now, please move out of the way.”
“No. You’ll have to go through me if you want to leave.” His dreamy eyes stared into mine.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Kind?”
“What the hell is wrong with you, Adams?”
“How will I know if I can trust someone, uncle?”
“You will feel it from within, my darling. Look into their eyes and let your heart guide you, even if your mind is fighting you.”
I trusted him then and my heart told me I could trust him now.
“Grace?” I heard Simon’s voice that snapped me back into the present.
I diverted my eyes to his and stared into them for a moment.
“Fine. You win.” I set my bag down. “We’ll talk in the morning. I’m tired and would like to go to sleep.”
“Okay. Just so you know, I’m setting the house alarm. So, if you try to leave, I’ll know.” A smirk crossed his lips.
“I’m too tired to even try and leave, both physically and mentally.”
He brought his thumb up to my forehead and lightly stroked the area around my cut.
“Do you want to take anything for this?”
“No. I’m fine.” I could feel myself tremble underneath his touch.
“Okay. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.” The corners of his mouth curved upward.
“You too, Simon,” I spoke in a soft voice.
As soon as he turned and walked away, I shut the door and softly placed my forehead against it.
CHAPTER 8
Simon
I went downstairs, cleaned up, set the alarm, and headed up to bed. Before I made it to my bedroom, I stopped in the hallway and stared at the door to the guest bedroom. There was something about her I couldn’t shake. She was tough—one of the toughest women I’d ever met in my life. But underneath that tough exterior was a broken girl. I could feel it.
My phone pinged in my hand and when I looked at it, I had a message from Sam in our chat group.
“I heard you have an overnight guest. I’m sorry I missed meeting her. But don’t worry, I’ll be over in the morning before we leave for the doctor’s appointment.”
“She seems really nice, bro. She’s beautiful too,” Stefan said.
I shook my head as I stepped into my bedroom and shut the door.
“Are you behaving yourself over there?” Sebastian asked.
“You all need to stop. Signing off. I’ll talk to you nosey douchebags in the morning. And by the way, not a word of this to Dad. If you do, I’ll have Grace kick your asses.” I sent the smiley emoji.
I climbed into bed and took in a deep breath as I held my shoulder. Grabbing the pill bottle from the nightstand, I only had two pills left with no refills. Shit. I shoved it in my mouth and chased it down with the bottle of water I had sitting next to me. Just as I was about to turn off the light, my phone rang and Roman was calling.
“Hey, Roman.”
“I thought you’d want to know two more of Victor’s guys are in the hospital.”
“Damn. Really?”
“Yeah. We found them unconscious in one of the rooms at a Days Inn. The clerk at the desk said he received calls from some of the other guests that there was a lot of fighting going on. So, he went to the room, found them, and called 911. The room is registered under the name of Sylvia Torres. The clerk said she paid cash for the entire month. We’re running a check on her now. You don’t know her, do you?”
“No. I’ve never heard that name before. Keep me posted if you find something out.”
“I will. I’ll talk to you later, partner.”
The following morning, I got up, slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms, and headed down for a much-needed cup of coffee. When I made it to the kitchen, I stopped and narrowed my eyes when I saw Grace sitting out on the patio sipping on a cup of coffee.