“Lock me away in a little tiny jail cell for the rest of my life. Strip my freedom away and leave me broken.”
He found himself edging toward her. “The last thing I want to do is break you.” Talk about a crime.
No one will break her. The thought was deep. Unsettling. So was the heavy fury that filled him at the idea of a broken Alice. What is happening to me?
“Good to know. But we still have that pesky trust issue to work out.” Alice glanced over her shoulder at him. “Frankly, I’m disappointed in you.”
He lifted a brow. “Want to say why?”
“Did you do any research on your client? Did it completely slip your notice that the woman is extremely unstable?”
So they were putting their cards on the table? Fine with him. “I focused mainly on you.”
“Sure, you did. Because I’m the dark temptress who has eliminated three lovers.” A sigh. She turned to face him, moving so that her shoulders pressed to the mantel. “I must point out that, of the two of us, you are the one who was charged with murder. Multiple murders, at that.”
“Noted.” He eliminated the last bit of distance between them. “But those charges were dropped. I was cleared.”
“Because you were innocent?”
Innocence was relative. “I hadn’t killed those men.”
“But you did assault multiple individuals while you were being held in custody, correct? Broke one man’s ribs. Another’s jaw. Had to be secured in solitary confinement—”
“You’ve done research on me.”
“Seemed only fair,” Alice returned softly. “Since you were investigating me. Know your enemy and all.”
What about fuck your enemy? Dammit. He did not like his reaction to her. He’d never responded this way to anyone, and his primal desire raised every red flag in his mind. He didn’t touch her, but Alice’s heady scent reached out to tease him. “I fought the people who came after me. They thought they could take me down because I was some eighteen-year-old punk kid. They were wrong.”
“Certainly, they were.” Her hand rose to trail over his chest.
He flinched at her touch.
“What’s that about? Surely, I’m not hurting you. Not after you stood so strong against everything else. They came at you with fists, and I’m barely touching you.”
It wasn’t pain he was feeling. “You like to be dangerous.”
“What makes you believe that?”
His gaze held hers.
“You were innocent, Saint. Is it so impossible to imagine that maybe I am, too? That maybe the stories are wrong? That maybe I don’t belong in a jail cell?” A soft sigh. “That maybe your client—as crazy with grief as she is—that she’s wrong? That I’ve just had incredibly bad luck and maybe I’m the victim in all of this?”
He didn’t speak.
Sadness came and went on her beautiful face. The flash of sorrow was so brief that he could have imagined it. “You’ve made up your mind about me. Must be weird, being attracted to someone you believe is so evil.”
“Are you evil, Alice?”
“I’m what I’ve needed to be.”
And Saint thought that might just be the most honest thing she’d said to him. “I haven’t made up my mind about you. I’m here to find out the truth. Tracy presented the case to me. Offered me two hundred thousand dollars to get the proof to lock you away.”
She swayed. Caught herself. “Two hundred grand? Wow. She is certainly stepping up her game. That’s an awful lot of money. For two hundred grand, some people might just invent evidence. Do whatever was necessary to get the payday.”
“Her check is still in my desk drawer. I’m not here for the money.”
Laughter. Bitter. Mocking. He’d heard real laughter come from her before, and he liked it when her amusement was genuine. He liked the way her laughter sounded, and the way it seemed to warm a coldness he held inside.
“Right.” Alice gave a little eye roll. “You came busting into town because you were—what? Curious? Like the people who come into my speakeasy, you wanted to put your eyes on me? You’re just here for the thrill?”
“Curiosity is my weakness, and I’m here to get the truth. Not Tracy’s truth. Not whatever truth is convenient for people to believe. I want to know what really happened to those men, and I’m not leaving Savannah until I find out.”
Her lashes lowered to conceal her eyes. “There’s a reason they’re called cold cases, you know. The trail has gone cold. No one knows what happened to the victims.”
“And there’s a reason my team uses the name Ice Breakers.”
He saw the faint tremble of her lower lip. “You think you’re that good?”
He waited for her lashes to lift before he answered. He wanted her eyes on him. When those thick, dark lashes finally rose and her gaze met his… “Baby, I know I’m that good.” His hand curled under her delicate jaw. His thumb brushed over her cheek. “If you don’t have anything to hide, why don’t you work with me? Don’t you want to know what happened to the men you loved?”
“Saint.” A breathless sigh. “What makes you think I loved them?” Her head turned. Her lips brushed lightly against his thumb.
He released her and stepped back because the touch of her mouth on him—
No. Don’t play her game.
“I’m giving you a chance.” He ignored his aching dick and the lust that burned so hot when he was near her. “But there can be none of the bullshit that you enjoy so much. You and me—we can work together. If you’re innocent, if you want me to think that you were the victim, then you’ll work with me. No tricks.”
“I told you already, we don’t call them that in the magic world. Effects, that’s what they are.”
He hadn’t been talking about magic.
“You think I’ll open up my life to you? Knowing that you’re just trying to tear my world apart?” A negative shake of her head that had a wet lock of Alice’s hair sliding over her shoulder. “Number four. That’s supposed to be you, isn’t it? You’re bravely putting yourself in the line of fire to save all those poor bastards out there who would just be helpless against my amazing charm.”
“First, I haven’t found you to be overly charming.”
She blinked. Then…laughed.
And he jerked a bit because that was her real laughter again. The warm, rich laughter that wrapped around him. Sank into him. Made him yearn for her. As she laughed—for just a moment—her icy demeanor melted away, and he had the feeling that he was staring at the true Alice. Or, maybe at the woman she’d been, long ago. Her laughter was rich and warm and sensual, and it made him want to pull her close.
To hold her tight.
And never, ever let go.
“Now which of us is lying?” A smile still tugged at her full lips. “I am absolutely charming.”
“No.” He was adamant on this. “You have plenty of charms, don’t get me wrong. There’s no doubt that you’re gorgeous.”
“Thank you so much for noticing.” She winked at him.