And surprise, surprise, The Chameleon had left the room. Disappearing like he did best.
That fucking piece of shit. I hadn’t seen when he’d left, couldn’t even guess when it might have been. When the bullets initially started to fly or during the shootout. In all my years as an agent that had been the closest I’d ever gotten to him.
I guess though if I could see him so easily in this chance meeting there would be another time to see him again. What if tonight was the night he was going to collect the prints though?
Fuck…
A quick glance at the dishevel around the room told me he probably wouldn’t. The bodies of the dead men were all in my view. Five of them dead.
Who were they? Who were they working for? This could have been a replay of the warehouse when the first four knights were killed.
No… The Chameleon wouldn’t do anything tonight. It would be too risky. It would be foolish.
So, for now I had to focus on this situation.
Just one part. Jia.
“I’ll get her home,” I assured Giovanni. “You look into what happened here, Boss.”
“You’ll get her home safe?” he asked.
“Yes. I’ll get her home and I’ll stay with her.” It was only once I promised that the tension left his face.
“Thank you.” He nodded and placed his gun back in his pocket.
I left him and went back to Jia.
Like the day before, I took her hand and led her away.
We drove to her place in silence.
The silence filled the space between us. It was that silence filled with tension and worry.
Both of us thinking. Both of us contemplating. Her shaken. Me being careful. Cautious.
I’d messaged Ethan and Wes so they could keep an eye out at the Marchesi. Keep watch to see if anything happened, or if the prints would be moved. Just anything. Realistically I should have called but the opportunity hadn’t presented itself and I didn’t think the discussion was one to have on the phone.
Knowing they had their eyes on the streets freed my mind to focus on Jia.
She was really shaken up by what happened. I could see it, although she seemed to be doing her best to hold her emotions together.
I noticed the tremor in her hands a few times and I wanted to reach over to her and hold her hand. I stopped myself, however, thinking better of it.
Better to keep things professional. I’d already crossed over a line I shouldn’t have crossed when I kissed her. Not that I regretted the actual kiss. It was the act because I did lead her on.
That was what happened when you kissed her the way I had and knew nothing more should come of it.
Should…
That word was such an asshole. It left a damn gray area that wanted to be filled.
It taunted and teased with emotion.
Tonight… what happened was strange and I hated not knowing.
Wes had mentioned this. He’d steered me toward this because essentially he was right. We should know the bigger picture so we’d know all the players involved.
That was something I needed to know to carry out my job the best way I could.
Tonight The Chameleon was there. He was there and the only way he would have been there is if he felt safe, except he wasn’t. Someone came and tried to kill Giovanni.
Who were the guys?
That was what I would have tried to figure out if I’d stayed.
But she needed me more. Or, someone. She needed someone. It didn’t have to be me. I’d just volunteered myself.
It wasn’t until I pulled up on her drive and got out of my car that my awareness of being alone with her really waved itself at me.
I said I’d stay, but how was I supposed to babysit a woman I’d wanted to devour only last night.
“Thank you,” she mumbled when I opened the door for her.
She walked on ahead of me and unlocked the door to her house.
The motion sensory lights turned on and we went inside. As I looked over the décor I had to admit the place suited her. It was stylish like her, from the outside to the inside with its beige and champagne colors.
It was what I’d call cosmopolitan and classy. Yet, maintaining the elements of an average home because the exterior blended in with the standard Georgian houses lining the suburban lane she lived on.
That, however was as far as average went. The interior of her home screamed of wealth with that ‘less is more’ look and she showcased the paintings I assumed she’d done herself.
I followed her as she walked on ahead to the sitting room.
Jia stopped in the center of the room, slipped out of her heels then turned to face me.
Without her heels she seemed more fragile and I saw her as petite and dainty again. Willowy like a fairy but with those curves that made me crazy. Erotic Tinkerbell.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” she stated. “I’m fine. No one will come here.”
“I’m staying,” I insisted. “You know I told your father I’d stay with you.”
“Xander…” She drew in a deep breath before continuing. “My life right now is complete shit. Every day gets worse and worse, and this is just the cherry on top of the shit. You’re here because you’re doing your job. The job is done and I’m relieving you of it, and me. So just leave. Thank you for the ride home.”
She turned away, practically dismissing me and moved over to a cupboard. I watched her, not quite knowing what to say.
Realistically what I should have done is go wait somewhere and watch the place maybe for a few hours until Giovanni contacted me. Then go check in with Ethan and Wes.
Jia actually wasn’t in any immediate danger. I just didn’t have the heart to leave her. The other part of me didn’t want to.
She opened the cupboard, showing a display of bottles of wine. She grabbed four bottles and a glass then set them down on the counter in the open plan kitchen.
I walked over to her and took her hand just as she was about to open the Pinot Noir.
“Please just go,” she insisted, eyes pleading with me. “Just go, it’s too much. You being here is too much. It’s like emotion overload and I can’t deal.”
I covered her hand when a tear spilled down her cheek.
“Why is it too much?” I wanted her to talk to me and tell me how she felt.
“Because I don’t want you to be here doing your job, and I know that’s what it is. There are bigger things to worry about than my stupid feelings. The last time I was in a shootout like tonight my mother died. They killed her right in front of me and I was supposed to be next.”
I didn’t know that part. I never knew that she saw it happen. It was always different when you saw it. Watched the life leave the person you loved.
“I’ve had enough,” she added. “I’ve had enough of everything and I just don’t want to think anymore.”
Seeing her pain, I cupped her face. “I’m not just doing my job.”
She shook her head. “Please, don’t lie to me. Don’t. I hate it. I hate lies.”
And, that was a good reason why I should have backed away and stopped myself from going further.
I was a lie who’d been sent to steal from her father. I was a lie.
Thieves were very good liars.
But one thing they could never do was refute the truth. If something was true it would always be true, no matter what you did. And the truth was, this woman had done something that drew me to her.