If You Know Her: A Novel of Romantic Suspense

talk to Hope about this. Shit. He didn’t even know exactly
what
he was talking about, either.
    He’d understood the urgency in King’s voice, though, and that was enough.
    Blowing out a breath, he reached out and caught Hope’s hand in his. Her engagement ring flashed in the light. “Angel, I don’t know exactly what’s going on just yet. Ezra said he’d explain more tomorrow. But apparently there are some things that aren’t adding up. He’s worried about Lena. So we’re going over there.”
    “But what does this have to do with Joe?” she asked,her voice shaking. Her green eyes were overbright and she had bitten her lip so hard, it looked bruised.
    Pushing back from the table, he came around to kneel beside her. He captured her face in his hands, rubbed one thumb over her lip. “Hope, I just don’t know. We’ll have to go over. Talk to them. See what’s going on.” Then he kissed her, softly, slowly. “But stop looking so terrified … regardless, Carson’s
gone. He
can’t hurt you now.”
    Tears welled in her eyes.
    “I know that. But if
he
didn’t do all that crazy, awful stuff … if he wasn’t the one who killed that girl, then maybe …” Her voice broke and she looked down.
    He followed her gaze, found himself staring at the fading scars that lined one soft, pale wrist.
    “If Joe didn’t do that, maybe he didn’t do
this
, either,” she whispered.
    He kept his eyes down until he knew the fury he felt wouldn’t show on his face. Gently, he lifted her hand up, kissed the faded scars. Then he looked at her.
    “If it wasn’t Joe, then we’ll find who is responsible. And whoever it was? We’ll get them. You were strong enough to face Joe, you’re strong enough for this,” he said flatly. “And I’m not going to let
anybody
hurt you.”
    Not again, he swore as he pulled her against him. Never, ever again.
    “Not that one,” he said softly, watching as she reached for a necklace.
    He knew she liked it. He liked seeing it on her … and remembering.
    But he didn’t want her wearing it. She pouted, her lip sticking out.
    Climbing out of the bed, he came up to her and nipped her lip. “Wear the gold one … it looks better on you,especially with the blue. And you know I love you in blue.”
    Tugging the hem of her skirt up, he spread her thighs and nudged her with his cock. “I really love you in blue,” he teased.
    As he’d expected, she stopped pouting … smiled. As she spread her thighs for him, she tossed the silver necklace down onto her dresser.
    He needed to get rid of it. Hide it for now. Something. But first … tugging her thong aside, he opened her, pushed inside, watched her as they fucked.
    “I love you,” she whispered to him.
    “Hmmm … love you, too …”
    Later, as she slipped out of the room, after a hurried shower, he tucked the necklace into his pocket. He’d just put it out of sight for now. She’d think she’d lost it, especially after this morning. He loved her, but she was a fucking ditz. Of course, that was part of why he loved her.
    So much easier to do the things he did when she saw only what he wanted her to see. But she was a sweetheart, too. He liked that. It appealed to him, always had.
    Sooner or later, this mess would blow over and he’d miraculously “find” her necklace for her. But until then, it was just best it stay out of sight. With that resolved, he started planning his day. He had errands to do, work he needed to get done—he was behind, but he’d been so distracted he hadn’t been able to think lately. He was
still
distracted.
    So far he hadn’t heard anything about Nia Hollister’s latest visitor. But that could be because she hadn’t yet gone back to her cabin. If she was spending the night with Reilly … Well, that was the first order of the day. Figure that out.
    Then he needed to get his own work done. He couldcheck out things with Nia on the way to get some coffee, though. Wouldn’t take too much time. And while he was working, he could try to figure out the next step. Because he suspected he hadn’t done enough. Not yet.
    He didn’t know just what it would take with her. Oddly, though … for some reason, he found the idea sort of intriguing. Providing he didn’t get too involved … too close.
    It was dangerous, he knew, even thinking about getting any more involved than he had. The only rational explanation was that it had just been too long since he’d had a decent challenge.