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“You’re the bounty hunter,” Eb returned without missing a beat.Was everyone trying to block him from getting Naomi alone?Clearly, they were.“The one who tried to stop the wedding.”
“I should have listened to his warning.”Naomi hauled a hand through her hair.“The next time a man appears at my wedding and says I’m marrying a serial killer, Iwilllisten.Be sure of that.”She turned away.Headed fully inside with Memphis.
“Ahem.”Hunter had just done an overly loud throat-clearing.“Did she say thenexttime someone tries to stop her from marrying a serial killer?Jeez, does the woman have a type or what?”
Eb stalked into the house.
I am her fucking type.
She was sure as hell his.
The house felt cold.Correction, icy.Goosebumps rose on her arms.Maybe it was because of the contemporary architecture style of the house.Too clean lines, a minimalist style.No ornamentation but massive windows everywhere you looked.The house felt imposing.Stark.
Or…
Maybe it wasn’t the house.
Maybe the chill Naomi felt came from the three men in the den with her.Three men who all seemed to carry danger and raw power.Hardly the easy, friendly type.More like the…
We-can-kill-a-man-and-never-blink type.
“So, Memphis, according to the brass in charge at the CIA, your allegations against Hudson are BS.”Eb hadn’t sat down.Neither had she.
Naomi stood near a fireplace, one that wasn’t on, and Eb had taken up a position near one of the windows on the right.
Memphis sat on the couch.Hunter sprawled in a brown leather chair.
Eb and Memphis had done their weird version of an introduction, then they’d just dropped straight to business.Your allegations against Hudson are BS.
She wrapped her arms around her stomach, the better to fight off that chill, and shot a quick glance over at Henry.A massive dog bed had been waiting in the den for him.He’d settled comfortably in it, but she wasn’t surprised to see his eyes were on her.
Naomi inclined her head toward him.I’m okay.I’ve got this.
Fabulous, now she was lying to herself and mentally fibbing to her dog.Naomi hurriedly darted her gaze toward Memphis.
Memphis nodded in response to Eb’s flat statement.“So I’ve heard before.I was personally informed by Madeline Desalt that my suspicions about Hudson Wyatt were incorrect.”He rolled his shoulders.“In fact, I was given a lovely song and dance about how my international victims were not going to be discussed at all.Not investigated even a bit.I was told that every person who seems to be a victim may actually be something far different.Then I hit the full-on CIA stonewall, and there was no more discussion.”His hands hung loosely between his spread knees as he lounged on the couch.“I can read between the lines.I understood that I was being informed Hudson was a government assassin who took out individuals who were deemed a threat.I’m sure you CIA types do that far more often than the world believes.”
So, Memphis was just casually saying that…HudsonandEb were assassins.And Eb wasn’t arguing.
Eb’s voice remained tense and hard as he noted, “Iwas also told the deaths you tried to link to Hudson from here in the US were attributed to someone else.Someone who Hudson had stopped.”
Memphis quirked an eyebrow at Naomi.“Heard you had one hell of a wedding night.”
“Quite unforgettable, I assure you.”No matter how hard she would like to forget.
“I came back to town after that night, just so you know.I told my story to that arrogant detective.”
Her hands fell to her sides.Madeline had mentioned that Memphis had talked to the detective.And Madeline shut down that line of investigation.
“Also made sure the DA heard me out.Couldn’t get to you at the time because you were in lock up, and they weren’t allowing you visitors.”
Ah, yes, her lovely isolation period.Another bonus stage in her life.
“But I wanted them to know your husband wasn’t some man of the year.”
Oh, she certainly understood that Hudson had not been that.
“The CIA told me that I had everything all wrong.They wouldn’t provide me any evidence.Just wanted me to take what they were saying at face value.I’m not real good with doing that.”