Page 43 of Talon

“Not a clue.”

“So, it’s still just a gut feeling?”

“Yeah.”

“I believe you, but we can’t go back right away. If he’s smart, and we know he is, then he’ll be doubling down on the number of guards he’s got on staff for at least a few weeks. Let’s wait. Matrix is keeping an eye on everyone coming and going from the ranch. If something changes, we can reassess shit. Cool?”

“Fine. But if anything changes …”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

Reaper grunts an acknowledgement.

“In the meantime, don’t go there without backup.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

I stare him down because I don’t entirely believe him. But I can’t call him out on a hunch. If he wants to go do something stupid like get caught, then I won’t be able to stop him. Hopefully, he’ll remember what Blackstone does to people he doesn’t like. I don’t doubt for a second that Blackstone would torture Reaper before killing him if Blackstone ever got his hands on him.

“Don’t do it,” I warn.

“Got it.”

“Now, go enjoy dinner or something. Tucker said he saw a hottie in the bar. Maybe you need to go recruit some new club girls for us.”

“Not interested in pussy right now.”

“Me, either.”

“Bullshit.” Reaper flashes one of his rare smiles.“We all know you want to bang Jessica. Go for it. If she looked at me that way, I’d want to screw her, too.”

“What way?” I put my hands on my hips.

“You know.” He smirks before brushing past me.

“She’s mine,” I growl.

“We know.”

“Asshole,” I mutter.

Even if he’s right, I don’t want to admit it. There’s no point when I can’t have her the way I want her, which is every way a man could want a woman. It drives me fucking crazy. Kissing her made it ten times worse because now that’s all I can think about. Her lips. Her scent. Her silky hair in my hands.

I want to touch her so much it hurts. My dick basically hates me for making it wait. But she’s not the type of girl who falls into a guy’s bed for a one-night stand. She’s a long-term kind of girl, and I’m not the type of man she’d go. I’m not delusional enough to think that princesses and swamp rats belong together. That’s the kind of shit that only happens in fairy tales, and I’m definitely not living in one of those.

I push open the door to Matrix’s office and find him hunched over his computer, scanning through data. He glances up and nods that it’s okay to come in. I take a seat in one of the large, wingback chairs in front of his desk.

“How’s that investigation into Jessica’s coworker Hank Cartright going?” I ask, trying to keep my voice casual.

“Take a look at this,” Matrix says, swiveling the computer screen toward me. He points to a list of suspicious incidents in Hank’s past.“Looks like he had some defaults on his credit. He’s broke and in a massive amount of debt.”

“So?”

“So, maybe he’s cracking under the stress and that turned his crush on Jessica into an obsession?”

“That seems farfetched.”

“We’ve seen worse in the past.”