Page 12 of The Criminal’s Cure

“You’re up early.” Roman’s deep voice vibrates from behind me as he walks into the kitchen.

I turn around, but he doesn’t look at me at first. When he does, I almost wish he hadn’t.

I haven’t even had my coffee yet, and I shouldn’t have to test my restraint so early in the morning after such little sleep.

Roman is a sight to behold in his freshly pressed suit and jet black tie.

The stubble that scattered his jawline last night is gone, and as he pushes his sleeve up to fasten a shining gold Rolex on his wrist, he shows off his flexed forearms. His brow furrows, and he bites into his lip as he concentrates on flipping the clasp of his watch strap.

When he gets it, he looks up at me with a smile that makes my stomach flip.

God, please tell me I don’t look as flustered as I am.

The tension between us has been growing for days, and after last night, my head is about to explode. I shouldn’t feel the way I do about the man. Not after he kidnapped me. Not after he blackmailed me into staying. Certainly not after he poured his heart out to me last night about his late wife.

It broke me to hear the anguish in his voice as he told me about her.

There’s something so devastating about seeing a man like Roman show his emotions the way he did, and no matter how strong the connection or draw is between us, it isn’t the time.

Six months . He’s probably not even ready for a rebound, let alone anything else.

I have enough self-respect not to put myself in that situation, but more than that, I don’t think he’s ready.

“Good morning. I’ve been up for a while. I didn’t sleep very well.” Between the adrenaline and the emotion of the night, my brain refused to shut off.

I turn my back to him again, reaching for a coffee cup in the cabinet. As luck would have it, there aren’t any on the shelf I can reach, so I tilt up onto my tiptoes. My fingertips brush against the ceramic mugs, but I can’t quite get a hold on one.

Without so much as a warning, Roman slips behind me.

He’s got one hand on the counter, so close to me it grazes my hip, and with the other, he reaches over me to grab two mugs from the shelf.

His body brushes against mine for a brief few seconds, and I can feel his bulge through his pants.

Sparks spread across every inch of me, heat rushing to my core as I freeze in place.

As much as I want to fight it, there is no denying how attracted to him I am anymore.

I want Roman, and whatever consequences might come from that.

Right when I think he might lean in, he pulls away with a satisfied smirk on his face as he fills both mugs. “Not comfortable in your room?”

“No,” I say, taking a shallow breath. The moment between us was both an eternity and a flash. “The room is great. In fact, I may take the mattress with me when I leave.”

Roman chuckles, handing me a mug. “We can negotiate that.”

Our tastes in coffee are almost as different as our personalities. I need fancy creamers and syrups to stomach the taste, but Roman takes his as black as the tattoos on his skin. I almost cringe as I watch him chug it, but I look away before he can catch me staring.

“I actually couldn’t sleep because I had something on my mind that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh, yeah?” Roman moves around the kitchen, pulling out cereal and milk and a few other things. In my time here, I haven’t ever seen him have anything for breakfast besides coffee, but Ty will be up soon.

“The guy from last night—”

“Russ?” He glances over his shoulder, sitting down at the kitchen island.

I nod. “Last night, when he was talking about how he got injured…”

Suddenly, I have second thoughts about telling Roman. What if I’m wrong? What if I tell him and he does something to the guy, and it’s all a big misunderstanding?

Roman narrows his eyes at me. He isn’t going to let me off the hook that easily. “Yeah?”

“Well, I guess…I mean, I could be wrong. And I don’t really want to get involved. Stitching up cuts is one thing, but—”

“Spit it out, Madison.”

“He said the guy didn’t like the price and so he lunged at him, right?”

“You don’t believe it?”

I shake my head. “The cut. It just didn’t look like a knife wound to me.

Usually, they’re clean and straight, but it was jagged.

Almost like it was torn on something. And his story doesn’t make much sense.

Don’t you think if you were going to stab someone, you wouldn’t risk being off balance by bending down so far? ”

Roman doesn’t answer at first, sweeping his thumb across his full lips.

“And why not go for something more vital? If the guy was in front of him like he said, he could have easily stabbed him in the stomach or the chest or the neck. But he goes for a place that’s virtually harmless? It could be nothing…but it just doesn’t add up to me.”

He’s quiet, and for a minute, I wonder if I’ve made a huge mistake.

Fuck, I could listen to her talk like this all day.

Part of Madison’s appeal is that she’s so far removed from my world, but hearing her talk like she’s right in the thick of it does things to me I’m almost ashamed to admit. And I don’t get ashamed by much.

It’s got me out of sorts in the best way, but I have to shut that feeling down. I’ve got too much to do today to let my mind already start wandering to her.

Not to mention what she’s saying actually makes perfect sense. She’s right. I didn’t read much into the story because I had no reason to question Russ. I still don’t, except the word of a woman I barely know against a guy who’s been with me for years.

“I don’t know. It just…I thought you should know.”

“No, you’re right. It doesn’t make sense.” My fingers tighten around my coffee cup. I have enough threats from outside, but if I’ve got guys on my team lying to me, that’s something else entirely. “I’ll look into it.”

“Will you let me know what you find out?” She swallows, pressing her mug to her lips and fidgeting with a stack of papers on the counter. “If he’s innocent and—”

“No one is innocent in my world, Madison,” I cut her off. “But one thing I can promise you is that I don’t rush into things. Before I act on something, I know every related fact and outcome. If Russ is telling the truth, then no harm, no foul.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“You sure ask a lot of questions for someone who doesn’t want to be involved.”

“You’re right.” She shakes her head, holding up her hand. “I don’t want to know.”

Madison moves around the kitchen, getting herself breakfast and packing a lunch for work.

With the conversation halted, I glance through my phone and notice a message from Sarah, Joe’s wife.

When I have things come up at work that I can’t move, she is usually my go-to, but she’s sick and won’t make it this afternoon like I planned on.

“Damn it,” I groan, rubbing my forehead. Most days, I could bring Ty with me, but I have a meeting with an arms dealer and I don’t want him anywhere near that. And since my circle of trusted babysitters is virtually nonexistent, I don’t have many options.

“What’s wrong?” Madison asks.

“Ty’s babysitter canceled and I have a really important meeting this afternoon.” I let out a heavy breath. Canceling so suddenly isn’t a good look, and this is a connection that we really need. I can always hear the lecture I’m going to get from Joe.

“What time is it at?” she asks.

“Uh, two o’clock.” I glance at my watch and gather my things off of the counter. I’ve got about a hundred other things that need my attention before then, too. I could postpone my inspection at the dock this morning, but that would put us behind a couple of days and…

“I can do it.”

“Wh-what?” My mind is so focused on restructuring my day that I almost miss what she says completely.

“I said I can do it. I just have a staff meeting this morning and I can be back about noon, if that gives you enough time.”

Rubbing my chin, I think about her offer. She’d really be coming in clutch, and I already know Ty loves her. I don’t like to leave him with many people, but she’s about as responsible as they come.

“Really?”

“Sure.” She shrugs. “Just a couple of hours, right?”

“Three tops. I’ll be home by five.”

“Then it’s no problem at all,” she says. “We’ll have a good time.”

“Madison, you’re really saving my life here. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

She shrugs again, shooting me a smirk that almost levels me. “Saving lives is kind of my specialty, remember? And by the way, you can call me Maddie. Most people do.”

Getting on nickname basis feels like a microscopic step in the right direction, but I’ll take what I can get.

“Well, then, thank you, Maddie. I owe you big time.”

“Something tells me I might like having a favor to cash in with the Italian Mafia.” She winks, giving me a small wave as she takes her coffee and starts towards the stairs. “I have to go get ready now. I’ll see you at about noon.”

“See you then.”