Page 13

Stone

S erenity froze and her eyes glazed over.

Oh, shit. I hadn’t expected her to actually see something. Was she seeing me with one of my exes? I cringed. That would be the worst. I opened my mouth to interrupt her, but that hadn’t gone so well last time, so I bit my lip instead. Closing my eyes, I prayed to God that whatever she saw was the clue we needed, and not me with another woman. I shook my head. What was I thinking?

She hugged the pillow against her chest, and finally, her eyes flew open. “Stone!”

The alarm in her voice sent adrenaline rushing down my spine. “What?” I grabbed her arms. Did we need to run?

Her frantic gaze met mine for a fraction before flying to my chest. She reached out to press her hands to the skin right over my sternum. Swallowing, she rubbed her hands over my heart before raising her eyes to mine. “Thank God. There’s no blood. You’re okay.”

My stomach tightened, but a sliver of relief washed over me. “What did you see?”

“You got shot. Right there.” She patted my chest again. “There was so much blood.” Her vivid blue gaze met mine. “You—” Her voice trembled. “You died.”

Her certainty hit me like a punch in the chest. “I died?”

She nodded, her lips trembling.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I pulled her against me, trying to reassure her, though my heart pounded like a jackhammer. “I’m sure we can stop it from happening.”

She shook her head. “I’ve never had a vision like that before. It was like I was there. You got shot, and you died right in front of me. All that blood. And the pain in your eyes. It was awful.”

“Did you see who did it?”

“No.” She pressed her head into my chest. “The light was blinding, and everything else was faded and washed out.”

“Okay… where did it happen?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice hitched. “I don’t know, and I don’t know how to stop it.” She held me tight.

“It’s okay,” I soothed. “Did you see anything else? From before I got shot?”

“I… I did see something. You were…” She trailed off, holding perfectly still.

I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to interrupt her concentration.

“You must have been outside, because the sun was shining so brightly. You also held something in your hand, but you dropped it when the bullet hit you.”

She pulled back and met my gaze, determination sparking in her eyes. “I think if you don’t spend a lot of time standing around in the sun, you should be okay. ”

I couldn’t keep a smile from tugging the corners of my mouth. “You want to hide in a cave with me somewhere?” If someone was after me, I didn’t think it would matter where I was. If they were determined, even changing something she saw might not be enough. I needed a lot more to go on than being outside, but her determination to save me warmed my heart. If I wasn’t a complete fool, I’d say that she really cared about me.

“That’s not what I meant.” She scowled and started to pull away, but I stopped her, and she relaxed against me again.

“Hey, I know.” I liked having her in my arms. “I just liked the mental image of being hidden away with you.” I glanced at the bed. “Preferably somewhere warm and comfortable.”

She met my gaze, hers searching. “You want to hide away with me?”

I smiled again. Her lips were just inches from mine. “Yes,” I whispered. Unable to resist, I closed the gap, pressing my lips against hers.

She responded with an eagerness that took my breath away.

Like a dam breaking open, the desire I’d been denying came flooding out, scorching me with heat. Her scent filled my senses, and I deepened the kiss. She held me tighter and ran one hand through my hair. I groaned; my need stronger than my reason. Twisting, I sank onto the bed, pulling her down on top of me. She didn’t hesitate to follow, maneuvering to straddle my hips, her knees on either side of me.

Our lips met in a wild frenzy, our tongues dancing and pulling, sucking and caressing. Lost in a haze of sexual desire, I barely heard my phone ringing.

Like coming out of a long, dark tunnel, the tone pulled me back to my senses. Serenity broke the kiss. Sucking in a deep breath, she rolled off of me, her lips red and swollen, her pupils still dark with desire.

Breathing heavily, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, barely able to contain my low growl of anger when I answered. “What?”

“Hey Stone, it’s Scardino. You sound more surly than normal. Did I interrupt something?”

“Yes… what do you want?”

He huffed. “Look, bigshot… I’m doing you a favor. You should be more respectful.”

My nostrils flared. “Just spit it out. Am I in trouble or something?” It wasn’t every day that the police detective on Vanetti’s payroll called me, so it had to be something I didn’t want to hear.

“Were you involved in an explosion yesterday?”

“Was it in the morning, or last night?”

“Are you shitting me? You were at both?”

I rubbed my forehead. “Unfortunately, yes. I think someone’s trying to kill me.”

Serenity met my gaze, her blue eyes wide and worried.

“Seriously?”

I tried not to growl as she slipped off the bed, straightened her clothes, and pulled on her gloves. Why did she put her gloves back on? She didn’t have to.

“Stone? Mr. Bigshot?”

I stood and began to pace. “Look, the explosion wasn’t my fault. Someone set me up.”

“Well, that’s good to know, but I’ve got more bad news for ya. They found a body in the trailer. There’s also a couple of eyewitnesses that gave a pretty good description of you and a woman leaving the scene. No surveillance cameras, and it was dark, so you’re in the clear, but that’s how I figured it was you.”

“Damn. I was afraid of that. Thanks for covering for me. ”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He hesitated. “There’s more.”

“What?”

“A drug raid was supposed to go down last night, but the perps were warned. Our inside man told them it was you and a woman in a red dress. I’m guessing it was the same person?”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. What happened man? I told you to keep your distance for a while. Did you forget?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “Look, someone’s trying to kill me. I have to chase down every lead. And I found out that he’s linked to the gang… or at least to the dead guy in the trailer who’s part of the gang. I was at the park for more information. I need to know who’s behind this. When everyone scattered, we went to Cash’s trailer to talk to him and got our asses handed to us.”

Dino huffed out a breath. “You’re talking about you and Sen, right? Grizzo said that was her name. What does she have to do with all this? Besides which… I’m surprised you’d take a woman to a drug meet. What the hell were you thinking?”

I closed my eyes and wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water. “It’s not what you think. Vanetti hired her to help me find the guy who’s trying to kill me. She’s a—” I sighed and bit the bullet. “She’s a psychic. She warned the gang members, but not on purpose.”

Scardino actually laughed. “You’re shitting me. Who is she really?”

I ground my teeth. “I’m not shitting you. It’s true. When she met them, she had a vision that they were all in jail… except for your guy, Grizzo. She knew he was an undercover cop, but she didn’t give it away. Someone overheard her telling me about the raid, and they all took off. ”

“So, this Sen person is a psychic? An actual, honest to God, psychic?”

I glanced at Serenity and found her studying me. Worry tightened her mouth, but she looked more angry than frightened. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“What’s her real name?”

I huffed. “I’m not going to tell you.”

“Come on, man.” Dino huffed out a breath. “If she’s for real, then maybe I should hire her to work for us. The fact that she didn’t rat out the Grizz is a real good sign.”

Serenity mouthed who is it? I muted the phone. “Dino wants to know if you want to work for the cops.”

Her brows rose. “Dino? Wait, do you mean Detective Scardino?”

My stomach clenched. “You know him?”

Her lips twisted and she nodded.

“How the hell do you know him?”

“He’s the one who worked on my case. I needed his testimony about the accident so I could get my settlement money.”

The phone squawked. “Stone! Stone? You there? You talking to her? What’s she saying?”

Shaking my head, I un-muted the phone. “I’m still here.” I paused and raised my eyebrows at Serenity. She nodded reluctantly. “And I guess you already know her. Serenity Jones? Ring a bell?”

“Oh… yeah… sure. I worked on her case. So wait. She’s a psychic? For real? She never mentioned it. Do you believe her?”

“Yes I do… she’s the real deal. But you can’t have her. She’s mine.” For some reason, saying that settled something in my gut.

“Hmm… I guess we’ll see about that.”

“So, are we done? ”

“Sure… for now. You’re on the narcotic squad’s radar, but that’s nothing new. Just be careful who you talk to for a while. And Stone…” He paused to let out a breath. “Be sure to fill me in on what you find out about these bombings. I’ll try to keep you out of it, but if you figure out anything, let me know. Okay?”

I rubbed my face. “Sure. As long as you keep me updated on your end.”

“Well… now that I know they’re after you, it will help me narrow down my search.”

I snorted. “I thought the same thing… but I have no idea who it could be. I’m just hoping to stay alive long enough to figure it out and end it.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that last part.”

“You do that.”

“Shit, Stone. I can only do so much, you know?”

“I’m discreet. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Be sure and keep it that way.”

I huffed. “Don’t tell me how to do my job.”

“Fine. At least you’ve got Serenity to help you. Hey… be sure and say ‘Hi’ to her for me. Too bad she’s married… she’s a real babe.”

“Yeah… too bad.” I ended the call, not about to tell him she was getting a divorce.

“What was that all about?” Serenity met my gaze, her arms crossed and her brows furrowed.

“I guess their guy Grizzo made us last night. Told his squad all about it, so Dino called to warn me.”

“Why would Detective Scardino do that? How does he know you, anyway?”

“Well… you know Vanetti’s a…” I hesitated. “A business man. He’s got connections.”

Her mouth tightened. “You mean… he’s a mob boss? ”

We both froze for a few seconds. “Yeah,” I finally admitted.

She let out a breath. “I, uh… figured that out on my first job, but I didn’t want to believe he was a bad guy. He’s so nice and normal. He doesn’t seem like a criminal, you know?”

“Oh… he’s not a criminal.” I smirked. “He’s never been convicted of a crime in his life.”

“Well… that’s a relief.” Sarcasm dripped off her words.

“Sure is.” I sent her my trademark smile. Before she could comment, I brushed my fingers across her forehead, moving a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Now… I believe we were starting our lives of hiding out together.”

Her eyes widened, but instead of leaning into me, she took a step back. “Um.” She licked her lips. “I think… that maybe we made a mistake.”

My heart twisted. “A mistake?” The space she’d opened up between us left me cold and aching.

“Um.” She still looked at me like she wanted me. “I mean, you can’t hide away forever. We’ve got to find the guy who’s after you. We can’t do that in… hiding.”

A corner of my mouth quirked, though my chest tightened. “Right. We need to find him and… end this?”

She nodded. “Right. I… I really don’t want you to die.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” I stepped forward, and she swayed toward me but didn’t take the bait.

She held up a hand. “And this, uh, that… kissing… can’t happen again. I need to be professional. You’re like… my boss; and that’s gross, so no more… uh… shenanigans.”

“Gross?” I was a little offended. No woman had ever called me gross.

“Not you. ” She widened her eyes at me. “But I’m not sleeping with a client. I’m a PI, for heaven’s sake, not a—” She cleared her throat. “So, professional. Got it?”

“Fine.” My brows rose. “No more shenanigans .”

“Good.” She huffed out a breath and stepped toward the door. “We need to go. Aren’t we supposed to look for someone at a bar?”

I leaned my back against the table and crossed my arms. “Yeah. But first, I think we should talk about this vision of my death. I’d like to keep it from happening. Are you sure you didn’t see more… like when it’s supposed to happen?”

She pursed her lips and shook her head. “No. But I don’t think it’ll happen today.”

My brows rose. “Why not?”

“You were wearing a different shirt.”

“Oh… well, I guess that changes things.”

“So, can we go now?”

It pained me that she was so eager to leave. That kiss had rocked me to the core, and she acted like it was nothing. Of course, her eagerness to leave also implied that she knew if she kissed me again, she’d never be able to stop. She’d also said that wasn’t the kind of… professional she wanted to be. I could respect that… even if I teased her a little.

I checked the time. “Sure. The bar should be open by now.” I shook my head. “But, from what’s happened so far, it doesn’t seem like Anna has anything to do with this.”

“I tend to agree. But it won’t hurt to eliminate her as a suspect. I mean… what have we got to lose?”