dress down, order about. But something in those flashing blue eyes compelled her to sink down in her chair. Grabbing the edge of the table, she leaned forward, barely able to contain her fury. She started to speak, but Jake put up his hand to stop her.
“Lexie, we need to talk.”
She jumped at the use of her nickname. The name Anthony gave her.
She stammered, angrily stumbling over her words.
“How, how…do you know that? My nickname. Why? What makes you think you can insinuate yourself in my life? Look for secrets, for ways to compromise me, contain me? You’re no… no better than Chief Burton. No, damn you! You are worse! At least he doesn’t lie to me, pretend he wants to have dinner with me when all he wants is to worm information out of me. You are…despicable!”
Jake responded quietly, ignoring her angry outburst. He nodded as though he had come to a conclusion. “Lexie suits you. It’s softer, not as hard as you pretend to be.”
Chapter 7
“Lexie, Anthony was my friend. He was on my special forces team for eight years. He was one of the finest soldiers I’ve had the privilege to work with and one of the most honorable men I’ve known. We were together in more godforsaken places in the world than should exist. Of all the men I commanded over the years, your brother was the most admirable. If I had to choose anyone to have my back, no matter where or why, it would be Anthony Beloi.”
Lexie was startled. Jake’s expression was intense. He was sincere, clearly moved by his relationship with Anthony. But she felt betrayed, angry that he had kept his relationship with Anthony from her. She was just beginning to trust Jake. Frankly, she liked him. It hurt that he had tricked her into having dinner with him. He hadn’t even told her he knew Anthony. Before she could wrestle with her chaotic emotions, Jake continued.
“When I learned about Anthony’s death, I insisted on leading the investigation. I will not stop until we find his killer.”
His eyes were hard, fierce.
Lexie looked down at her hands, not wanting to meet his eyes. She didn’t want him to see her confusion.
“There’s something else, Lexie, that you should know, if you don’t already. You were the most important person in Anthony’s life. Whenever we got into deep conversations about what mattered to us, you were first on his list. You were the reason he left the army, why he came to Yuma, so he could be closer to you.”
Lexie felt her chest constrict. She couldn’t stop the words. She’d been thinking them too long to hide them.
Her voice was ragged, as tightly strung as her nerves. “Are you saying it’s my fault? That he wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for me?”
Jake shook his head and took hold of her hands. She tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.
“You know that’s not what I meant. And you know it’s not true. Anthony’s chosen profession was as dangerous as any in the world. He could have been killed in any one of the missions we were on together. Hell, from the things he told me, his entire life was one near escape from death after another.”
Lexie was startled. Her face felt hot. She thought she might throw up.
“Did…did he tell you about me? All the bad…things…”
Jake broke in, “He told me how he spent years looking for you and how his life changed when he found you.”
Choking back her anger, Lexie gave in to her sense of betrayal. She didn’t want Jake to know everything about her. She’d spent ten years closing doors to a past she never wanted to revisit. And now this unsettling man she thought she could trust was just one more well-meaning official who thought he could save the poor little abused girl. She didn’t want saving, and she didn’t want Jake. She just wanted to leave. But he was leaning toward her, his forearms on his knees, holding her hands. He pinned that hard blue gaze on her and wouldn’t let her go.
“Lexie, you need to understand. I promised myself I won’t leave this place until I find Anthony’s murderer. And I won’t. But there is something even more important to me. And that is you, Lexie. It’s dangerous out there. Once the killer or killers realize that you are Anthony’s sister, you will become a target. No matter how street smart you are. If we’re right about where this investigation is leading, it’s a hell of lot bigger than one young woman can sort out. Anthony would be furious if he knew you were out on the streets alone seeking his killer. If Anthony was alive, your safety would be his number one priority. Now it is mine. You were his responsibility and now you are mine.”
Lexie jerked her hands free and pushed her chair away from him. She was shaking so hard that she was surprised she could stand, but her fury fortified her. She made a wide circle around him, putting the table between them, and headed for the door.
Steadying herself, her hands on the back of the nearest chair, she glared at him.
Given the turmoil roiling in her gut she was grateful her voice was as calm as it was.
“That’s where you are wrong, Agent Gardner. You may command battalions and lead men in and out of dangerous life threatening situations. But you are not in charge of me or responsible for me in any way. I am responsible for myself.”
She tossed her head with a dismissive sneer, ignoring the dangerous glint in his eyes.
“So pack up that southern charm, Special Agent. Save it for someone who will appreciate it. Find another helpless woman to save, because that woman isn’t me.”
She was now several feet away from him and only inches from the doorway.
“Oh, and a little advice. When you take your next powerless woman out to dinner, tell her what you are really after. Most women, even pitiful ones, don’t like being lied to. Now, if you’ll excuse me. Don’t bother getting up. I’ll see myself out. And I won’t need a ride. I’m taking a cab.” She turned to go then reached in her purse and threw two twenty dollar bills on the table. “For my dinner.”
Threading her way through the main dining room, Lexie was shaking so hard she bumped into several tables. She grimaced. People probably thought she was drunk. She was. With rage.
When she got to the entrance, she said to the teenage boy who had taken Jake’s bike, “Will you please call me a cab or tell me where the nearest cab stand is?”
A gruff voice behind her said. “Don’t bother, Pedro. I’ll see Miss Beloi home.” Taking the keys the flabbergasted boy handed him, Jake added, “Please say good night to your mother and father. Tell them I’ll be back soon.”
He took hold of her arm and strode across the parking lot to the motorcycle planted within sight distance of the valet stand. It took Lexie three steps to keep up with one of his.
“I’m not riding on that with you. I...I’m getting a cab.”
He pressed his lips together in a straight line. “Be quiet.”
She gasped and stepped back, startled by the underlying anger in his usually contained expression.
He leaned back against the handle of the bike and glared at her, his eyes narrowed, gleaming in the light from the Cantina.
“Tell you what, sugar,” his drawl was noticeably hard, without a trace of teasing humor. “We have a saying where I come from. You dance with the one who brung you.”
Lexie rolled her eyes and shot him a defiant glance. Crossing her arms tightly in front of her chest, she scoffed, “Oh, great, more of Grandma Winnie Mae’s words of wisdom? In case you didn’t notice, we weren’t dancing.”
He smiled a tight hard smile. “Nope, that was Uncle Bobby Jo’s warning to me when I was thirteen years old and thought I knew everything about the world of women and he knew nothing.” He straightened up and moved
