Malco, the man who had helped her, walked back into the conference room where he’d left her, with bandages and water. The simple, caring gesture meant more than it should, but she put it down to shock.
Frida hadn’t had time for dating, not while she’d been studying and then as she worked her way up as an intern at Rogers & Gold. Then it had been about establishing her own firm, working the cases she wanted while building her client list.
It had left her little time for men and relationships, but the sexy savior with rough edges who now faced her piqued her interest. Trust her libido to choose now to come raring to life. A time when she’d need all her wits about her to figure out this case and stay safe.
He moved to touch her bloody foot, and the slight touch sent a current of need straight to her pussy, making her ache for a connection. He must have felt it too because he dropped her ankle as his eyes moved to hers.
Warm eyes, ‘trustworthy eyes’ her grandfather would have called them. They were a warm chestnut brown that made her feel safe, even now.
He moved slowly, his hand reaching for her calf and placing it on his hard thigh. “I need to clean your feet before you get an infection.” Frida nodded, not trusting her voice, knowing it would come out shaky. Whether from desire or from the ordeal of running for her life from men sent to kill her.
And they had been sent to kill her. She had no doubt without Malco she would be dead in a dumpster about now.
He finished bandaging her feet and then raised his eyes to hers. “Would you like to tell me what that was about?”
She realized she wanted to, she wanted to tell him everything. She barely knew him, except for the brief work they had done together previously, but even then, she’d felt the undercurrent of attraction for this man.
Frida nodded. “I will, but I’d prefer to wait for Shane and Emme to get here.”
Malco acquiesced and stood from his crouching position, making the muscles in his arms flex. “Of course. They shouldn’t be long. Did you run all the way here?”
“There was an intruder in my apartment. I just had time to get out and was lucky enough to hop into a passing cab. Unfortunately, when the driver realized someone was following us, he didn’t want to go on and kicked me out. Two men came after me. They grabbed at me, but only got hold of my clothes. I ran the rest of the way here.”
He walked out of the door with the bloody wipes he had used to clean her feet, and she felt the door whoosh closed.
Frida closed her eyes as she thought back to earlier. She’d felt as if someone were watching her and dismissed it. She knew better than to do that.
Growing up in the area she had, her gut had been the only thing that kept her safe some days. To ignore it was suicide, and she knew that. Had she come so far from the girl she’d been that she’d forgotten all the lessons she learned there?
Maybe not forgotten but perhaps ignored. Tonight had been a lesson. To win this case, Frida had to go back to her roots. Dig into the past and unearth things she thought long buried. Unlike then, when she’d been alone and weak, now she was strong, and she had people at her back who could protect her.
Frida had not become the woman she was today by being stupid, and doing this alone without back-up was stupid. Asking for help wasn’t something she did lightly, but paying for it was a different thing.
Just then, the door flew open, and Shane Rhodes’ formidable face filled the room. His presence made the large conference room suddenly feel small. Behind him, his fiancée Emme Wallace looked worried.
“Frida, what the fuck?” Shane growled as he moved to her.
Her eyes caught on Malco, who was watching her intently as he leaned against the wall silently. “I ran into some bother, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
“You came to the right place.” Emme gently patted her arm as she smiled.
Frida gave her a grateful look.
“Tell us what you need,” Shane demanded.
That was the response she’d hoped for, but the relief she felt on hearing it almost made her shudder. “I landed a case a few days ago. It’s big and if it goes to trial a lot of people are going to go down. I don’t know if they have a lot of money, but they have influence and power to spare, power which makes them desperate.”
“What’s the case?” Malco asked, moving to sit to her left.
Her eyes flashed to him and then the other two. “I can’t say a lot yet, but it’s related to a gang.”
Frida caught the look Emme shot Malco, but he didn’t react.
“Okay, but why is this one any more dangerous than any other case involving gangs?” Emme asked.
“Because it takes me back into the ’hood where I was brought up and people like that, they hold grudges. Girls like me don’t get to leave and then come back.” Frida knew she’d revealed a lot, but she was going to ask a lot of them, and they needed to know the dangers. Gang wars were ugly, and people died, and the only people who didn’t get hurt were those at the top. And as she’d seen tonight, the people at the top had friends in high places.
Nobody should know she was working this case, yet here she was only a couple of days in, and already her life was in danger.
“Tell us what you need.”
Shane was no-nonsense, and that was one of the
