“Those are good reasons.”
She shrugged. “Well, except for the impulse part. What about you? You rented a house not too far from Jace and Maddy. What made you choose that neighborhood?”
“I didn’t want to spend a lot of time looking, and it was there. Maddy knows the owners. She made the whole thing happen.”
“Where did you live before that?”
“Hotels.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“Really.”
“But where did you put your stuff? Furniture, clothes, CD collections—that kind of thing.”
“I have a place in Paris.”
She seemed surprised. “I didn’t know that. I don’t think Maddy knows it either because she would have told me.”
“Maddy doesn’t know everything about me,” he said with a smile. Few did. They’d probably be shocked if they knew. Some might even be a little hurt. He hoped not, but it wasn’t impossible. Not if they thought he was only playing at his job.
The elevator stopped and Colt automatically stepped forward to position himself between Angie and the doors out of habit.
The doors slid open onto a quiet hallway. Colt went first, leading the way toward Angie’s condo. Farther down the hall, a man in a hoodie stepped out from the alcove in front of Angie’s door. He stopped when he saw them.
The hair on Colt’s neck prickled. The man turned and headed toward the stairwell with the red EXIT sign illuminated above the door.
Colt reached for Angie, tugged her close behind him and went for his gun while she gasped in surprise. Something about this situation wasn’t right. The man’s haste. The flash of recognition when he’d seen them coming. The fact he’d been at Angie’s door.
Colt made a split-second decision. He pushed Angie into an alcove in front of a different door. “Stay here, Ang. I need to follow that guy.”
He could tell she wanted to argue but instead she nodded. “Do what you have to do. I’ll be right here.”
“Do you know this neighbor?”
“Yes. It’s the Coopers.”
“See if they’ll let you in. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I could just go to my—”
“No,” he ordered. “Here. Understood?”
Her skin reddened and he wondered if they were about to have an argument that he didn’t have time for. But she nodded. “Yes.”
“Thank you, babe.”
He didn’t wait for a reply before he took off at a run.
Angie was sitting at the kitchen island with Mary Cooper when her phone dinged with a text.
Colt: Are you at the neighbor’s place?
Angie: Yes. Is everything okay?
Colt: For now. Come to the hallway. I’m waiting for you.
They needed to talk about his bossiness if it continued, but for now she understood where it was coming from. She’d seen Jace do the same thing with Maddy from time to time. It was all that alpha protectiveness coming out. Could be infuriating, but also sexy as hell.
Mary was chatting about something that happened at work today when Angie cut her off mid-story. “I’m so sorry, Mary. That’s my, uh, boyfriend. I need to meet him. He has my key.”
It was a white lie, but she didn’t think Mary needed to know the truth.
“Oh? Great! I’m so sorry you got locked out. You know you can leave a key here if you like.”
“I may do that. Thank you.”
They said their goodbyes and Mary walked her to the door. Angie stepped into the hallway. Colt was waiting for her, leaning against the opposite wall. Mary made a noise that Angie thought was approval.
Angie introduced them, and Colt turned on the charm. Angie was ready to smack him by the time they were done. Not because she was jealous, but because she wanted to know what happened. He was prolonging the moment when they’d be alone and she could find out.
After Mary closed the door, Colt pressed a finger to her mouth to stop the question. He led her to her door. Angie’s stomach dropped when he twisted the knob and the door opened. She hadn’t given him a key.
“Did he break in—?”
“He tried,” Colt said. “He didn’t succeed.”
Angie didn’t realize she’d walked inside until Colt shut the door behind them with an audible click.
“How did you get in?” Her brain was trying to catch up to everything that’d happened.
“I picked the lock.”
“But the alarm—”
“I disabled it.”
“How in the hell did you do that?”
“I used your code.”
Heat flashed through her. “How do you know my code?”
“Because I guessed. You’re like so many people, Angie. You used your birthdate because it’s easy to remember.”
“And if I hadn’t?”
“I’d have jammed the system.”
“You know how to do that?”
“It’s my job.”
If she didn’t trust him, she’d be terrified. Instead, she was happy he was on her side. She swallowed. “That’s scary as hell. And it’s not right either.”
He gripped her shoulders, rubbed her arms lightly. “Sorry, Ang. I’m not trying to scare you. But it’s possible, and I know how to do it. The guy who tried to break in might have known too.”
“You should have asked me before you broke into my home,” she said, stung.
“I couldn’t. I wasn’t sure he hadn’t gotten inside before we saw him. I had to find out, and that meant entering and searching for signs he’d been in here.”
She sniffed. It made sense, even if she didn’t like it. “You didn’t catch him. Obviously.”
“No. He had too much of a head start.”
“Oh my god. Please tell me it was just a random burglary attempt.”
“I could tell you that, but I think we both know it’d be a lie.”
“Dammit,” she growled. “I knew this wasn’t going to be easy. There’s something up with that Cardinal Group account. Charles found something wrong and now he’s gone. They know I’ve seen his work because I basically told them
