Page 29 of Beautiful Killer

“If I’d know you worked here . . . I wouldn’t have . . .”

“It’s all right, Sunshine.” She actually thought I’d have a problem with her coming here? After what happened? She must think I was the biggest asshole on the face of the earth.

She swallowed, her slender throat working. “Do you think you’ll be able to find it, my grandmother’s jewelry?”

“Yes.” I’d find who hurt her as well and make him wish for death.

Her brows lifted. “You’re that sure?”

“Yes.”

She dropped her hands, and took a step back. I wanted to pull her back instantly. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Thank you, for this, for being so great about me showing up here like this.”

I shook my head. She didn’t need to thank me for shit. She’d hesitated making that 911 call because of me. If she’d made that call as soon as she’d heard him coming, she might not be standing in front of me with stitches in her face.

“Look, I know this situation is . . . well . . . what I’m trying to say is . . . don’t worry about me. I don’t expect anything from you, you know? I’m fine. We had some fun and now it’s over. You don’t owe me anything. And I don’t want things to be weird between us because of our previous personal relationship.”

I stared down at her, not sure what the fuck to say. She was looking at me like she had that night, blank, so damn closed off. I was feeling anything but indifferent. Shit, seeing her again, I wanted that personal relationship to pick right the hell back up where it left off.

“I should go,” she said. “You, ah, know where I am if you need any more information from me.”

I still didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t done a lot of talking for a lot of months. I didn’t know how to translate what was in my head to actual words without sounding like an asshole. So instead I said, “We’ll have someone come and check over your security system.”

She offered me a jerky nod and rushed out the door.

I watched her leave, fighting the urge to go after her. Like when I first met her, I had the strongest urge to look after her . . . to protect her from every-fucking-thing. Instead, I shoved my hands through my hair and gritted my teeth. Going after her would be a goddamn stupid thing to do. I’d stopped seeing her for a reason and not one goddamn thing had changed.

Still, I found myself sitting outside her house later that night. Until we’d made sure her security was solid, I needed to know she was safe. Her light was on in her living room, the flicker of the television visible through her curtains. What was she doing? It was late. Couldn’t she sleep? Was she afraid? Shit, I wanted to go in there, carry her upstairs, and climb into bed with her. Make sure she felt safe.

Those thoughts were so damn dangerous.

So instead of following my instincts, I hunkered down for the night. We’d solve this case, and the sooner the better.

Then I’d go back to life without Sunny.