Page 6 of Matlock
“I’m not lying.” He looked me in the eye, and while most people would probably believe him, I knew him better than anyone. Even Sadie.
“Where is Sadie?”
“She left town.”
“That was the truth,” I stated, placing my hands on the counter behind him, caging him in. “When?”
Simon swallowed. The hint of fear swept across his face so quickly that if I hadn’t been so close, I would have missed it.But I rarely missed anything where Simon was concerned.
“She hasn’t been at the salon all week. I assumed he’d hit her again, so I went looking for her.”
“In the middle of the night?” I asked, knowing he wouldn’t go over there without a valid reason. His eyes flared at my question, and I knew I had him.
“Would you mind stepping back?” Simon asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. His pupils darkened, and I took a step closer, pressing my body against his. Letting him feel how hard I was.
“Your pulse is racing, Simon. There are only a few reasons for that. Are you lying to me, Simon?”
His eyes hardened when he answered, “No.” But it was futile because I knew he was lying to me. I knew he would do anything to protect his sister. Including going to prison for murder.
“Are you afraid of me?” I asked, dipping my head closer to whisper in his ear.
“No,” he breathed.
“Then you must be aroused,” I confirmed as I rubbed my nose up the side of his neck and pressed my pelvis against him. I clenched my hands on the edge of the counter to keep them from reaching for him. “Tell me to stop, Simon.”
“Don’t stop, Tony.”
I sealed my lips to his neck, nipping at him with my teeth. His eyes closed, and his head fell back. His hands grabbed my waist, holding me against him. Simon wrapped his arms around me, running his hands up and down my back.
When I felt his lips on my neck, I let myself revel in it for just the briefest of moments before I pulled back and stared down at him. “Tell me the truth, Simon.”
“It was self-defense,” he answered quickly.
Too quickly.
Simon leaned into me, and I took a step back from the warmth of his body. Turning away from him, I walked to the door at the edge of the kitchen. I pulled it open and looked over my shoulder. “When you’re ready to tell me the truth, call me.Until then, I can’t fucking help you.”
I stepped outside and slammed the door shut behind me. I concentrated on my steps as I marched to the SUV. If I didn’t, I’d turn around and walk back inside that house and fuck him.
But I couldn’t do that. Not here. Not in Diamond Creek. Here, I was a biker. A member of the Silver Shadows MC and a lawyer. Sure, I had certain kinks; that was why I went to the club in Denver, where I’d first met Simon.
But those kinks didn’t belong in a small Midwestern conservative town. What I did in my personal life was nobody’s fucking business, and I’d be damned if I’d broadcast it to the whole fucking county.
I climbed into the driver’s seat, yanking the door closed. My fists pounded the steering wheel in frustration. I couldn’t go back in there. Not in the state I was in.
I knew he was innocent. If I had to guess, Sadie had killed Alan, and Simon was trying to protect her. He should have called me the moment Sadie called him. He should have trusted me to fix this fucking mess.
For Sadie, self-defense was a given. The whole damn town knew what a bastard Alan was, despite her trying to prove otherwise. Everyone had seen the bruises. We all knew the way he’d talked to her. This would have been a non-fucking-issue if Simon had just fucking trusted me.
I stared at the house. I didn’t know how I would get him out of this, but I would. I started the engine and backed out of the driveway, driving back to the clubhouse. When I arrived, I found Keys sitting on his bike, waiting for me.
“What do you need?”
He wasn’t a prospect anymore. He, Johnny, and Archie had all been patched in after the attack last summer. But I hadn’t called him as a prospect. I’d called him as an employee. He was my investigator. He got me the information I needed, and I found a way to make it legal.
“I need to know what the cops know. Declan won’t put it in the computer tonight; he’ll assume I’d have Nav look at it.” Irubbed the back of my neck. “I need to find Sadie. My guess is, she killed him and called Simon. He would have sent her away. Find her.”
“You got it.”
