Page 104 of Temptation
Sloane gasped. “You have no idea what?—”
“Sloane, his gaze won’t leave you.” Gage rolled his eyes. “He looks at other people, then goes right back to you. Every single time. You’re in his house. And you’re not scared of him when you should be. Obviously, you’re fucking him. He’s fucking you. I’m a freaking behavioral expert, I notice these things.” His nostrils flared. “So let me repeat, do you need federal protection, or do you have guards on Sloane?”
“I have guards,” Preston said.
Gage grunted. “You don’t mean Frankie Belmont, do you? Because that bastard did five years for assault. I don’t trust him anywhere near Sloane.”
And they were right back to the Fed’s research into Preston’s life. “I trust Frankie.”
“You hire an ex-con to be your driver and your guard, fine, that’s your business—your business when he’s just watching out for you. However, now we’re talking about Sloane. Considering that Frankie nearly beat a man to death, he raises more than a few red flags for me. I don’t happen to think he’s the best person to have around Sloane.” A deliberate pause. “Sloane has a history with violent men.”
“We are done.” Sloane clapped her hands together. Three, angry claps. One punctuating each word. We. Clap. Are. Clap. Done. Clap. “Hoped you’d offer us something useful today. Nope. Not happening. You’re just jumping to conclusions and trying to drive some kind of wedge between me and Preston, and it just does not make sense to me?—”
Gage lunged to stand toe to toe with her. “I couldn’t believe it when I found out that you’d been buried alive, Sloane. How many times do you think you can play with monsters before they drag you down with them? I had to watch while Lily tied herself to Atlas Bennett, and now, you’re doing the same damn thing. I know what Preston Byron is.”
“Preston Byron is right here,” Preston noted. His hand was still at Sloane’s back, and he could feel the tension pouring through her. “He’s getting increasingly annoyed, and he’s decided that Sloane was correct with her initial assessment. You are a dick.”
Dominic snorted. “Everyone always comes to that conclusion. Sooner or later.”
“Frankie is a violent offender,” Gage gritted out. “And your other guard? Noble?” His angry stare swept to Sloane. “Do you have any idea how many men he killed?”
Preston eyed Dominic. The small amount of patience that Preston had previously held was long gone. “So, if you two knew about the primary guards I have in place, then why did he even ask the question?”
“It’s a technique he has,” Dominic explained. “Douchey, but, sometimes, it works. Gage thinks that he’ll get you to slip up and reveal some kind of detail that he might be able to use. See, he’s currently working on the assumption that someone very close to you committed the attacks. You happen to have two violent men—men who could easily carry and bury a victim—working for you. So he’s attempting to discover if Noble Garrison or Frankie Belmont could be the perp we’re after.”
Gage gaped at him. “I don’t want you as my partner.”
“Same.” A fast response from Dominic. “Look how we are agreeing on things! That is team work.”
“Why the hell did I get assigned to you?” Gage wanted to know.
“Because no one else would have you. Because you make enemies right and left. Because I’m a ray of sunshine, and I agreed to take the job no one else wanted. I made the big sacrifice for the good of the whole Bureau.” Dominic’s lips pursed. “Glad that’s all out in the open, so, yeah, let’s just all cut the bullshit, shall we? Move along to more important matters?”
Yes, Preston could certainly see why Sloane liked Dominic better.
“Tell us about Frankie,” Dominic directed. “Tell me why you trust him.”
“Frankie’s sister was sexually assaulted. He happens to be very protective of his sister, so he beat the shit out of the man who’d hurt her. Frankie went to jail, and when he got out, no one would hire him.”
“But you collect strays, so you did? That the deal?” Dominic questioned.
Preston narrowed his eyes. His hand eased away from Sloane.
“People aren’t strays,” Sloane fired. “Don’t let Gage’s dick attitude rub off on you.”
“Don’t be mad, Sloane, just because I have FBI access. I was able to get into background files faster than you could. Sorry, not sorry. I had Frankie’s criminal record. You were a few steps behind. It happens.” Dominic nodded. “Now, Preston, let’s move to your buddy Noble—he was a decorated SEAL. But he went all PTSD and wound up alone. You dug him out when he was about to wreck the world. Why the hell did you do that? More stray collection?”
“Stop saying that.” Real anger from Sloane. “I think you’ve been working with Gage too long. You’re deliberately trying to antagonize us.”
“Yeah, guilty.” But Dominic waited. Watching Preston like a hungry hawk. “Why did you pull Noble off the edge?”
“Because he’d once pulled me off.”
“And you trust him? With your life?” A deliberate widening of his eyes. “With Sloane’s life?”
“Noble came to town after the abduction. After Sloane and I were buried and dug up. He wasn’t here for the attack.”
“You sure about that timeline?”
