Bad Boy's Honor: An MMA Bad Boy Romance (65 page)

I had to be careful.  

There was no way this would end well.

“You took a huge risk, Chloe,” Lois lectured, as soon as we met up in the park before work.  

When Lois found out about my little excursion with Denton, she’d hopped on a plane and come down to the Chicago office. She now planned to stay here until this operation was over, which was essentially her way of saying she was keeping an eye on me.

“It seemed like a good opportunity to get information,” I explained. “I would have called, but I didn’t want to make the call from my phone.”

“Did you get any?” Lois asked. I knew the mention of possible evidence would take her attention off my transgressions quickly enough.

“No,” I lied. “Nothing of note. But he trusts me now. The information will come soon. I’m convinced of it.”

The FBI already knew about Kara’s death and we knew that she’d been murdered, but I didn’t mention that Denton was actively hunting down her killer. I completely believed him when he said he’d kill the man, but there was still time to change his mind. I wouldn’t let Denton murder in cold-blood. He’d never live with himself. That’s just not the type of man he was. I knew that.  

“Why did you even go up to the mountains anyway?” Lois asked. “It almost sounds like he was taking you on a romantic getaway.”

“Oh, no, it was nothing like that,” I insisted. It had nearly ended up that way, but we kept things strictly platonic. That hadn’t been easy.  

For most of the evening, Denton had sat there without a t-shirt on, his ripped muscles, and tattoos on display for me to stare at. I barely watched any of the movie. My eyes spent the entire time straining to the side desperate to get a better look at his arms. And his chest. And his abs.  

The only bad thing about his body was how damn self-conscious it made me feel about mine. Denton didn’t appear to have any body fat whatsoever. I wasn’t exactly overweight myself, but I had plenty of pinchable bits of skin. Denton was about as soft as a stone statue.

I also took every opportunity possible to stare at the scar on his back. A visible, and permanent reminder, of how he’d saved his friend’s life.  

Kara had just been a friend. I hated how relieved I’d been to hear that news. She was dead, and there I was happy to find out Denton hadn’t been in love with her. What kind of person did that make me?  

The kind of person who betrays the confidence of a man who has done me no harm, I suppose.

“Does Denton just like to abandon the office once in awhile?” Lois asked.

“Yes,” I replied.  

Especially when he’s been up to something dodgy and is covered in blood. Okay, so the blood was his own, but he must have done something strenuous to tear through his stitches like that. He never did tell me, but it seemed safe to assume that someone had been punched. They probably deserved it. That’s what I had to tell myself.

“What happened just before that?” Lois asked. She sensed I was holding something back.

Lois would be able to find out where I’d been through the tracker on my phone, and that would lead her to the factory. I might as well tell her. At least that way I might not completely lose her trust and confidence.

“We drove by a factory,” I said, before giving Lois the address. “Denton just popped in to make a delivery.”

“I’ll check it out.”

Lois went silent, but she didn’t hang up. I sensed another lecture coming on and sure enough…

“Did he try anything?” she asked delicately.  

“No. Nothing like that. He was actually quite the gentleman.”

Lois snorted in disbelief. “I expect that’s just part of his plan to get you into bed. He thinks you like the mature type and is playing the game. Don’t fall for him, Chloe. He’s experienced with women and knows how to play them.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” I joked.  

Lois laughed, but it sounded forced. “Not exactly. But I have spoken to women he’s been with and none of them have a positive thing to say about him. He’s dangerous, and you can’t trust him.”

“I know,” I said softly. I hoped my words sounded at least vaguely convincing, but I doubted it.  

Denton didn’t seem dangerous--not to me anyway. To his enemies… well, that was another matter entirely. I wouldn’t want him coming after me that’s for sure.  

Lois checked the time on her phone. “You should be heading to the office.”

Thank God for that. I couldn’t wait to get away from Lois now. Hearing her talk so harshly about Denton was painful, and I was beginning to dislike her, even though I knew she meant well.

Just before I walked away, Lois handed me a jewelry box.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking the box from her hands.

“A necklace.”

I opened the box and pulled out a rather bulky looking brown necklace that looked like the sort of thing I wouldn’t even go near at seventy-five percent off in a sale. I never wore much jewelry anyway, and if I did it tended to be petite and delicate, not large and heavy.

“I assume this isn’t just an early birthday present from everyone at the office,” I remarked.  

“It can be if you like. But it also records audio and video, although the quality isn’t great to be honest. Better than nothing though.”

“Do I leave it on all the time?” I asked. “How much can it record?”

“You can get a couple of hours on there.”  

Lois took the necklace from me, and pulled the back off of the hideous brown gem and revealed a mini USB connector. The necklace was activated by squeezing the sides together for a second. I should be able to do that discretely enough. It would just look like I was fiddling with it because of nerves or boredom.

“Hook this up to your laptop every night,” Lois instructed. “Then wipe it clean for the next day. Only use it when you go off the premises with him. I doubt he does anything particularly incriminating in the office. That way, you should have enough space to get through the day.”

I took the necklace from Lois and put it on. Denton might as well get used to seeing me in it, even if I did look ridiculous.  

“Alright, I’d better be going,” I said. I didn’t start work for another thirty minutes, but I needed out of this conversation and that was as good an excuse as any.

I used the time before work to give Mom a call. She’d been ringing my normal cellphone and never getting through because I always left that at home. I now had a number of irate voicemails and emails from her demanding I call her back.

I rang the number for the house and nearly hung up, but she answered just in time. Wasn’t I lucky?

“I told you, I don’t need any life insurance,” Mom said angrily into the phone as she answered.  

“Uh, okay. Hi Mom.”

“Oh, it’s you. Hi sweetie. What’s this number you’re calling from?”

“I, uh, lost my phone and had to get a temporary replacement.”  

I probably just should have told her that in the first place, but I’d been so anxious about starting this undercover operation that my mind had been all over the place.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Mom asked, as if she hadn’t demanded I call her.

“Well I was going to try to sell you some life insurance, but I guess that’s off the table. What was all that about?”

“I’d just had a sales call from someone selling life insurance, and I thought he was calling me back.”

“Aren’t you on the no call list?”

“In theory, but they seem to find a way around that. What with life insurance and the scam calls, I’m getting rather fed up with it.”

“What scam calls?”

“Oh you know, all that ‘distant relative has left you a bequest. Please get in touch so that we can make sure you get the money.’ I must be getting old if I’m the target for these sorts of calls.”

“You’re fifty, Mom. I reckon you have another two--maybe even three--years before you completely lose your marbles.”

“Thank you, dear,” Mom said sarcastically. “You always know how to make me feel better. Anyway, how’s the new job going? I still can’t believe they transferred you to another city after just a few months.”

“It’s standard procedure,” I lied. “All junior FBI recruits get moved around a lot so they can pick up new skills.”  

That had a semblance of truth to it. New recruits did move divisions quite often, because it’s important to get a good idea how the whole operation works, and not just your piece of the puzzle. However, it was rare for employees to move cities unless they request a permanent transfer. It was too expensive.

For this operation, the FBI was paying my rent and the hotel bills for Lois’ visits. The Bureau might have billions of dollars in annual budget, but every expenditure had to be signed off, and no one liked doing that. You needed two signatures just to get a new stapler.

“Do you like it in Chicago?” Mom asked. “I’ve never been, but I hear it’s dangerous.”  

“It’s fine, Mom. And it’s not dangerous. Well, not that dangerous. It’s not like New York is a crime-free zone.”

I’d never once felt unsafe walking around the streets of Chicago, but perhaps that was because the real danger lie in Denton’s dad finding out I was an undercover FBI agent. Muggers and thieves would be child’s play compared to what he would do to me if he found out.

“Well you just make sure you never walk around alone at night.”

“You do realize I’ve had self-defense training now? I’m capable of looking after myself.”

“I still want you to be safe. Speaking of which, any chance you have a man around to look after you?”

Not unless you include the violent, but gentle, gangster I’m currently working for.

“No, Mom. No man yet. I’ve only been here a few weeks.”

“Alright, well keep me up-to-date.”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

For the second time this morning, I used the excuse of needing to go to work to end a conversation early. By this point, I was looking forward to getting to the office.  

At the office, I could chat to Denton. He didn’t have an agenda. He spoke to me like a normal person, and for the most part, I could be myself around. Except for when I had to get information to use against him.

How long would I be able to keep this up? At some point, Denton was going to find out. This wasn’t a secret I would be able to keep forever. If the operation went to plan, then he’d find out when he was arrested. If something went wrong, then he would find out when his dad caught up with me and had me killed.  

Neither alternative held much appeal. As I walked to the office, I tried to imagine a set of circumstances where Denton didn’t end up hating me. I couldn’t think of one. Even if I walked away from all this now, he’d never forgive me.  

There had never been any real chance of a relationship developing between us--not a real one--but I could still keep Denton out of prison. That had to be my priority now.  

His Dad could rot in there for all I cared, but Denton didn’t deserve that. Somehow, I was going to help him, even if he never thanked me for it.