Kraven (VLG Series Book 2) (21 page)

Bat hung up and frowned. Kraven had moved to her shelves, reading the titles of books displayed. “I’m going to go take a shower.”

“We’re not staying long. I told you that. Go pack. We’ll eat and then we’re out the door.”

“You saw the security my building has. We’re safe here, Kraven. No one is going to get past reception.”

He abandoned her shelves and entered the dining area near her. Bat narrowed her gaze, leery as she watched Kraven take notice of the framed headlines she’d carefully cut from newspapers to hang on the wall. They were some of her toughest cases that she’d won. Most hadn’t earned her public likability but she was proud of beating the seemingly impossible odds. His mouth twisted into a grimace but he didn’t speak.

“You don’t approve?” It was a good guess.

He turned and held her stare. “You helped killers remain free.”

“Everyone deserves the best defense possible. Even pond scum. I’m supposed to win because that’s my job. Some people are actually innocent of the crimes they’re accused of, you know. I do a lot of good in some cases.”

He glanced over at the wall, then back at her. “Why do you hang these?”

She gave up on the idea of an immediate shower. “Do you want something to drink?”

“You didn’t answer me.”

She yanked open the fridge, removing two bottled waters. The island was between them when she spun, slamming both of them down. She used her toes to close the door. The silence in the room grew uncomfortable as they watched each other.

Kraven advanced until he paused on the other side of the granite slab. “Why keep trophies if you hate the people you represent?”

“I’m good at what I do.”

“Why are they there, Bat?”

He reached over and rested his bigger hand over hers. She jerked away and he lifted one of the bottles of water, twisting the cap open. He took a long sip of the drink and she watched him swallow. He didn’t fit into her apartment with his rugged good looks and biker clothing.

“Answer me. I refuse to let this drop.”

She believed that. “Fine. I
do
hate my job. But I beat the odds on some of the toughest cases. It’s a challenge. I like to look at them in the morning when I’m having my coffee. It helps motivate me to go to work.”

He blinked a few times but didn’t say a word.

“Go ahead. Judge me. Everyone else does.”

He put more space between them and she stiffened. His reaction hurt. He didn’t walk away though, instead rounding the island. She held his narrowed gaze until he paused close enough that they nearly touched.

“I respect the difficulty of your job, Bat. I might not like it, but I’ve been an enforcer since I became an adult. Not all my duties have been agreeable, yet they were mine to fulfill. You fill a need in society. Someone has to defend them.” He lifted his hand and gently trailed his thumb along the side of her face. “I understand.”

Tears filled her eyes and she dropped her gaze before he could see them. It was the first time someone outside her firm had said anything that even remotely implied they didn’t detest her for doing her job. “Thank you.”

“We can’t stay here.”

“We can.”

“Decker’s enforcers could order Doug to let them inside and have him bring them right to your door. That glass he stays behind won’t protect him from our eyes.”

She lifted up the key she still had in her hand. “They can’t get in without this. There are no more copies.”

“They can break a door down, Bat.”

“It’s reinforced. It might look like mahogany but it’s steel-lined. That’s why I bought a condo here. I wanted to sleep at night without fearing some lunatic would be able to get to me.”

“You really have enemies?”

“You saw the wall.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the framed reminders of her cases before looking back at her.

She backed away to prevent him from continuing to touch her. “Imagine I’m the lawyer who defended the guy you think murdered your brother. I don’t make it easy for them to get to me. Some of my clients are morons too. They need me to save them from going to prison but they might feel I’m a liability after the fact. A dead attorney tells no tales. You think I’m paranoid for living here? You’ve never met real lowlifes. Who knows, maybe they’ve all taken too many drugs to be rational. As if I’d be stupid enough to try to blackmail them or write some tell-all book one day.” She snorted. “But you can’t convince them of that. I can think of four off the top of my head who would love to see me dead and might pay some bucks to make it happen.”

“You know where the bodies are buried.”

“Not literally, but I know more than they’re comfortable with.”

Kraven scowled, staring at her. “They can’t be tried for the same crime twice, right? What’s the big deal if you know they’re guilty?”

She took a sip of water. “Let’s say for the sake of argument that you’ve been accused of murdering someone and you actually didn’t do it. Instead you were screwing around on your wife. You have to tell your attorney where you really were and what you were doing, so she can help figure out how to prove your alibi without the mistress being involved in any way.” Bat tapped her chest. “That would be me. So I do my job and prove you innocent…but I still know about the mistress. You might sleep better at night if I died so you don’t end up losing a chunk of money in a messy divorce. See how that goes, Kraven?”

“That’s all kinds of fucked up.”

“Welcome to my world. I take precautions.”

“What’s to keep them from bribing someone who works in this building to turn on you? You want me to think like one of your criminals? That’s what
I’d
do. I’m assuming your clients are rich.”

“I make sure they know I have a safety deposit box with all my notes. I might imply that upon my death, the box will be turned over to someone with access to major newspaper outlets. Most of them probably believe it. It’s the few who don’t that worry me.”

“Is that true?”

She shook her head. “I’d never chance a bank being robbed and those kinds of notes getting out while I’m still alive. I’d be disbarred at best, sued for certain, and have so many hits out on me that I wouldn’t survive a week. I also have Dusti to think about. They’d kill her out of spite. It’s just a bluff I tell my clients.”

“Has anyone ever come after you before?”

“Four years ago, my firm hired security for me because I was almost killed. I used to drive myself to and from work. Now I’m escorted.”

“What happened?”

She swallowed hard, remembering. It was tough to talk about. “I had court. I was running late because it was raining. Traffic was shit, like normal, but it was worse that morning. One second I’m sitting at a red light and the next thing I know, a guy on a motorcycle pulls up between my car on the passenger side and the truck next to me. He pulled out a gun.”

Kraven moved closer.

“I guess when he’d weaved through traffic, he’d tagged the truck’s side mirror, so the driver started screaming at him, oblivious to the gun because it was pointed at me. He distracted the shooter for just a second. I slammed on the gas as he opened fire. Lucky for me, he was a bad shot and I wasn’t creamed by traffic. He chased me for two blocks, firing at me. There was a cop who saw it go down and pursued. The motorcycle broke away and took off.”

“Shit.” Kraven reached out and gripped her arm, turning her toward him.

“Yeah. They dug out six bullets from my car. At first we thought it was road rage. That happens here. Then four hours later, they found the suspect next to his motorcycle in an alley. He’d been shot in the head execution style. My picture was found inside his pocket. The police realized it wasn’t random after all. Whoever hired him to kill me was pissed enough to take him out when he failed, or maybe wanted to make sure he couldn’t blab to the police. My firm immediately took action. Now I’m picked up every day and dropped off at night.”

“That was nice of them.”

Bat debated on telling Kraven the truth or not. She decided to be honest. “The police were all over me, trying to figure out which of my clients would send a hit man. They were certain that was the cause. My firm just wanted me to keep my mouth shut. We have a reputation to uphold. Clients come first and foremost. They offered me armed security and, in exchange, I refused to give up possible suspects to the police that would help them arrest anyone we’d defended.”

“Was it one of your clients?”

She shrugged. “I have no clue. Probably. The police were never able to solve that one. It’s still an open case.”

“Your firm wanted to protect one of the killers you defended, rather than see justice for
you
. That’s what you’re saying.”

“Alleged killers. We’re not certain it was one of our clients. My firm did right by me, regardless of the reason. And that’s only one reason for the security detail. The firm helped me upgrade to this place too. You have to have recommendations to get approved to buy in this building. I’m safe.”

He growled low, a furious sound. “
Unbelievable
.”

“There’s that word again.” Bat tried to break the tension with a little humor. “This coming from a guy who can make people think they’re a Saint Bernard if he wants.” She leaned in closer, peering into his eyes. “Woof!”

He didn’t crack a smile the way she’d hoped. He looked furious.

“Lighten up, Kraven. I work for them. They aren’t family or my friends. It’s business.”

“I don’t like your world.”

“Yours wasn’t so hot either. Mine has delicious takeout food and they deliver. Speaking of, it should be coming soon.”

He released her and spun away. “You need to pack.”

She grit her teeth. He was stubborn as hell. It was exasperating.

Kraven left Bat in her kitchen and walked down the hallway to explore the rest of her home. The guestroom was to the immediate right. It was a small, impersonal space with a closet and bathroom. He exited and entered her bedroom. Her scent lingered strongly there, even after her absence.

The four-poster canopy bed with white scarves hanging from it surprised him. It looked exotic, instead of cold like the rest of her furnishings. A teddy bear lay on the plush overstuffed pillows on the bed. He crossed the room and lifted the brown animal, curious about the tattered old toy.

“My parents gave him to me.”

He turned.

She stood in the doorway. “That’s Puffin.”

He arched his eyebrows. It was an odd thing to name a stuffed animal.

She seemed to understand. “I couldn’t say muffin when I started to talk. Apparently, that’s what I was going for. Puffin stuck.”

He gently replaced it on the bed. A framed picture caught his attention next and he strode to her dresser to lift the eight-by-ten photograph. “Antina.”

“I thought you never met my mom?” She came closer.

“I wasn’t close to her but I saw her from afar a few times. Decker didn’t want anyone to get too close to his only daughter, especially men. He had plans for her. She looks very much like her mother did. That’s your father?” He studied the smiling blond man with his arms around Batina’s mother. He could see a family resemblance. Bat and Dusti took more after their father in coloring.

Bat came up and took the frame from him, replacing it on the dresser. “Yes. That’s one of the last pictures I have of them together. It was taken a week before they died. I got a new camera for my birthday.” Emotion laced her voice. “I took it.”

He wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her but she spun away, marching to an open doorway.

“I’m going to take a shower. Get the door when the food comes. It’s already paid for.”

“Do I tip the runner, Brian?”

“No. We’re not supposed to do that with building employees. We give them holiday bonuses every year in lieu of tips. I think it’s a stupid policy but I don’t make the association rules.” She closed the door behind her.

He strode across the room and tested the knob. It opened. He entered her master bathroom, which was bigger than the one attached to the other bedroom. Bat glared at him as he leaned against the doorway.

“Do you mind? I shut that for a reason.”

“I came in here to make certain it was safe.”

“You saw security downstairs. No one broke into my place, no one’s hiding in here. We’re fourteen floors up. It’s not as if they can come in through a window.”

“It’s night, and that means GarLycans will feel safer taking to the skies.”

“I highly doubt they would fly all this way to come after me.”

“Aveoth could have a pact with Lycans in the area and may have assigned them a guardian. Decker
has
to know where you live. This is where they’d start if they’re looking for us in L.A.” He pushed away from the jamb and moved around her to the window. “Why don’t you have curtains?” He stared out at the city lights below.

“Do you see any other buildings this high within clear view? They’d have to have a high-powered telescope to see in. Most of those other buildings are businesses, not personal homes. There’s no reason for covering them.”