Un-Hate Me (Enemies to Lovers Romance) (DOM for Hire Book 3), Hazel Parker [ebook smartphone .TXT] 📗

“She’s here, why?”

“Here, with you?”

“No, she’s being stubborn. She thinks she’s safer on her own.”

“I…shit.”

Scott did his best not to micromanage us and tell us how to do our jobs, but I could tell he was struggling hard right now not to do that. Unfortunately, I actually agreed with him. But I knew the more I pushed into trying to get Emily to do what I wanted, the more she’d push me away—and the more danger she would be in.

“OK, here’s the deal. We don’t know where Snake is. He’s fully off-grid.”

“What?”

“Our last intel had him moving on a boat, but it’s the damndest thing, Burke. That boat arrived in the Keys, and he’s nowhere to be seen. He eluded our sights.”

Which means he could be anywhere near us.

“Burke, I would move with extreme caution for the indefinite future. I have no idea where Snake is, and until we get a sighting of him, we have to assume that he’s near you.”

“It’s not an assumption, Scott. He is here.”

I wasn’t saying that because I could literally see him. I was saying that because years of instincts had told me he’d come for the easiest target first. He’d chop us up bit by bit.

And Emily was first.

“We’ve got to stay in Maine, Burke, or he’s going to come for our families.”

“No, I know,” I said.

I’m on my own. But it’s how I’ve always operated.

“I’ll kill that fucker once and for all. And I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

“Be careful, Burke.”

We hung up right after. But I knew now. I knew I definitely couldn’t leave Emily.

I just had to hope and pray that whatever happened, I wouldn’t be too late.

Chapter 21: Emily

The Next Evening

By some strange gut feeling, a part of me kept wanting to reach back out to Burke.

I knew he was still in town. I didn’t know if he realized it, but I had seen him from afar going into a hotel on my way back from work. It was kind of stalkerish, yeah, but he had a way of remaining in my mind that made it impossible not to notice him.

And how sullen and downcast he looked! I didn’t think what I’d said would hit him so hard, but apparently, it had done a number. The stoic expression remained, but even from afar, his posture looked more defeated, less prone to facing the challenges of the world. The tender side of me wanted to give him a hug and a chance at conversation, the more defensive side of me warned that I’d already been there and done that, and each time, Burke’s anger and protective nature won out.

But with it being the next day, sure enough, on my drive home from work, I saw him once again heading into that same hotel. He looked a little more upright today, but it wasn’t like he looked cheerful or happy. A certain gloom captured his presence, and even though I only saw him for probably a total of three seconds before my car drove right on by, I felt like I owed it to myself to have a conversation with him.

No disruption of the workday. No yelling and screaming. No cursing each other out. Just a real talk.

And if anything, maybe he’d provide me protection from the supposed bad guy that was coming after me. I hadn’t noticed anything to that effect yet, but maybe that was because my radar for that kind of thing was really poor.

Once I got settled in at home and finished a workout, I got dressed in some jeans and a tank top and began the walk to the hotel. I thought about driving, but the hotel was closer to me than my work and only required about fifteen minutes. Plus, it was warm outside, and I could have used the open space to relax some.

The hotel was nice and upscale, though no one would mistake it for the W in downtown New York City. I entered and smiled at the receptionist wearing a suit and tie.

“Hello, how can I help?” he said in his very professional voice.

“I’m looking for a man by the name of Burke?”

“Last name?”

I hesitated. I…didn’t actually know Burke’s last name. He had literally never given it to me. I didn’t look at the legal documents closely enough, actually, I didn’t even know if the legal documents contained his name. That seemed absurd on the surface, but this whole situation with Burke was absurd.

“Johnson,” I said, just making something up, hoping that the receptionist would say something like “Well, there’s no Johnson, but…”

I sat silently as he went through whatever programs he had on his computer.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have anyone by that name at this hotel.”

“Any Burke in general? Sometimes he likes to change the last name he’s staying under so people don’t know he’s here.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but we don’t have anyone by that name at this hotel.”

A literal interpretation would have suggested that he meant no one named Burke was at this hotel, period. An obvious understanding was that this hotel employee was not going to give me an inch without saying anything, no matter what.

And so really, that was it. If Burke was here, I was the only person who would find him. The staff wouldn’t help.

“OK, thanks,” I said, walking away slowly.

But if he knew I was here, which he was too good not to, he’d know how to hide—or how to come to me.

I sighed. This was the bed I’d made for myself. Now, it was time to lie on it.

“Guess I should have listened to myself when I told myself to move on,” I said quietly to myself.

I began the long trek home, keeping to myself, the