Kraven Read online

  “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 o