Page 56 of Blood Money

Chapter Thirteen

The way Cassie was eyeing him from across the kitchen table made Gray antsy. His baby sis had a way of seeing right through him, something he still found as unnerving as his first day at the academy.

“What?” He took a sip of coffee, hoping to put an end to her invasive scrutiny.

She laughed. “Bro, you are so far gone it’s pathetic.”

“What are you talking about?” He leaned back in his chair, knowing he was about to get an earful. His mother and his sister never held back.

“Duh.” Cassie slapped the table. “I’m talking about Alex, you big dummy.”

Gray exhaled loudly. “What about her?”

“Cut the crap.” She shook her head. “Despite your half-assed attempt to distance yourself, it’s obvious you’re crazy about her. When you look at her you get all googly-eyed.”

“Googly-eyed?” Gray set his mug down and crossed his arms. “You’ve seen us together for precisely two minutes, so how did you come up with that hairbrained conclusion?”

“Oh boy.” Cassie made a tsking sound. “I may have turned in my gun and badge for a spatula and a bain-marie, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still have informants.” She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “My sources at One PP tell me you and Alex have been drooling over each other since the day she started working there. Furthermore, I’m told the squad room sizzles when you two are within twenty feet of each other.” When Gray started to object, she held up her hand. “Did you know the entire detective squad had a pool to see when you’d ask her out?”

Gray grimaced. “You’re shitting me.” He hated gossip, especially when it was about him.

“Nope.” Cassie shook her head. “Ask Dom.”

“That bastard.” He let out an exasperated breath when Cassie burst into laughter. “That may have been true a few months ago, but things have changed between us, and they can’t be changed back.”

“Are you sure about that?” She leaned in across the table. “You told me Alex spent half the money, and that you think she was using you to get closer to the investigation. But don’t you think there’s a possibility her feelings for you are real?”

“Maybe.” He stared at the steam spiraling from his mug. Maybe not. “I don’t know. What I do know is that she’s still hiding something, and I can’t trust her.”

“I can’t speak to whether she’s hiding something.” She pointed at Gray’s chest. “You know her better than I do. But from what I’ve heard about Alex Romano, she’s not the kind of woman to use people.” She paused. “Do you honestly believe she used you?”

He didn’t answer. Truth was, he had a hard time believing that she had.

“That’s what I thought.” Cassie nodded. “Even though the situation may suggest otherwise, you don’t believe it.”

Gray grabbed his mug, sloshing coffee over the rim. “It doesn’t matter what I think.” He reached for a napkin and began soaking up the mess he’d made. He wished to hell he could wipe up his messy life so easily.

Cassie rose and took the soggy napkin from his hand and tossed it into the sink. When she sat back down, she took the chair next to him. “From everything you told me, Alex didn’t ask for that money, didn’t know where it came from, and she only spent some to pay for her son’s medical needs.”

His sister paused to let her conclusions sink in, and sink in they did. Cassie always had a way of cutting through the crap and getting to the heart of the matter.

She pulled her chair closer to his. “You are the most steadfast, honest, and loyal detective in the department, and a big reason for that is your ability to see things in black and white. No one will ever question your credibility or your ethics. But the world isn’t black and white. People are only human. You’re only human.”

Gray met his sister’s gaze and held it. He had no response to that. He knew what she said was true.

“Sometimes you get overprotective and hold on a little too tight.” Cassie rested her hand on his forearm and squeezed gently. “Do you remember when I was a kid?”

Gray raised a brow. “You were never a kid. You were a pain in the ass from day one.” A red-haired hellion to be exact.

“And you loved me anyway.” She blew him a kiss. “But my point is that no boy would come near me for fear of having the snot beaten out of him by my overly protective big brother. You hated every single one of my boyfriends.”

Gray snorted. “All your boyfriends were dicks. Except Mike.”

Cassie laughed. “True, but all those other guys were my boyfriends because I wanted them to be. That was my choice, not yours. You had to trust me, and you never gave me a chance. Now you’re not giving Alex a chance. You have to trust her. Trust that she made certain decisions because she truly believed she had no other choice.”

He gripped the mug tighter. “Marina had a choice, and she chose money. Money for the location of my unit and that hospital.”

Cassie’s face sobered instantly. “And she paid for that bad decision with her life.”