Page 35 of Saving Grace

“Ms. Levinson, surprised to see you again.”

“It’s been a while, Matt.”

“Foster,” Matt said coldly.

“What?”

“My friends call me Matt. You’re not my friend, Ms. Levinson.”

I sighed. “It’s been almost two years, Matt, and you never tried to hear me out.”

“There’s nothing to hear out,” he waved his hand dismissively. “You failed me. You let Roger down, then you let him clean up your mess.”

“My hands were tied—”

“Bull-fucking-shit,” he spat. “You were trying so hard to keep your job, you forgot how to do your job,” Matt snorted in disgust. “You’re not tough enough to qualify for your position, Ms. Levinson. So, how did you get it?”

“Are you implying something?”

“Implying?” Matt sneered. “You’ve got a rocking body, Ms. Levinson, and I’d admit you had me fooled into thinking that you were qualified to handle your job, but it’s obvious now that you’ve slept your way to the top. It explains”—he made an up and down gesture with his hand indicating my body—“why you’ve been relegated to our small town. What? Holden get tired of your pussy or something?”

“Mr. Foster,” I snapped. “This conversation is over. Believe whatever you want, but you’re bound by the agency to help me get information on Troy deLamar.”

I acknowledged strong feelings of guilt for allowing Matt to speak to me that way. And amidst that guilt, there was also regret. There’d been attraction on my part even then.

After I stormed out of that meeting with Holden, Matt had come after me. He caught me in the bedroom and tried to take me in his arms, but I pushed him away. I told him to give me space.

He had looked at me incredulously and asked why.

I turned away from him without explaining and simply said “please.”

I could feel the weight of his stare against my back. He must have withdrawn quietly from the bedroom because all I heard was the soft click of the door and then he was gone.

Matt tried again the next morning, but far from the arrogant man of the first few days, he’d been cautious around me. As if one wrong move from him would send me tearing out from here. He was probably right, and the meeting with Holden had shaken me more than I allowed myself to admit.

Why would I stay with someone who had hated me for the past few years and glimpses into our past only revealed a man who had nothing for me but contempt. Unless I regained more of my memory, I could never fully trust what he was trying to show me because I didn’t remember telling him about Elliot’s involvement in Blood Bull. He could have found out from other sources, although my boss suspected I was the one who leaked the info to Matt.

I knew he was frustrated with me, and I could feel the sexual tension simmering between us. Far from being his one-night-stand girl, I was a woman with broken memories trying to piece her life together.

I didn’t need his complication. I needed answers.

My phone rang.

Troy calling.

“Hello?”

“I just got back into town, darlin’. Sorry I was gone so long.”

“No problem.”

“You ready to talk now?”

I inhaled deeply. “Yes.” After Elliot had left and with my trust in Matt in question, I had called the biker, but he had disappeared from town for three weeks. I was left with no one to turn to which had made staying with Matt difficult for me and, obviously, frustrating for him.

“We talk at the compound.”

“I’m not sure Matt would be okay with that.”