“Remy is excellent at what he does and he’s responsible.” She felt the need to defend him.

Lila’s eyes rolled. “Somehow I don’t think sleeping with a client makes him professional.”

The whole room went quiet and Lila flushed. Laurel looked over at their sister, her jaw dropping.

“What?” Lisa asked and then shook her head. “I don’t care what he’s done in the past. We’ve all done things we’re not particularly proud of.”

But there was something about the way Lila had flushed… How would Lila know gossip about Remy’s past? And if she didn’t know about his past then she must be talking about the here and now. Why would Laurel have gasped and looked shocked unless Lila had been spilling something she shouldn’t have?

Of course now she could look back and see that she was really the idiot in the room. Why had her brother suddenly gotten comfortable with her staying alone the same day Remy Guidry had moved into her building? He’d stopped showing up every single day. He’d stopped pushing her to move in with one of them.

Because he’d solved his problem.

That was why Remy had been at Cherry Pies that night. He’d followed her. He’d gotten her a job where he could watch over her.

Why had he pushed it? Why had he slept with her when it was obvious he hadn’t meant anything except to pass some time on his final job? Why had he taken it that far?

“I heard a rumor,” Lila started.

Lisa shook her head. Now that she knew, she wanted to know all of it. “No, I get it. How much?”

Laurel frowned. “How much?”

“How much did Bridge fork over so Remy would follow me around twenty-four seven for…gosh, it’s been a week already. It would likely last longer if I hadn’t caught on. Like how much?”

“We only want to protect you, Lisa,” Laurel said. “It wasn’t a bad thing.”

“It was a hundred grand,” Lila replied matter of factly.

“Lila!” Laurel admonished.

Lila shrugged, her expression going perfectly stubborn. “She should know. They broke up anyway. Now she can move on to find someone more suitable. Someone who doesn’t think it’s fine to take money for being professional and then turn around and sleep with his client.”

Put like that, it did sound bad. Achingly, heart-breakingly bad.

She’d been sure he’d wanted her. When she’d been in his arms, she’d felt like a different human being. God, she hadn’t even been afraid of the dark when he was there. It was like the rest of the world melted away and he was all she needed.