Olly slid his gaze back toward Ivan.
I can be very convincing when I need to be.
“You blackmailed him into telling you Scarlett paid him to find me?”
“Correction.” Ivan lifted a pointed index finger upward. “I blackmailed him into telling me your girl paid him to find her sister.You”—that finger turned his way—“were simply a lead in that direction.”
He took a moment to process everything the two men had revealed. All evidence pointed to Scarlett telling the truth.
Who she was. Who Rose was to her. How she’d found out about him and that he and Rose were friends.
The revelation sent a wave of relief crashing into him. There was still so much he didn’t know about the sultry redhead with eyes he wished he could get lost in.
She wasn’t a scammer. She was simply a woman who wanted to find her long-lost sister. And that meant Rose finally had the one thing she’d always wanted more than anything else in the world…
A family.
Now I just have to find her.
“She’s single, too,” Ivan offered freely.
Oliver blinked. “What?”
“No boyfriend, she’s never been married…no kids.” The man’s blue eyes shone with his mischievous shrug. “You know, just in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.” Hewasn’t.“This, however,”—Olly closed the folder—“is exactly what I needed to know. So thanks.” To Jax, Olly added a sincere, “I owe you one.”
“Yes, well…” The bearded man ran a hand over his square jaw. “I thought of the perfect way you can repay me.” Jax slid a sideways glance Ivan’s way with a belated, “Us.”
“Yeah?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear this next part, but he had to ask, “What’s that?”
“Come work for me.”
Olly stared straight at Jax, waiting for the former SEAL to start laughing. Neither did Ivan.
“You’re serious.”
Jax nodded, giving him a small inclination of his head. “I never joke about business.”
“You want me to work for you?” He looked at Ivan, whose expression was just as flat as his partner’s.
He’d lived in and around the Denver area plenty enough over the years to know who and what Jax Monroe was. A ruthless man who liked to skirt the thin line between right and wrong. And when it came to protecting those he cared about, there wasn’t a law in the books or a man on the planet who could stop him.
“I’d pay you a salary, of course,” Jax continued.
Olly blinked again because…in what world did someone go to a dance club to check in with a private investigator, who then offered them a job on the spot?
A thought occurred to him then.
“Did Izzy put you up to this?”
“Your sister?” The muscular man chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. I think your sister’s pretty great. And…” Jax leaned in as if he were about to reveal a monumental secret. “Between you and me, I can even tolerate that cop fiancé of hers. But I don’t bring people into my business because a pretty shrink bats her eyes and asks pretty please.” The man straightened his spine. “I’ve had my eye on you for a while, now. Saw the way you handled yourself with that whole Valdez situation. And, I’ve seenhow dedicated you are to finding your missing friend. I mean…three months spent looking for a woman you weren’t even fucking.” Another chuckle. “Most guys I know would’ve given up long before now.”
“I’m not most guys,” Olly growled.
But Jax just let his bearded lips curl with a grin. “I know. Hence the job offer.”
“Jax and I talked it over before you got here,” Ivan rejoined the conversation. “We both agreed you could be a real asset to Monroe Investigations.”