by Measha Stone
“Why would I help her kill her sister?” he asked with a weak undertone.
“Shouldn’t you be asking why we would think you killed your girlfriend?” Sophie asked with a triumphant grin.
Steve shoulders sank; his mouth dropped open. “Fuck.”
A loud thump came from the bedrooms. “Stay here with him,” Scott ordered, pulling out his weapon, and headed to the bedroom.
He flipped the bedroom door open. Empty bed, closet door wide open, wind billowing through the open curtains. A lamp lay on the floor beside the windows.
“Get back in here!” he commanded. A tall barefoot blond stood outside the window on the narrow fire escape. In pair of sweatpants that hung off her thin frame and an oversized shirt, she clung to the railing. The ladder of the fire escape was on the opposite side. She’d stepped to the right of the window when she should have stepped to the left.
He could grab her easily if she moved for it.
“Get inside, Susan!” He holstered his weapon and reached for her.
“That fucking asshole! Such a stupid prick!” She stamped her bare foot on the metal flooring.
“Inside. Now.” He grabbed hold of her hand.
She didn’t fight him, though he chalked it up to her having to hold the elastic of the sweatpants to keep them from falling off her hips.
The lovers obviously thought they were completely safe from being caught.
Susan jerked her arm out of his grip once she was inside the bedroom. Her hair was a tangled mess from the wind, her nose red from the chill.
“It wasn’t me, you know,” she spat at him, charging into the living room. “It was him. He fucking killed my sister.” She brushed her hair away from her face. “He made me go along with it, but it was him!”
“You fucking bitch!” Steve turned on her, his face red, the vein in his neck throbbing. “This…woman, is a conniving, manipulative crazy person. She swore to me, if I didn’t help her, she’d end my career. She’d claim I raped her.”
Sophie put her hand on her weapon. Scott didn’t worry she’d act rash. She’d assess before reacting, but with the way the two of them were standing off with each other, precautions were smart.
“He pulled the trigger. He put the gun to my sister’s head and shot her,” Susan yelled. “I was so scared. So, terrified he’d do the same to me.”
“Liar.”
Scott waved Susan away, knowing Sophie had her in her sights, and focused on Steve. “She pulled the trigger, then?”
“Yes.” He nodded so hard his neck cracked.
“And where were you?” Sophie asked.
“I was in the dining room. I told her to stop, to just scare her sister. Get her to help out with some money. I never told her to kill her.” He pointed a finger at Susan.
“Bullshit,” Susan spat.
“Who untied her?” Sophie asked.
Steve blinked, like he just woke up. He shook his head. “No. I’m not saying another word until I have an attorney.”
“You’re going to need one,” Sophie agreed. “But you know as well as I do you have a better chance with a deal from the DA if you come out with the whole truth now.” Sophie pulled out handcuffs and recited the Miranda rights to both of them.
Scott pulled out his own cuffs and worked Steve’s wrists into them.
Steve huffed. “I know how this works. I want to see a real deal in front of me, on paper.”
“Of course. I’m sure we’ll get the D.A. to put you top priority. You’ll only have to sit in the holding cell a few hours before we get it squared away.” Sophie said with a non-caring shrug.
“Or we can put him in an interrogation room, you know, if he’s going to be talking.” Scott pushed.
Steve pressed his lips together, screwing them up tight and let loose a string of curses.
“I pulled the trigger,” Steve said once his arms were bound. “I don’t know what about her makes me so fucking crazy. She needed the money. Her sister had this huge inheritance from her adoptive parents but wouldn’t give half over to Susan. She needed the money. I couldn’t afford to pay her bills anymore. I just needed her sister to help. But I’m not signing anything other than a deal from the D.A. I have more information on Susan they’ll want.”
“I’d save the rest for the district attorney.” Scott grabbed his phone to call in the collar.
Chapter 22
“Well, we did it.” Sophie lifted her beer in Scott’s direction before taking a hard swallow.
“Yeah. What a fucked-up case.” Scott dipped a tortilla chip in the salsa and chomped down on it.
A celebratory dinner after pulling a double shift getting all the details from two twisted fucks. Neither took full responsibility, and both blamed the other.
“The D.A. is going to have a hell of a time with them. At least the district attorney will have the evidence backing them up, and since Steve admitted to doing the actual killing, that might help sort it all out,” Sophie said.
“I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but they are both behind bars. And since we have the right ID on the vic, family of hers is going to come out and take care of the burial.”
“Good. At least she can rest, now.” Sophie took a chip.
“So, what are we doing for our day off tomorrow?” Scott asked, sounding excited to have a full day with her.
She’d be excited, too, but reality was setting in. The case was finished. They worked it together because they were great partners. They’d been lucky so far that their personal fooling around hadn’t got in the way. But that didn’t mean it wouldn’t eventually.
“I was sort of thinking of taking a day to hit the salon. I could use a pedicure and a haircut.”
Scott’s smile dropped, but he recovered. “Sounds like a good plan. Maybe dinner?”
“I think I’ll just make something small, binge-watch old Friends episodes. I’ve gotten behind on my binge-watching since you and I started goofing around.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, okay. Well, then we’ll just play it by ear.”
“Right. Casual,” she said and sipped at her beer.
“Yeah.” He nodded again. “Casual.” Except when he said the word, it twisted her stomach into a knot she wasn’t sure she’d be able untie.
The main courses arrived, and Sophie choked down half her order of enchiladas. Scott ate in silence, sipping his beer in between bites and glancing at her from time to time.
The mood, apparently, had been killed.
Her phone buzzed on the table. After glancing at the caller, she swiped to ignore.
“My mom. I’ll call her tomorrow,” Sophie said when Scott looked up at her with concern.
“You haven’t mentioned your mom before,” he said around a bite of his burrito.
“She never came up.” Sophie shrugged, knowing full well there was a hell of a lot more to it than that. If he’d asked her about her family a few days ago, she would have avoided the conversation altogether.
“She live in the area?” he asked.
“No, back home in Chicago. I came out here a few years ago.” Taking the plunge, she continued. “Chicago apparently wasn’t corrupt enough for me, so I got in my car and drove east.”
He chuckled. “Our station is pretty clean, though I’ve heard of some really shady houses.”
“You’re right. The captain does run a pretty clean operation here.”
More silence stretched between them. Was he afraid she’d run if he continued to probe into her personal side?
Well, who’s fault is that?
“How about you? Parents in the area?” She swigged the last of her beer and pushed her plate away. Her stomach couldn’t handle food.
“No.” he shook his head. “My folks passed a while back. Mom then Dad.”
“I’m so sorry.” How could she have missed him never mentioning family. Aside from Grayson and Dani, he’d never mentioned anyone else in his life. She’d been so caught up in putting distance be
tween them, she’d completely not seen him.
“Oh, no, it’s been a while. Thanks though. I was a bit of a surprise for them. Mom was nearly retired when she had me. I was grateful I had them both for as long as I did.”
“Retirement?” Sophie mulled over the concept. If she waited much longer to figure out what she really wanted and who she wanted it with, she may find herself in the same situation.
Although, him smiling at her from across the table didn’t put too much of a question mark on the who question.
“Yeah, she was really surprised.” He laughed. “Or so the story went.”
They fell into an easy conversation. One she would have blocked the moment it started only a week ago. This was her partner, after all. They’d be going into dangerous situations together; they needed each other at all times while working a case.
The fact that if they didn’t work out as a couple it would impact their jobs still remained blaringly true. She needed to find a way around that.
“So, I’m having Gray and Dani over for dinner on Sunday.” Scott eased into the topic while he drove her home. She’d eaten too much, drunk too much, and worked too much.
“Oh, will they be dining on your famous salami sandwiches?” she joked.
“No, babe, you’re the only one who gets to have my salami,” he said while driving and managing to keep a straight face.
She laughed. “Oh my god. No. You can never say that again. That was horrible.”
He cracked a smile. “Yeah, it was.”
Pulling up outside her apartment building, he shifted into park. “It’s true, though. I haven’t thought about being with anyone since we started seeing each other.”
Neither had she, but her mind already whirled from the day. Between questioning a couple of dirtbags for hours and then dipping her toe into the pool of personal data with him at dinner, she couldn’t think clearly.
“Me either,” she whispered with her hand already on the door handle. “I’d better get inside before the drinks really kick in.”
“Sophie—” He put a hand on her arm. “I didn’t mean to spook you, I was just being open about it.”
A guy who could express his feelings without having to be cattle prodded, and her chest clamped up.
She’d wanted casual. He’d promised it. Said he wouldn’t push, but he was pushing.
“I know. I’m good. Thanks for dinner.” She leaned over the console and kissed him. A soft, sweet kiss to his warm lips. Lips she could lean into and kiss until the sun rose.
She needed space.
She needed to think.
She needed him.
Fuck.
He started to say something, maybe to ask her what was going through her mind, but she’d hopped out of the car, shutting the door on his words. Without looking back at him, she jogged up the steps to her building and the stairs to her apartment.
He wanted more.
He deserved more.
It was time to make a decision.
Chapter 23
“Okay, explain this again.” Gray leaned against Scott’s kitchen counter with a beer in his hand. “You’re seeing her, she’s your submissive, but you’re not really seeing her?”
“They’re playing it by ear, Gray.” Dani breezed through the kitchen, working her magic with the meal. Scott had bought everything needed for the chicken alfredo, but he couldn’t put it together like Dani. “Keeping it casual.”
“Casual?” Gray asked, cynicism dripping from the word.
“Yeah,” Scott answered. “She wanted to keep it light.”
“So, what, you’re like a tour guide for her? This is what a spanking is, this what a limit means?”
Gray’s tendency to put things in blunt terms grated on Scott at the moment. And after not hearing back from Sophie for two days, it didn’t take much. They’d agreed to meet for dinner, but after that she’d taken an extra day off and hadn’t returned his phone calls.
Obviously, he scared her with his proclamation in the car.
“No, asshole. She just didn’t want a firm commitment, you know, like we are able to see other people if we want.”
“So, you’ve gone poly?”
“No.” Scott grabbed a beer from the fridge and twisted off the cap.
“You gotta help me out here, man. You don’t do casual. I mean, you’ve gone through women like some women go through shoes, but you’ve always been a one-sub, one-woman guy.”
“She’s not seeing anyone else. I’m not seeing anyone else. I’m just giving her the space she needs.”
“So, no commitment whatsoever. You’re in a dominant submissive relationship that’s not just bedroom kink, but she won’t come over for dinner if your friends are here, because that would be too intimate?”
“It’s not that simple,” Scott muttered into his beer bottle.
“Leave it be, Gray. He’s working on it. It’s obvious he really likes her. Just let him do this his way.” Dani poured the alfredo sauce over the noodles.
“This is the dumbest thing I’ve heard you do. And you’ve done some stupid shit with women. You’ve basically let her run wild. If she wants to be your sub, she should be your fucking sub. If she wants to see other people, then you two work out an open relationship, but this back-and-forth crap, and you can’t even be honest with her about how you really feel because she might run and hide? No, this is dumb.”
Dani put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Oh, and you and I played it so smart? Exactly how many years did you fist your cock thinking about me before you finally did something about it?”
“We’re not talking about us right now,” Gray responded, holding a firm tone for his girl, but she’d obviously won the point.
The doorbell rang.
“She’s here.”
“Sophie?” Dani asked with confusion. “You said she wouldn’t come if we were here.”
“Well.”
“Scott.” Dani turned her glare on him. “I told you not to push her.”
Scott was already in the living room. “I’m not pushing. I’m nudging.” And he yanked the door open.
“Hi.” Sophie’s smile crept upward. Her body went from tense to soft all with a quick word of greeting.
“Hey.” He took her coat and purse, waiting for her to dig her phone out first, then tucked them away in the closet. “Uh, so Dani and Gray are here.” Better to give her a heads up than to have her walk in on them and be shocked.
“Oh.” Her brows knitted together. “I thought you said your dinner with them was tomorrow.”
“It was, but plans changed.”
“Oh.” She looked toward the kitchen where Dani could be overheard laughing at whatever ridiculous thing Gray said to her.
“It’s just friends, Sophie. They won’t bite, but I will—if you’re good, anyway.” He patted her cheek. A little more nudging.
Her eyes focused on the kitchen. Tension built back up in her shoulders.
“No,” He grabbed her hand when she fisted it. “You don’t need to do that.” He pried her fingers open.
“I-uh-need to talk to you. Maybe I should—”
“Sophie! Good. You’re here. Now I can open the wine!” Dani hustled from the kitchen over to Sophie and hugged her.
Sophie shot Scott a hard glance as Dani pulled her toward the kitchen. “I hope you like pasta. I made too much.”
“I thought Scott was cooking,” Sophie commented, sarcasm clinging to her words.
He’d accept the thinly veiled poke at his cooking skills, but only because she hadn’t tucked tail and run at the first sight of his friends. Maybe things were warming up. Maybe she just needed that little nudge.
Dani laughed. “Scott cooking means he shopped and picked out the meal. I do the cooking for this group. Well, unless, you cook?” Dani paused mid pour of the white wine she’d opened.
“Yeah, but only when I have to.” Sophie accepted the glass of wine and turned to Gray who watched the interaction with smu
g appreciation from the corner.
“I’m Gray,” he introduced himself with an outreached hand and a warmer smile.
“I figured. You’ve got that brooding thing showing that Scott told me about. I’m Sophie.” She smiled back at him, then sipped her wine. “I wasn’t expecting anyone but Scott,” she said, running her hand down the long sweater she wore over a pair of brown leggings.
“It’s just us,” Dani said. “Oh. I forgot the salad.”
“I’ll help,” Sophie offered and put her wine and her phone down on the counter.
“I don’t brood,” Gray stated once the girls were working on the prep for the salad.
She didn’t take off, and now she was helping? Yes, definitely signs his little nudge had been the right thing to do.
“Stop looking so confident over there,” Gray said, pulling Scott from his mental high fiving. “This is going to backfire.”
“I’m not actually supposed to be taking romantic advice from you, am I?” Scott laughed.
“You can’t have a relationship based on such a flimsy foundation, Scott.” Gray’s toe-the-line tone cut to the heart of it, all right.
“There’s no flimsy foundation here.”
“Yeah? So that woman was thrilled when she saw us here? She didn’t have a moment of pure panic at meeting the family?” Scott understood him just fine. The air quotes he used when referring to family really weren’t needed.
“The point is, she stayed,” Scott said. “And look, she’s helping with the salad.” Scott waved his beer at his girl. She stood over the salad bowl, tearing lettuce and chatting with Dani.
“Yeah, way over there. She’s been here ten minutes, and has she even spoken to you? Or looked at you?” Gray sipped his beer.
“You’re real supportive tonight,” Scott shot at him. “She might be a little nervous.”
