Chapter 24
—Fight for the fairy tale. It exists.—
“Jesus, Leighton, you look like shit,” Hazel said as she stepped into the pseudo interrogation room.
It was set up as a lounge but Leighton knew better. He jumped up from his chair. “Where is she?” They’d taken his cuffs off a while ago after someone had come in and told him to sit tight and wait for Agent Blake. “I swear to God if she’s been charged with anything or injured, I’ll burn this whole place to the ground,” he snapped out.
Hazel’s eyes widened as she took a seat at the little table. “Sit before you give yourself a heart attack.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. It had been two hours since he’d seen Lucy. Since he’d seen her hauled off in the back of an FBI car.
“Your girl is fine. Her attorney showed up within minutes—before she’d even had a chance to call anyone or ask for one.”
Oh, thank God. Nova or someone had to have called. Maybe Senior. Or just one of the crew. “You charging her with anything? Because it was self-defense. I was right there. He was about to shoot me and she fired.”
Hazel nodded again. “I know. That’s all she’d tell us. Literally, that’s all she’s had to say. Her attorney is doing most of the talking. And no, I don’t think we’re going to charge her with anything. We’ve got a whole cluster of shit that went down today, including her being attacked at the casino, then leaving the scene of the crime.”
“She’s a victim.”
“I know that. But then she shows up at the marina—one we didn’t know Kuznetsov had a boat at.”
“Yeah, because the man who attacked and almost raped her told her about it.”
“Hell,” Hazel muttered, rubbing both hands over her face. “We’ve got a lot of paperwork to fill out. A. Lot. And you two are both going to have to answer questions. Probably the same ones over and over. But…your girl is fine. And I’ll let you see her if you don’t go ballistic. All right?”
“I’ve been the model prisoner.”
“You’re not a prisoner,” she muttered, standing. “And I saw what you did to Broussard’s face.”
“He deserved it. So you guys taking apart Kuznetsov’s operation for good?”
“I sure hope so.”
“Is Lucy going to be in danger?”
Hazel paused for a long moment, assessing him. “You really like this woman.”
“I more than like her.” He loved her. But Lucy was going to be the one who heard that first, not his friend.
Hazel’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but then she smiled. “Good. I like her too. She’s tough. And no, I don’t think she’s going to be in any danger. But we’ve got a shitload of stuff to figure out. It won’t be an easy wrap-up of this case.”
Yeah well, that wasn’t his problem. The only thing he cared about was getting to Lucy, holding her in his arms and making sure she was okay. Then he was going to tell her the truth, that he loved her and couldn’t live without her.
* * *
Leighton rarely felt at a loss, but right now he was floundering as Lucy stepped out of the shower. She seemed…not exactly defeated, but she was clearly exhausted and struggling.
She blinked when she saw him waiting there with a fluffy robe he’d found. She had some silky ones but he figured this would be more comfortable for her now. He handed her the little hair twisty thing she used to wrap her wet hair up in and then her towel.
“You don’t have to do this,” she murmured, a spark of amusement lighting up her pretty blue eyes for the first time since they’d left the Feds’ office.
Senior had been there to pick them up and they’d all been mostly silent on the drive back to her condo. He and Nova had been the ones to call in the attorney for Lucy. It was good they hadn’t been there when the Feds had shown up, precisely why the two of them had vanished. The local cops still wanted to know who Senior was, according to Hazel, but thankfully Hazel was shutting down that line of questioning. They’d taken Broussard into custody for so many crimes he’d never see the light of day again. He wasn’t their problem anymore unless they needed Lucy to testify, but Hazel didn’t seem to think she’d need to. Broussard had agreed to cut a deal—not that it would lessen his jail time by much. If any. But he wouldn’t be put into a prison with people who wanted to kill him. Something told Leighton that wouldn’t matter. Hazel had also told him that a couple local cops were wanted for the murder of Michael Atkins, which could explain the police presence at his house the night Skye and Colt were there. But really, Leighton didn’t care about that.
“I want to,” Leighton said, holding out the robe after she hung up her towel.
She slipped it on, sighing as she wrapped it around her. “I feel like I could sleep for a thousand years.”
“I bet. How are you holding up?” It felt like a stupid question.
She lifted a shoulder. “I…don’t know. I need to talk to Liliana but I’m saving that for after I get some sleep. Your friend said they’d want to talk to me again tomorrow. Well, later today I guess.”
It was now one in the morning so yeah, technically it was today. “I’ll be with you and so will your attorney.”
“Thank you again for the attorney. She was a shark. If I hadn’t been so shell-shocked I probably would have appreciated her more.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that.”
She lifted a shoulder, then blinked. “Have you eaten or anything? I just realized—”
Cutting her off, he simply pulled her into a hug. “You don’t need to worry about anything else but you right now.”
“Leighton…” Trailing off, she laid her cheek against his chest.
She never continued, so he just held her close, inhaling the subtle tropical scent of her shampoo and enjoying the feel of her against his body. “One of the guys dropped off some food. Italian, comfort food if you’re hungry.”
“I didn’t think I would be, but I’m kind of starving,” she said as she pulled back from him. Then she frowned, as if taking him in for the first time. “Did you change?”
“I took a quick shower earlier.” The world’s quickest, because he’d wanted to be waiting for her when she got out. “Why don’t you do whatever you need to do and I’ll get your food ready.”
“Thanks… I know you don’t want me to say thank you, but I’m saying it anyway. Thank you for all of this. For being here.” For a moment she looked as if she wanted to say more, but then she just gave him a small half-smile.
Lucy pulled the towel from her hair after Leighton left, the simple action exhausting her. It didn’t take her long to brush her hair and pull it into a loose, damp braid. Getting dressed, however, was another exhausting action. She stared at her closet, hating the very thought of having to make any decisions.
She’d killed her uncle. Actually killed him. Something she was trying to wrap her head around.
She went from feeling hot, to cold. Now she couldn’t stop the shivers racking her body so she grabbed a sweater and tugged it on over a pair of yoga pants. She’d been compartmentalizing her sadness her whole life, so right now she did the same. She’d deal with the aftermath of what she’d done later.
When she saw Leighton in her kitchen, a bittersweet feeling pulsed through her. The man was perfect. Sweet and caring—and she needed to give him up. Not today though.
But she couldn’t expect him to stick around for all the stuff she’d be dealing with soon enough. He lived in another state, and she’d be picking up her niece soon and becoming a full-time guardian. That was a whole lot to drop on anyone, let alone someone in a new relationship.
“I don’t know how your friends knew, but eggplant parm sounds perfect,” she said, sitting at the countertop where he’d set out two plates with food piled on. He’d even poured her a glass of wine and had somehow gotten beer for himself. Something else his friends must have brought over.
“Good.” He dropped a kiss on top of her head, but didn’t pressure her for conversation as they ate, mostly in silence.
He’d also turned on Pandora to an instrumental-only station. She hadn’t thought she’d be able to eat so much, but before she realized it she’d demolished everything and was about to fall asleep right in the kitchen.
“Come on, leave the dishes.” Leighton guided her out of the room and she didn’t have the will to argue. She felt like a puppet, just letting him lead her around.
And she didn’t care. Right now, she was okay with him taking care of her. She was going to let it happen.
Hours later Lucy opened her eyes to the feel of Leighton’s big, sexy body wrapped around her. His breathing was steady so she assumed he was asleep, but when she went to move, he tightened his grip around her middle.
“How are you feeling?” he murmured against her neck, his voice dropped low and sensual.
“Surprisingly good.” She could probably sleep for another few hours, but instead she turned in his arms, instantly meeting his mouth with hers.
She knew she was going to have to let him go so right now she was going to grasp onto this precious moment with him.
In an instant he had her underneath him as he pinned her to the bed with his rock-hard body. His mouth plundered and took what she freely offered.
She arched into him, wrapping around him even as he somehow stripped her expertly and completely. Soon they were both naked and he was pushing inside her slick folds, deep and slow.
She’d never felt so treasured in her life as she did when he took her so completely. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed in bed or how long he teased her body as if he’d been doing it forever. After two orgasms for her and one for him, she collapsed against the sheets, her body sated, even if her mind was working overtime.
He pulled her close to him so that she was curled up against the long length of him, her legs thrown over his waist. If she could, she’d stay like this forever.
“Sweetheart?” he murmured, tracing his hand down her spine lazily.
“Hmm?”
“I need to tell you something.” There was almost a sense of urgency underlying his words.
Panic exploded inside her as she thought about all the things he might be about to say. At the moment, she didn’t think she was capable of dealing with anything. “What about?”
“Us. My feelings for you.”
She shifted slightly to look at him. “Can we not talk about anything right now?”
His expression carefully neutral, he simply nodded. “Okay.”
She curled back up against him, savoring all his warmth and strength. For now, she just needed to live in the moment. Later, she’d face reality.