“When are you going to ask Dr. Voet about not going back to the station?” Jolene asked me from the other side of the elevator.

I rubbed my tired eyes. “I don’t know. It’s only two more weeks. Maybe I can just avoid Shane.”

She didn’t respond, just gave me a condescending stare.

“What?”

“How many times has he called?”

Shane had called no less than seven times since yesterday when I left King’s. Jolene had hidden my phone from me last night, so by the time I’d seen them on my screen the next morning, I ignored them all and refused to listen to the messages. I’d made my decision last night. I needed to stick to it.

“Ugh!” I rolled my eyes at her as we got off the elevator. “I’ll talk to Calvin today,” I said, caving to her point.

We turned to head back to our lab from lunch. Ready to finish the last half of the day. When we made the final turn to our hallway, we heard Dr. Stahl yelling from Dr. Voet’s office.

“Oh, yay,” Jo said. “More yelling. As though there wasn’t enough from this morning.”

Dr. Stahl had been in a shit mood today. More so than other days. Stomping into the room, letting doors slam against walls before slamming closed. Barking short, clipped orders at us from his office, not even deigning us worthy of talking to like we were respectable humans.

“This is the third time she’s signed off on deliveries where lab products have gone missing. Three times. How much longer are we going to let this continue?”

Jo looked at me with wide eyes and I sighed in dread. I had no idea what was going on with the missing supplies, but every day we didn’t know, I felt my job slipping further and further from my grasp. Wouldn’t that be the icing on the cake?

“The situation is being handled.” Dr. Voet’s voice rumbled low and calm, the complete opposite of Dr. Stahl’s.

“What the hell does that mean? It’s my lab. I should be informed of how it’s being handled.”

“It’s officially the college’s lab and the college’s equipment and materials.”

“This is bullshit. A pretty face and a set of breasts are distracting you from the obvious.”

“That’s enough, Andrei.” For the first time, Dr. Voet raised his voice.

I closed my eyes, feeling shame for something I had no control over. Dr. Stahl was a misogynistic dick, and I had nothing to feel embarrassed about.

After a long silence, Dr. Stahl spoke softer than before, but with no less frustration. “I expect this to be taken care of.”

Jo and I didn’t have time to move along and pretend we hadn’t heard every bit of that argument when Dr. Stahl came storming out, lab coat fanning behind him like a villain’s cape. He walked through the second door and stopped when he saw us standing wide-eyed across the hall.

It was the first time we’d seen him all morning since he’d holed himself up in his office. Jo had had to teach his first two classes impromptu because of his absence. He looked haggard. Like he hadn’t been sleeping or eating. His dark hair looked greasy and in disarray, either from not combing it or running his hands through it. His dark eyes sunk a little deeper and stood out more with the circles rimming his eyes.

“Get back to work,” he ordered.

I looked through the door to see Dr. Voet standing behind him in the doorway, watching me. I met his eyes for a moment, but looked away, not quite ready to stay and make my request.

“Now!” Dr. Stahl shouted, making Jo and I scurry down the hall.

The afternoon passed ridiculously slowly, dragging out the time, almost taunting me to go see Calvin and plead my case to not go back to the police station. Every time I got a break in a procedure, Jo would sing-song that now was as good a time as any. I ignored her and moved on to the next procedure.

Maybe a little after five, with my eyes glued to the microscope, Jo’s shocked voice said, “What is he doing here?”

I looked up to find Dr. Voet, a few police officers, and Shane and his partner walking through the door to our lab. Shane stood broader than them all. He almost seemed too big for the room as he walked toward Dr. Stahl’s office but his blue eyes remained on me, holding me captive for too long. I cringed seeing the bruise on his cheek that came from Jack’s punch.

“I don’t know.”

My heart hammered in my chest and tingles radiated throughout my body until my skin seemed to buzz with shock. I hadn’t been prepared to see him so soon. I had decided to block him out and there he was in my space. In my lab. He wasn’t allowed in there.

A scuffle came from Dr. Stahl’s office and muffled shouts had Jo and I staring, frozen in our spot. Two officers had one of Dr. Stahl’s arms firmly gripped in a hand each, with his wrists cuffed together behind his back.

“Andrei Stahl, you are under arrest for stealing property from the University of Cincinnati and distributing said property to known drug manufacturers.”

“Holy shit,” Jo breathed beside me.

“Fuck you,” Dr. Stahl spat at Dr. Voet. “I’m sick and tired of being beholden to this cheap American college.” He turned his attention on us, pure fire burning in his eyes. “Women shouldn’t be allowed in a lab. These conditions are unforgivable for someone as successful as I am.”

The officers returned to reading him his rights as they walked him out of the room. After he’d disappeared through the doors, I turned to Jo. I was sure her slacked jaw and wide-eyes mirrored my own.

“What the fuck?”

Jo and I were still staring at each other, looking like we were both on the verge of uncomfortable laughter, when Shane walked over.

“Are you okay?”

His deep voice stroked my skin, urging me to turn and look at him. I didn’t want to. But, at the same time, I really did. It was the fact that I was dying to turn and let my eyes devour him that made me clamp my jaw shut and turn to look at him with as much fire as I could muster.

“What are you doing here?”

“Arresting him.”

“Don’t you work on arresting murderers?”

He looked a little nervous and brought his hand up to rub across his neck before answering. “Uh, sometimes it intertwines with drugs.” His hand moved up through his hair and his partner Reese walked up behind him. “I just wanted to be here for you. Make sure you’re okay.”

“Yeah, you should have seen this guy’s face when he saw your name on the police report and realized it was where you worked. I thought he was going to blow an artery.”

“Reese.” Shane’s voice rang low and warning.

“Said we had to be here to protect MacCabe’s little sister and make sure you’re okay. Lucky girl to have so many people watching out for you.”

MacCabe’s little sister.

“I just wanted to make sure you were safe from any fallout.”

All I heard from Reese’s retelling was MacCabe’s little sister. Protect her. I was so sick and tired of having to say it over and over again.

“I don’t need protection, Shane. I don’t need to be rescued.”

“I know that.”

“Do you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. “I thought you did. I thought you treated me as an equal when we were together. But here you are.” I looked him up and down. “Protecting MacCabe’s little sister. Treating me as a child who can’t stand on her own two feet.”

“You’re with Jack MacCabe’s little sister? You got a death wish, man?” Reese asked.

“Shut up, Reese,” Shane growled at him. He took a deep breath and stepped closer to me, trying to talk lower so only I could hear. “I miss you.”

“We’ve already had this conversation, and yet you just don’t get it. You left me twice. Twice.” I held up two fingers to make my point, because words weren’t seeming to work. “And despite all my proclamations to every man around me that I’m fine on my own, they are continually ignored, because apparently I don’t know better for myself.”

“I made a mistake.” He held out his hands in supplication, looking defeated. “You were right. I was scared of what you made me feel.”

His words thumped against the wall I’d built around myself in the last thirty-six hours. I stared into his eyes and a part of me wanted to. I really, really wanted to believe him.

But then I remember all the times he called me a child. I remembered the time he told me I was a nice fuck, but a mistake. I remembered the time I told him I loved him and practically begged him to love me back, and he turned me away. I remembered when he told me I wasn’t worth it. I saw how he treated me just like Jack, my father, and Hudson; always assuming they knew what was best for me, despite my direct wishes.

“You need to leave.” I hated the slight waver in my voice. “Go take in your criminal.”

“Jules, let me help.”

“I don’t need your help.” My raised voice drew attention from outside as Dr. Voet walked in. “I’m fine on my own.”

“Everything okay in here?” Dr. Voet asked.

I stared at Shane as he breathed heavily, seeming to weigh his options. Reese rested a palm on his shoulder as though letting him know it was time to go.

“Yeah,” Shane said. “Just asking some questions. We’ll be heading out now.”

And he turned to walk away, staring at Dr. Voet as he walked past.

“You okay?” Dr. Voet asked me, his hands coming to rest on my shoulders.”

I swallowed hard and nodded, even though I felt far from okay. Especially when I met Shane’s hollow eyes as he walked out the door.

Was I making a mistake?