“No,” I said. “I don’t want to be responsible for a body. I’ve done enough.”
“Claire, don’t apologize,” Moves said. “We should have told you about Las Balas as soon as we could. We figured they were responsible. If we had told you, you wouldn’t have had to go solo.”
“And it’s all good now,” Kim said. “You can call in back-up to get those missing teens out if you can. I already filled in Veronica.”
“Veronica called you?” I asked.
“Your partner’s a smart woman,” Moves said.
The whole time, Pin didn’t take his eyes off of me.
“Why don’t you guys head inside to talk,” Kim said. “We’ll stay out here and make some calls.”
I threw Kim a grateful look. She must have sensed that I had a lot to say to Pin. He released my shoulders, but kept his hand on my back as he guided me into the back room of the Blue Dog Saloon. The whole time, he didn’t say a word.
My heart couldn’t slow down. I was already dreading the inevitable moment he was going to let go of me. One dramatic rescue couldn’t erase what I had done. But he had to know. I had to tell him how I felt. “Pin, I –”
Before I could finish my sentence, he turned and enclosed me in a massive hug. I nearly sobbed with relief as I pressed my face into his chest and wrapped my arms around him. For several minutes, I just let him hold me.
Like a budding flower, hope began to bloom in my chest. This couldn’t all mean nothing. Maybe there was something to salvage from the mess I had made.
I leaned back, looked up into his beautiful face, and took a deep breath.
Twenty-Seven
Pin
The minute I saw Claire in Wreck’s filthy hands, my entire world stopped.
It froze, suspended in time, as I saw my woman being manhandled by the worst piece of scum I knew. Then, when it started moving again, all I saw was red. A fury rose from somewhere deep inside me. It was a primal wrath that came from the need to protect what was mine.
If Claire hadn’t called out my name, I wouldn’t have stopped beating up Wreck. It had almost been too easy to take him down, thanks to Claire’s pepper spray. It was pretty classic, I had to admit. Leave it to Claire to do half the work.
I knew that I was still mad at her. What she had done didn’t just disappear. But the urgent situation had forced that aside for the time being. Some things were too important. Claire’s safety was too important.
Even back in the Blue Dog Saloon, I couldn’t let her go. I had to reassure myself that she was whole and solid in my arms. I had envisioned so many awful scenarios on that ride over, I had to feel the physical proof to make sure she was ok.
She leaned back and looked up at me, but I didn’t take my hands off her shoulders. She kept her hands on my waist as well. I hated looking at her face, where a bruise was growing on the side. It looked like he had only struck her once, but that was one too many times. I would never forgive Wreck for this. I would make sure Las Balas never had a day of peace for the rest of their sorry existence.
“Pin, I have to tell you some things,” Claire said. “I know you have no reason to listen, but is it ok if I tell you some things?”
I nodded. This time, I wanted to listen. I had been going in circles all day after our fight, and the only thing I was sure of was that I needed to hear her side of things.
“I got the assignment after we had slept together the first time,” Claire said. “You can ask my boss or Veronica, ask anyone you need to, I want you to know the facts.”
“I don’t need witnesses,” I said.
“No, you do,” Claire said. “Or you deserve the truth, and I hate that I didn’t tell you the truth from the beginning, so now I want to make sure you have it.”
I nodded. I would check with her boss if she wanted me to, but I could see in Claire’s eyes that this was the truth.
“I just want you to know that the first time we slept together, it was because I wanted to,” Claire said. “I liked you, and yes, I thought of it as a casual hook-up, but it had nothing to do with my job or anything.”
Claire took a trembling breath, and a single tear fell from her eye. I reached up and wiped it from her cheek. Claire’s lips formed a soft smile at the tender touch.
“Then I got the assignment, and it was the kind of case I had been craving,” Claire said. “It was big and complicated and important, so I texted you to hang out. The parents suspected Outlaw Souls, and I was desperate to get information. “I need you to know that I didn’t intend to go very far with you. I’m not – I wouldn’t –”
She stammered for the right words, and my heart went out to her. She wasn’t defensive or angry like she had been this morning. She was laying herself bare.
