Maxwell meets me by the front desk, trench coat still dripping rain. He looks like every crooked cop stereotype rolled into one man—nicotine fingers, and eyes that never miss a thing.
“This way.”
He leads me down a hall. I can feel the eyes of the rookies as we pass—they all know who I am. Who my father is. Nobody says a word.
We stop outside holding. Miles is sitting on the bench, hands cuffed, head in his hands. He looks like hell—bruised, exhausted, but still wearing that smug half-smile that always gets him punched.
Maxwell jerks his thumb toward the door. “He’s your idiot, not mine. Two grand and we forget this happened.”
I hand over an envelope thick enough to make his eyebrows lift. “Keep the change.”
He pockets it, knocks twice on the door, and walks away.
I step in, close the door behind me.
Miles looks up. “You came.”
“No shit,” I snap. “You said Avalon. What the hell were you thinking?”
He laughs once. “Guess I wasn’t.”
“You stole a car?”
“Stole a car,” he echoes. “Needed wheels for a drop. Didn’t think I’d get caught.”
“You never think.” I drag a hand through my hair, pacing. “You know how Victor gets when you screw up. You’re lucky I showed up before word hit him.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” I lean over the table, voice low. “You remember last time, Miles? The way he hit you so hard you had a fucking migraine for a week?”
He flinches. That tells me he remembers.
There’s a long silence before he says, “I gotta tell you something.”
I exhale sharply. “Now’s not the time.”
“It has to be now.”
Something in his tone stops me.
He swallows. “It’s Chloe.”
My chest tightens. “What about her?”
“I—” He runs a hand over his face, groaning. “I messed up. I messed up bad.”
I stare. “Miles—”
“I fucked her. That’s where I was coming from when the cops picked me up.”
“You what?”
“Listen man. I went over for Bella, I promise. It just…it just happened. And she told me she is yours or something like that, but I just couldn’t walk away from her. I have tried so many times to stay away from her but…”
“Are you trying to get me to kill you, Miles?”
“I like her, okay?” he blurts out, voice cracking. “I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s like she’s under my skin. I see her everywhere. I smell her shampoo, and it fucks me up. I know she’s yours, or—”
