“Is there anything I should know, Abbot?” He leans against the door and crosses his arms over his chest.
Do you mean the way everything in me wanted to protect her from Sanders by beating the shit out of him? Or how I somehow lose my control when it comes to her?
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I say, “No, I’m just tired.”
“Is there going to be an issue?”
Shaking my head, I press my lips together before I say, “No, sir.”
He stares at me. I know all about the staring game, I do itto perps all the time. So, I stare back.
“We can’t afford any sexual harassment suits, Abbot, we…”
I don’t let him finish his statement. My anger just shot to boiling, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you implying that I would do anything that could result in a sexual harassment suit? Or that I would do anything that would be unwarranted to any woman?”
Even though I did push Ms. Harlow into a corner and pretend to make out with her, I was trying to help her. She’s busted my balls about it several times already, but she hasn’t made a complaint. Thank fuck.
He shakes his head and holds his hands up in surrender. “No, I’m not. But I don’t have to tell you that what we all just saw blurred the lines of professional.”
Something about this woman just sets me off. I suck in a breath and roll my head again, popping in the tight muscles is audible in the room. “You don’t have to worry, sir.”
He stares at me for a while longer and then glances at his watch before looking back up at me. “It’s late, and you look like shit. Go home and get some rest.”
When I pull up in my driveway, the lights in my house are already on. It’s a weird fucking feeling coming home to a live house instead of a dark one. Needing to decompress a bit before I walk in, I sit in my car and tell myself I won’t get upset with anything that happens once I walk through that door. I say it again out loud just to drive the point home.
Swan is sitting at my dining table, waiting for me. But a glance around the open concept living room and kitchen doesn’t find her anywhere. “Where is she?” I ask as I set my keys on the shelf next to the door.
He clears his throat. “She, uh, went to her room and hasn’t come out since...”
Fuck. She’s been sitting in there for two hours. I’msurprised her brothers haven’t already been called. But that could still happen.
Hanging my hands on my hips, I stare at him. “I told you to stay in the office.”
He nods his head as he answers. “You did. I fucked up.”
Glancing at the hallway, knowing she has locked herself in her room, I look back at Swan. “Did you try to talk to her?”
He nods again. “I did. She wouldn’t answer.” He cups his hand over the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, boss. I had no idea.”
I walk in a small circle through the living room and come back to the table. “That what? Sanders is a fucking asshole? I thought that was general knowledge.”
His eyes go wide like I just stated the obvious, and he tilts his head to the side. “Well, yeah, I underestimated the size of his asshole.”
I glance toward the hallway again like it’s become the doorway to hell or a tunnel of brambles. “Go home, Swan, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He stands up and pushes the dining chair back up to the table, I notice he’s put the office chair back in the office. As he stuffs his laptop into his bag, he looks over his shoulder and then back at me. “Am I coming back here tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, let me see how tonight goes. I’ll call ya.”
After he leaves, I walk to the hallway like it’sThe Green Mileand stop in front of the guest bedroom door. I don’t know what I’m going to get, I’ve seen her pivot from sweet to sarcastic to fucking salty in the course of a brief conversation more than once.
I work with criminals daily, the types of people who would rather slit your throat than deal with you, and they don’t scare me anymore. But standing outside this door, knowing I have to face the little woman on the other side, I’m preparing myself for what I might get after I knock.
With a deep breath, I tap on the door, but she doesn’t answer. I look at my watch, it’s only eight, surely, she’s not asleep. She could be, she had a terrible night last night, but I have a feeling she’s locked herself away on purpose.
This time when I tap, I follow it up with, “Ms. Harlow?” Trying to keep my voice soft.
Placing my hands on the wooden frame on either side of the door, I let my head sag as I listen. I wait a full minute before I say anything else. “Ms. Harlow, I want to apologize for the behavior of my men today. It was horrible behavior, and they have been warned.”
