But he’d wanted to tell her. He’d loved telling her.
Except now she’d gone and used what he’d told her, like a cudgel, against him. If the shoe fits...
Jesus, maybe he was stupid. Just because he’d been feeling such intense connection, closeness, and trust didn’t mean that she’d been feeling it, too.
But she had been feeling it. Rio knew that. He knew her. Today’s anger was real—he believed that for sure. He knew she’d be angry—just not this angry—but the coldness, the harshness of her attack was part of an act.
He hoped.
Unless she’d honestly meant it when she’d said she never wanted to see him again.
Jesus, what if he couldn’t fix this?
He had to try. And he had to start by giving her the space she’d demanded—while still ensuring that she stay safe.
Rio picked up his phone and tried calling Dave.
Then Thomas.
Then Mike.
Voice mail. All of them. No one answered.
He took a deep breath, then dialed the senior chief.
“Becker,” the man said. “And no, you cannot come back early, Rosetti. Do not make me get out the paperwork to give you another week, because you know that I will.”
“No, Senior, that’s not... I’m not... I’m up in LA,” Rio said. “I’m just... I’m trying to reach Dave—Patterson—and I was wondering if the team’s gonna be back soon or—”
“You know I can’t tell you that,” the senior said evenly.
Rio sighed. “I know, Senior. Sorry I even asked. I’m just... It’s just... I’m in the middle of a clusterfuck—a big one. Senior, I fucked up, and Casey, she forgave me, at least I thought she did, but this morning it was clear that she didn’t, except I was already, you know, mentally buying new shoes for the wedding, so I was completely sucker punched by the truth. Well, her truth, anyway. I like my truth better, but she said some shit that was kinda obviously meant to push me away, and now she won’t talk to me and I’m not sure she ever will. But the immediate problem is that her brother’s in trouble with this drug syndicate and I’m pretty sure someone tried to kill her last night, you know as a... a... sinister message to him, but she doesn’t believe me about that, either. So I’m sitting outside of her house and I don’t want to leave her without protection, but I also don’t want to disrespect her by, you know, not leaving when she very clearly asked me to.”
Senior Chief Becker was dead silent on the other end of the phone, and Rio closed his eyes. Jesus, of all the people on the planet he could have chosen to vomit that emotional outburst upon. Also? Sinister? It was like his equally awkward description of the driver’s murder face. It sounded ridiculous and over-the-top, despite its accuracy.
“Sorry, Senior.” Rio backpedaled furiously. “Don’t worry, I got it, I’ll handle it, forget that I even called—”
Becker interrupted him. “Rosetti. Take a deep breath, and start over, a little more slowly this time.”
“Okay,” Rio said, trying to organize his scrambled thoughts. “It started when Dave Patterson got invited to a wedding—”
The senior interrupted. “Maybe not that far back, son.”
“No, Senior, it pertains. See, Dave’s ex, guy named Jon, no H, was gonna be there, so I went as his plus-one. Dave’s. You know, pretending to be Dave’s new boyfriend, so that the old boyfriend would see that he’d moved on, even though he kinda hasn’t.”
“That’s... a bit of a surprise.”
“Why?” Rio asked. “Oh, you think I’m... Nah, Senior, I’m straight, but who the fuck cares anymore, and if you do, you can fuck right off.” Oh, Jesus, had he really just said that to the senior chief?
Except it was the senior who was making apology noises. “No, no, Rosetti. I knew you were friendly with Dave—not everyone is, and you’re right they can fuck on off. I just didn’t realize you’d gotten that close.”
“Dave’s a good friend,” Rio said.
“I’m glad to know that,” Senior said simply.
“So, okay,” Rio said, pushing on with his story. “So Casey is Jon’s sister, and she and Dave have been best friends since they were little, and she, well, she kinda welcomed me into her life with open arms. You know, as Dave’s new boyfriend.
“She’s a...” he cleared his throat. “Television star—” and okay, the senior was laughing a little bit now because of course she was “—and she does these Comic-Con-like weekend events and she needed security, and I had the time, so I went. And I got to know her a whole lot better, and I fell for her. Hard. Except she thought I was Dave’s boyfriend, right?”
