By the time we walked outside into the growing gloom of the evening, Lor was giving me some serious side-eye. But neither of us talked about Cillian and Rowen. Now I was glad I hadn’t mentioned their names to the detective.
The city was great for exercise, and if I could avoid Ubers and taxis, I did. Lor wasn’t pleased, but he kept pace with me as I walked. When we reached my block a notification dinged on my phone. I had a headacheandan email from Dr. Atmeyer, reminding me to spend the nightworking on the book, but I didn’t want to do that right now, and with my head hurting, it wouldn’t be happening.
Lor and I parted ways at the entrance to my apartment building. With a bright smile and a hurried pat on my arm, he draped my messenger bag on my shoulder before he ran off to a nearby bus stop. I thought it would have been usual to discuss what had happened at the hospital, but he’d been in no hurry to tackle the topic, and I was glad. I mulled over the strange turn of my day and walked the rest of the way up to my apartment.
When I got to my door it was hanging open, which I sometimes did by accident, but when I pushed on the knob, I gasped at the state of the living room. Both couches were turned over, which I certainly hadn’t done. Books were everywhere. The lamp was smashed. Fear trembled down my spine and I didn’t want to go inside. I took my phone out of my pocket, but after the horrible—and endless—interrogation I’d just been through, I didn’t want to call the police.
Plus, a man who’d beaten me was newly dead, and nerves made it harder to breathe as it struck me that maybe I was asuspect. That’s how those things worked, right?
Someone wrapped strong arms around my waist from behind and my heart leaped into the back of my throat. I jerked around and let out a nervous laugh when I glanced up into Rowen’s face. He smiled, crinkles forming around his friendly eyes, and I let out a happy sigh.
“Ready to go? We’re meeting Cillian at—” He leaned around to look into my apartment, and as he surveyed the damage, he let out a low growl. “Did ye lock yer door before ye left? Ye’re not staying here tonight. We’ll get yer things.”
“I think the police may believe I killed someone,” I murmured faintly.
“What?” He sucked in a deep breath. “Excuse me?”
“Mm... .”
He pulled me back when I went to step into the living room and stared into my face.
“Is it really time for you to be here already?” I blinked at him.
His lips twitched and I wasn’t sure if he was angry or not. “Yes.... We can’t leave ye alone for a minute!Feck.”
My stomach sank and twisted. This was it. Here was the part where I was too much trouble, but he only held me closer.
He glanced over his shoulder and scowled. “New plan. I’m taking ye to our house, and then I’ll come back for yer things. Is that okay?”
“You’re not leaving?”
He kissed my cheek. “Someone fecked up yer apartment. Why da hell would I do that?”
“I don’t know, but okay.”
“Okay?” He studied my face carefully.
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “I’m tired of needing other people to do things for me, but... yeah. I don’t want to even know how bad this is. Hell, my book research.” I tensed to rush inside, but he hooked a strong arm across my middle and held me back.
“No, I mean it. Come on.”
I glared at him. With a defeated sigh, I let him lead me back down the stairs.
11
CILLIAN
There had never beena time when I hated doing my job, but this was definitely the first. Rowen had texted me and told me he had Vail at home, and I wanted nothing more than to go there and fuck him into oblivion, but instead I was here, staring at a bloody and bruised Reed with two less fingers than he had yesterday. Aspen nudged an elbow against my side.
Reed trembled through his pain, whimpering. Layers of sweat covered his face and naked chest, and his skin had a pallor that told me he was going into shock, which meant I needed to give him a breather.
“Are ye gonna tell us where that loot is?” I sang the words to him, clenching my fingers around my brass knuckles. “Because we have all night, Reed, and I enjoy a wee bout of torture.” I cupped my hard dick through my jeans and thrust my hips in his direction as proof.
“Fuck you.” Reed spat on the floor near my feet, shivering. The cut under his chin streaked blood down his neck and chest, and the crimson was vibrant against his flesh. Beautiful. It was as much artwork as a brush stroke, as far as I was concerned. “I’m not telling you a thing.”
I shook my head. “Ye’re a tough nut to crack, boyo, but this needs to end. There’s no way ye’re getting out of this alive. How quickly this stops, is how soon ye give me the information I want.”
A beam of light from a lamppost outside beat against the closed blinds over the windows, and some of the glow snuck through the bottom, a sliver of it reaching for Reed. He kept looking at the electric brightness like it was a lifeline, a sign he could still get out of this. That wouldn’t do. I grabbed a bedsheet we kept in the wooden wardrobe for cleaning reasons and placed it over the bottom of the window, successfully destroying any hope he had.
