“What are their names? I’ll check what’s happening with them.”
I tapped my foot against the floor, unease a poison flooding my body. No matter how much I tried to focus on my surroundings, the panic was growing fast. Shoving to my feet, I began to pace, my steps agitated. The cop didn’t move from where he was crouched, and there was something gentle in the way he stared at me, like heknewI needed a moment to collect myself. I appreciated his patience enough that I made a mental note to put in a compliment about him later.
“Alex Carrington and Yukio Hinode.” I crossed my arms over my abs, then immediately dropped them, the tension making me unable to stay still. Closing my eyes, I focused on the yelling over in the corner, then the clock on the wall right behind me.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I’d rather be at home, in the quiet, than somewhere like this.
“Let me see what I can find out.”
When I opened my eyes again, Officer Paxton had made his way over to the information counter, where he began to talk with another cop, a tall woman with graying brown hair cut in a bob and reading glasses hooked on the end of her nose. She nodded at what he said and glanced at her computer, typing fast. A moment later, she whispered to him, and he smiled before turning back to me. He came over and stopped in front of me, but not so close that it was uncomfortable.
“Your boyfriend and son haven’t been arrested. They’ve been put in lockup to cool their heads for a bit. No one’s pressed charges.” He eyed my left cheek carefully. “Unless you want to.”
“No,” I snapped, flushing when he blinked in surprise at how loud I was. My foot tapped on the floor and I flinched. “Sorry, Officer. No, I would not like to press charges. It was an accident.” I laughed, though not in amusement. “A misunderstanding. My son didn’t even know I was gay, and then he was at the bar, and Yukio was there, too. I think they know each other, but I don’t know. And—” I shook my head. Officer Paxton didn’t care. “No charges. But I’d love to know when they’ll be released?”
Officer Paxton hooked his thumbs in his utility belt, giving me a small smile. He had a kind face, and he was handsome, in a California surfer dude way. His dark blond hair was messy and he had a sharp jaw, but he wasn’t an arrogant asshole like some of the cops I’d run across. “That’s up to the officers who took them in.”
“Do you think—”
The doorwhumpedopen, and I shot a look in that direction as Brandt came rushing over with a couple of men behind him. I didn’t know the strangers he’d brought, but they wore suits and looked very professional. One was shorter than Brandt, with close-cropped gray hair and sad eyes that stared down Officer Paxton immediately. He was very muscular and his gray suit pulled tightly across his thick arms.
The other man was taller, with short dark hair, round gold-rimmed glasses, and a petulant pursed mouth. As soon as his gaze settled on the officer, some of the hardness in his expression bled away, but he still reminded me of a rattlesnake, ready to strike. “Officer Paxton.”
The cop stood taller, and his face stayed soft. If anything, he stared at the tall man with a loving look that made me want to blush and glance away. “Mr. Demchenko.”
“Are you the police officer holding my client in the cells?” Mr. Demchenko pressed his mouth together firmly and straightened.
Brandt sidled up to me, his blue eyes sparkling even though he was clearly concerned, and while he didn’t touch me, as if he instinctively knew not to, he offered comfort by just being here. His dark hair was shorter than the last time I’d seen him, like he’d gotten a recent cut. “I brought some lawyers I know. That’s River.” He pointed at the taller man with the glasses. “And this is Flynn.”
The gray-haired, muscular man gave me a small smile. “Pleasure to meet a friend of Brandt’s. We’ll have your son out of here in no time.”
“My son and boyfriend,” I said quickly, and three sets of very confused gazes turned to me.
I flushed and laughed nervously, my foot tapping more insistently the more anxious I grew. “Not the same person. My son and my boyfriend were the ones in the fight. My son went to hit my boyfriend, but he missed and got me. And then my boyfriend hit him, and he started a bar brawl.”
River turned back to Officer Paxton. “My clients.”
Officer Paxton nodded. “I can show you to the holding cells, but I didn’t arrest them. They were put in the cells to calm down. No one’s pressed charges. Officer Christofides and her partner are the ones who brought them in. She’s a good cop, and if I have a chat with her, she’ll release them—ifthere’s a promise of no more trouble. We don’t want a call to another fight.”
“There won’t be,” I said quickly before anyone else could say a thing. “I’ll make sure of it.”
River stared at me for a long moment before his attention switched back to Officer Paxton. “You heard him. There won’t be any issues.”
Officer Paxton chuckled and held up his finger. “I’ll be back. Give me five.”
He left through a door to the side of the room, using a code to unlock it and slip through. As soon as he left, River turned to me, gaze fierce through his sparkly gold glasses. He didn’t say a word, but it felt like I was being judged.
I shifted uncomfortably.
Flynn cleared his throat and smiled. “Well, that was easy.”
“I’m sorry for bringing you all here like this.” I wrung my hands together and sighed. “Earlier, no one would listen to me. Officer Paxton came to talk to me just before you got here.”
River hummed. “He’s a good cop.”
Flynn laughed. “He’d have to be. You wouldn’t date anyone who wasn’t.”
