She searches my expression, and I let her look. I’m an open damn book.
“I’ve taken care of a lot of riffraff in my life. This one’s just a little bigger and slimier.”
There’s a beat, and then Claire nods. I’ve passed the test for now.
But I’m not done.
I step closer, close enough that I can see the dried tear tracks on her cheeks. I cup her face in my hands, tilting it up so she has no choice but to look at me.
“No one touches you again.” My voice comes out low. Dangerous. A growl more than words. “Not while I’m breathing. Do you understand me?”
Claire’s eyes go wide. Her lips part, but no sound comes out.
I watch her process it—the intensity, the possession, the promise wrapped in threat. She’s not used to this. Not used to someone protecting this hard.
For a second, I think I’ve scared her.
Then something shifts in her expression. Her breath catches, and instead of pulling away, she leans in. Just barely. Just enough.
Like she’s drawn to the heat even though she knows it might burn her.
“Alec…” she whispers, and the way she says my name does dangerous things to my self-control.
I force myself to drop my hands and step back before I do something we’re both not ready for.
“We’ll bring all this up to the cops,” I say, my voice still rough. “And they’ll?—”
“I already took this to the cops.” Claire’s expression shutters. “They didn’t do anything. The detectives said there wasn’t enough evidence. It was my word versus his, and no one was going to believe some stripper.”
My vision goes red.
I clench my hands into fists so hard it feels like my skin will crack. My pulse is racing, and I can’t stop myself from grabbing her shoulder.
“They said that to you?”
Claire just nods.
My grip tightens, and I have to force myself to let go. I’m pacing through her townhouse before I can stop myself, a stream of curses aimed at the senator and our shit system that doesn’t do anything to keep victims safe.
I’m ready to put my fist through a wall when Claire steps in front of me, blocking my path.
“So, you got your details.” Her voice is steadier now. Stronger. “What now?”
“Oh.” I sneer into the middle distance, my mind spinning with possibilities—none of them legal, all of them satisfying. “I’ve got some fucking ideas alright. And they’renotpretty.”
5
Claire
“Are you serious? You want me to stay in the apartment indefinitely? I need to go to work. I have things I have to do.”
Alec’s brow cocks up, this thing he does when he gets irritated, and I can see it melting all over his entire face. As much as I believe now that he really does want to help me, we are still oil and water, rubbing each other all the wrong ways.
Though we could rub the right way.
I shake the thought away. There is no time or space for any of that nonsense. Alec is here to help me with the senator, and I’m not about to let myself fall into bed with some random guy.
Even if he’s a random guy who is exceptionally nice to look at, with rippling muscles and towering height.
