I could tell that whatever defendants he’d had in the past had left scars I was only beginning to see.
“What if you’re wrong about me?”
“I’m not.”
“But what if you are?” I pressed, needing him to understand. “What if I’m exactly what he thinks? What if you’re risking everything for someone who doesn’t deserve it?”
His eyes held mine, steady and unflinching. “Then I’ll deal with that. But I’m not walking away on a what-if.”
“That detective knows something. This isn’t just another case,” I pressed on. “Anyone who helps me might be signing their own death warrant. Professionally speaking.”
“Then we’d better make sure we win.”
Rodriguez’s words clawed through my skull, sharper than the headache pulsing behind my eyes.“When this hits the news … it’s going to be a hell of a show.”He’d practically salivated, saying it. Like he was holding a winning lottery ticket and couldn’t wait to cash it in.
“Let’s just say, this case is about to get very interesting.”
The detective’s smug certainty made my stomach turn to ice. He knew who the dead man was. Knew it would change everything. And he’d looked at me like I was already convicted. Like my guilt was a foregone conclusion he was simply waiting to announce.
Who the hell had I killed?
The question ricocheted through my skull, unanswerable and terrifying. Someone important. Someone whose death would make headlines, make careers, destroy them. Someone whose identity would turn this from a self-defense case into a media circus.
And Ryker was about to step directly into the spotlight with me.
“No.” I pulled my hand away, even though it felt like ripping off my own skin. “You need to walk away from this. From me.”
Ryker’s eyes darkened. “Not happening.”
“I’m serious.” I scooted back on the bed, needing distance before his gravitational pull made me selfish. “You heard the detective. This case will bring you nothing but trouble.”
“I don’t care.”
“Well, I do!” The words erupted from somewhere deep, from some part of me that had started to care about this infuriating,protective, impossibly good man. “I care about you too much to let you destroy yourself for me.”
Leaning over the bed, he braced his hands on either side of me, caging me in. I was surrounded by his heat, the solid wall of his chest inches from mine. I could see the flecks of silver in his sapphire eyes, could count his eyelashes if I wanted to torture myself.
“You think I could walk away from you?” His voice dropped to a tone that made everything inside of me come alive. “You think I could leave you to face this alone? Let some public defender who doesn’t give a damn about you handle this?”
“It’s the smart play?—”
“Fuck the smart play.” The profanity cracked like a whip. He exhaled, and for a moment, the armor slipped. “I’ve watched you, Faith. The way you check exits in every room. The way you looked at that blood on your hands like it belonged to a stranger.” His voice roughened. “Cold-blooded killers don’t tremble. They don’t look haunted. They look through you like you’re furniture.”
He leaned even closer, and I forgot how to breathe.
“And somewhere along the way, I started caring about what happens to you. More than I should. More than makes sense.” A muscle ticced in his jaw. “So, maybe my judgment’s compromised. Maybe I’m making the biggest mistake of my career. But I’m not walking away to find out.”
My heart hammered against my ribs. This wasn’t certainty. It wasn’t a promise that I was worth saving. It was something messier and more terrifying: a man choosing to bet on me while fully aware he might lose everything.
And that honesty, that willingness to admit he didn’t have all the answers, made me trust him more than any grand declaration ever could.
Tears burned behind my eyes. I didn’t deserve him. That truth sat in my stomach like a stone. But I was too weak, too scared to do the right thing and let him walk away. Hell, the thought offacing this without him made me want to crawl into a hole and disappear.
“Okay,” I managed.
Ryker was quiet for a moment, his muscles relaxing with this one battle behind him. “Now that we have a confirmed homicide, this becomes a full-scale investigation. CSI is processing the scene, the coroner is doing his thing, and detectives are building their case.”
“So, they’ll arrest me.”
