Rex doesn’t bother to get the last word, and that’s how I know he’s shaken.As soon as we slid into our seats, he captured my right hand and kept it clasped between both of his.
“Is it bad?”I ask.My stomach is churning from the rollercoaster of the day.The last hour is still a blur.I remember the kiss, then a shadow falling over us—a psychic warning.“Is Rex in trouble?”
“It’ll be alright,” Rex assures me.“Nadia has fixed much worse.”
Nadia snorts, and he adds, “If anything, I might have to pay a small fine.”
“If the reporter sues, you could be out a couple million,” she says.
“Like I said.Small.”
Nadia shakes her head and looks at me likeYou married him.I squeeze Rex’s hand.I don’t know why I’m comforting him when he’s responsible for this mess.I guess I can sense he’s trying.
Please, Inara.Let me help.He keeps begging me to let him in.He’s as damaged as I am, but he’s trying.
Maybe I can try a little harder too.Let down my walls and stop shutting him out.
But I’m terrified, too.“It’ll all be out now, won’t it?Everything about my past.”
Rex wraps an arm around me.We re-position so I’m leaning into him on the bench seat.A couple holding onto each other as we face the world.
Nadia’s expression softens, but she doesn’t shy away from answering.“It’s out.But the press kit focuses on your exceptional career.We included statements from several officers from the LAPD, as well as Agent Larsen from the FBI.They all spoke very highly of your abilities as a detective.”
Warmth floods through me.“Dirk did that for me?”
“Dirk?Who’s that?”Rex stiffens beside me, and I soothe him with another squeeze of my hand.
“He said that you were the best profiler he ever had the pleasure of working with.That you had, quote, ‘A brilliant and unique mind.’”
“Oh.”I fight a smile at the high praise.“That was kind of him.”
“He didn’t seem like the type prone to hyperbole.Or kindness.He meant every word.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Dirk,” I say, picturing the solemn agent who drove most of his team crazy with his meticulous nature and attention to detail.Beside me, Rex is bristling like an attack dog who senses an intruder.
“Dirk,” he mutters the name like it’s a curse word.
“Did you date him?”Nadia asks bluntly.Her no-nonsense professionalism is reassuring, and I can trust she’ll tell me like it is.
“No.We just worked together.We made a good team,” I add to rile up Rex.
“Maybe we’ll invite him to the engagement ball,” Nadia muses.
“Absolutely not,” Rex interjects, then swears when we both grin at him.
What Nadia says suddenly penetrates.“Wait, what engagement ball?”I ask.“Isn’t it a bit late for that?”We’re already married.
“We’re rich,” Rex smirks.“We do what we want.”
The limo is pulling around the back of the hotel.It rolls up to a gate and, after getting checked by a security guard, rolls through to the dark underbelly of a parking deck.
I have one more question.“What did the press kit say about how we met?Where we were...”I trail off.Nadia didn’t mention Club Empire, did she?That would make the front page.
“At the NRPD Charity ball, of course,” she says.“Chief Jordan is already taking personal credit for introducing the two of you.”
Rex scoffs, and I roll my eyes.The chief will be insufferable.It’s going to take some getting used to being the center of attention and getting fawned over like this.
But I have Rex to shield me.I’m already getting used to the idea.Maybe that’s what I’m craving—the feeling that someone has my back, no matter what.I can’t trust Rex not to take the concept too far, but the primal part of me wants that level of devotion.He will stop at nothing to protect me.I know it in my bones, and it makes me feel safe.
