He lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss on my knuckles. “He doesn’t deserve you, you know?”
I gaze into his eyes and quietly mutter, “I know, but he’s still my dad, even if he is shitty at the job.”
“Okay, my Beauty. He’ll live this time. But you let him know it’s because of your grace and mercy that he has another chance at life because this day could have ended much differently.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you, baby. Are you warm enough, or do you want me to turn up the heat?”
“I’m warm enough.” I lean closer to him. “What do we tell the police?”
“The truth.” He shrugs. “We did nothing wrong, Arabelle. There’s no need to lie about what happened. Adahlia kidnapped you, brought you here so that I would come for you, and when I tried to rescue you, she fell over the side of the roof.”
And you let her go.
His phone rings, and he quickly retrieves it from his jacket. Then there’s a knock on the door. With the phone pressed to his ear, he stands, walks to the door, and opens it. Two men in suits talk with Florian for a few moments, and then Florian steps aside, allowing them in. Florian ends his phone call and escorts them into the living area.
“Gentlemen, this is my wife, Arabelle Larsson,” Florian says when he sits beside me, slipping his phone into his blazer before he grabs my hand. “Have a seat.”
With a motion, he directs the two men to sit in the chairs across from us.
“Beauty, they want to ask you some questions,” Florian says.
I nod, pulling his coat closer around my shoulders. “Okay, that’s fine.”
“My name is Detective Roberts, and this is my partner, Detective Reyes. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I came home?—”
“From where?” Detective Roberts interrupts.
“From my attorney’s home. Dale Austin.”
Florian tenses as soon as Dale’s name is mentioned, so I squeeze his hand, hoping it will calm him down. I’ve come to know that he’s very possessive when it comes to me, and his anger makes me nervous. He has absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Dale.
The investigator jots down notes in a tiny notebook. “And Dale Austin will verify this?” Detective Reyes asks.
“Of course.”
“Can you please continue?”
“I came home…”
“Here?” Detective Reyes interrupts again.
“No,” Florian answers for me instead. “Our home outside the city. This is just one of the many properties that I own.”
Both detectives nod as they continue to scribble on their notepads.
“When I came in, she was sitting in the living room. At first, I didn’t see her because I was looking for Florian, but he wasn’t there.”
“Mr. Larsson, where were you at this time?” Detective Reyes asks.
“I was checking on one of my properties. We had some things get stolen from my construction site.”
“Okay,” Detective Reyes responds, shifting his attention back to me. “Mrs. Larsson, how do you know Ms. Karlsson?”
“I don’t know her,” I respond, causing his brows to furrow in confusion.
