“What did he mean by that, not to be scared?” she asked quietly.
Braden snorted. “Hell if I know. As much as I’ve thought about those words over the years, you think I would have figured it out, but I never did.”
“What happened after that?” she asked, something telling her that Tommy’s death had only been the beginning of this story.
“First, there were the investigations, then the commendations.” Braden’s voice was laced with bitterness. “It’s what the department does when their people get shot and killed. Worthless as shit to me, of course. I threw mine away and had a friend in admin get it pulled out of my permanent record. I couldn’t stand the idea of receiving a commendation for letting my partner get killed.”
Dreya wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that he had nothing to do with Tommy’s death, but she didn’t bother. Braden had spent eight years convincing himself it was true. There was nothing she could say in a few words that would change anything.
“After that day, I became the most by the book cop in the department,” he continued. “I was convinced that if we’d done things the right way, Tommy would still be around. Sure, every once in a while, I’d stretch or bend a rule a little. I used to laugh and say that it was Tommy up there in heaven, telling me to stop being a rookie and go with my gut. But I never did anything crazy. Until you came along.”
She lifted her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
He smiled. “When Clayne and Danica walked out of the MPD interrogation room with you, I should have let them take you. They had the right paperwork with all the right signatures. By all rights, you belonged to them. But then Tommy started shouting at me in my head to go after them, and I forgot about every rule I’d ever followed and went.”
“So you’re saying Tommy is the reason we ended up together?”
Braden caught the end of her hair, curling it around his finger. “Yeah, I guess so. I think he would have liked you. You’re a lot like him. You don’t care for rules, you do what you want, and you follow your instincts before all else.”
She thought about that, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess I see your point. I hope you find me more attractive, though.”
He lifted his head and kissed the tip of her nose. “Much more attractive.”
Dreya laughed and put her head on his chest, wiggling until she was completely comfortable against his warm body. She covered the scar on his shoulder with one hand, promising herself she’d never let him get shot again. No matter what she had to do.
She was on the verge of falling asleep when she felt Braden’s warm fingers gently caressing her naked shoulder. She smiled, wondering if he was thinking about making love again. She had no doubt that would wake her right up.
“Do you mind if I ask you something, Dreya?” he asked suddenly.
The hesitancy in his voice caught her off guard. “You can ask me anything you want.”
There was a pause, then a deep breath, like he was getting ready to drop a doozy on her.
“Why do you steal stuff?”
Okay, she hadn’t seen that coming. She pushed herself up on her elbow to frown at him. “What?”
He shrugged, looking almost uncomfortable. “I’ve been wondering. Humor me.”
She sighed. “I don’t know why I do it. Why does anyone do anything? Because they can.”
The answer didn’t satisfy him. “I’m serious. Why do you steal? It’s not like you need the money. Do you even sell the stuff you take?”
She didn’t answer, waiting to hear the punch line of a question she was sure was a joke. When it never came, she realized he wasn’t going to let this go. Not that she was surprised. Not letting go of something was the reason he’d caught her in the first place, why he’d followed her into the DCO, even why she’d ended up in his bed.
She supposed this was something they needed to talk about at some point. Now was as good a time as any.
“Was it Rory?” he demanded. “Did you start stealing because of him? You said you owed him. Did he use that debt to get you to steal for him?”
Dreya should have been furious at the question. But so many people assumed Rory had been using her to steal for him that she was used to them asking. It wasn’t true, but after the first few times, she hadn’t bothered trying to correct them, because they didn’t believe her. Braden was different, though. For some reason, she couldn’t stand the idea of him thinking poorly of her old friend. In many ways, Rory was to her what Tommy was to Braden—the person who’d become the foundation for who she had become and the person who still whispered in her ear when she was doing something she shouldn’t.
“Rory taught me how to steal, but only because I asked him to,” she said.
Braden gave her a skeptical look.
“It’s true,” she insisted. “When we first became friends, he was dead set against me learning anything about the jewelry business except making the stuff. He never wanted me to be a thief. Part of me didn’t want to be one either. I did it because it was what the animal inside me wanted.”
Braden frowned. “The animal inside you? What does that mean?”
