All the weight on my shoulders and in my heart lifts. Thankgod. If they’d located him, Britt would’ve told me. I don’t want the police to be the ones to tell me they’ve got the man I love.
“Then how can I help you, officers?”
One of them groans. “We are here to ask Ayden some questions.”
“Nah. He’s unavailable.” Shit, he talks to them like hehatesthem. I’ve got complicated feelings about the police. Sure, it stems from Michael, but it isn’t just him.
“Are you?—”
“Same ol, same ol.Are you impeding an investigation?” The way he mocks them, nearly has me laughing and I really shouldn’t right now. “Please just ask your fucking question. What do you want?”
The officer groans. “Fine.” He pauses for a moment.
Ronan tuts. “Tick, tock.”
“What was Keoni wearing?”
“Blue jeans. Black sweater, dark gray jacket over the sweater. Hair was down, but he throws it up when he drives,” I mumble to Cal, who quickly gets up and makes her way over, relaying the information.
“Will you two be with him all day?”
“Why?” Ronan bites out.
The exhaustion is finally hitting me—or maybe it’s this damn headache creeping across my temples. I wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes rolled back and I passed out right now.
“We just want to make sure there will be support for him.”
“Yeah… because you guys always have the kindest of fucking hearts.”
“Ronan, baby.” Cal’s gentle tone is the opposite of the growing tension between him and the police. “Thank you, officers. We’ve got him.”
The sound of the door closing shortly after is all I register, then a hand resting on my shoulder. Somehow I’ve laid down on the couch. I don’t even remember the action, just the contact startling me from sadness.
I don’t bother shutting my eyes or looking at who’s touching me. Instead, I look through the weaved fabric of the couch.
Keo, please, baby… please come back. We will work this out. We will.
“I’m going to grab Levi.” Ronan’s voice spills into my sleepy mind. “I’m sure we can find him. Fucking police have no clue what they’re doing.”
“Okay. Keep your phone on,” Calista says softly.
I must’ve fallen asleep on the couch. I’d hoped I could stay awake, but a part of me didn’t mind shutting off my brain. The hope that I could wake up from this habitual nightmare I’m stuck in—maybe to open my eyes to Keo wrapped around me in that possessive way he does when we sleep together.
But no. I’m back in my fucked-up reality.
“I will. I love you, baby girl.”
“Love you too, Daddy.”
Daddy?
Moments later, the door opens and shuts, and I decide it’s time to move. Blinking a few times, I take in the couch I’d been staringat earlier.
I push myself up to a seated position and turn to look for Cal. She isn’t hard to find—TV remote in hand, flipping through channels, her back to me. Before I say anything, I glance out the window to see that night has fallen.
I’m not entirely surprised I slept all day.
“Hey,” I say softly.
