His eyes lit, and that amazing mouth threatened a smile. “Any time, Angel. Any time.”
Chapter 5
Three hours after learning that a bullet can burn, I drove away from the courthouse toward my small bungalow on a nearby lake. No way was I returning to work for the day. I was done. The police had separated Aiden, Randy, and me for the interviews. I should’ve wanted to know about Randy’s information, but truth be told, it had been Aiden who’d filled my mind.
The questioning had been exhausting, but I really didn’t remember much other than the brown vehicle.
Detective Pierce had been very intent that the shooter had been aiming at Aiden.
Just where had he been the last twelve years?
My phone buzzed in a reminder, and I looked down to see I’d missed twenty-two calls. I winced. My mom was from a big Irish family, and my dad a huge Italian family, and when they’d combined into marriage, they’d created enough family members to fill a small stadium. My folks tried to be true to both sides of my heritage, even giving all three of us girls both Italian and Irish names. For a time in my teens, I’d punch anybody who called me Annabella Fiona Albertini, but I was fine with it now.
My phone rang, and I lifted it to my ear. “Hello.”
“Oh my God, are you okay?” My sister, Tessa, was the first to reach me. “We just heard you’d been shot.”
“I’m fine, Tessa Carmelina—” I said her full name to throw her off. Unlike me, she still really disliked it. “How did you hear?” Dumb question. Seriously. Even though I was in the big city, everybody knew everybody, especially if that everybody was from Silverville. “Forget it. I don’t want to know.”
Tess exhaled. “So you weren’t shot?”
“Not really. Just clipped.” Yeah, I kind of sounded like a badass. “But that’s not the big news.”
Tess was quiet for a second. “Seriously? What’s the big news?”
“Aiden Devlin is back.” I lowered my voice to a whisper even as I took a corner a bit too fast. “He’shere.”
“Whoa. Wait a minute. He didn’t shoot you?” Tess’s voice quieted.
I snorted. “Of course not. He may have been the target.”
“How does he look?” Tess’s voice rose in a weird hush. As usual, she got right to the point.
“Like Aquaman, Jared Padelecki, Angel, the Arrow, and your best wet dream combined,” I affirmed. “Seriously. The guy is like airbrushed in real life.”
Tess breathed out. “Wow. Okay. So. What now?”
What now? Huh. Good question. “Probably nothing. I mean, we talked, but then we were interviewed separately, and he didn’t ask for my number or anything.”
“Did you ask for his?” Tess asked.
“No. I was a little shaken after the whole shooting issue.” I rubbed my eyes. Should I have asked for his number? “He also sidestepped any question I asked about where he’s been and why he’s back. The cop on the scene really didn’t like him.” Not that Detective Pierce was anybody I knew or trusted. But still. “I don’t know, Tessa. A lot of stuff came up the second I saw him.” Including my libido.
My other line rang, and I glanced at the face of my phone. “Oh. That’s mom. Gotta go.” I clicked off and answered the other line. “I’m fine,Mathair,” I said, using the Gaelic translation for ‘mother’ to calm her down.
“You were shot. Right? Did the bullet hit an artery?” my mom asked urgently.
If the bullet had hit an artery, I wouldn’t be on the phone. I took a deep breath. “No, no, not at all. Honest. It just scratched me. Won’t even scar.” My mom took scars as a personal affront to her mothering skills. “I’m fine.”
“I have a call to your father. He’s down in the mine looking at that new vein. Should I get him up right now? I have the emergency number.” Stress clipped her voice.
“No. I really am fine, Mom.” I gentled my voice. “Honest.”
She was silent for a couple of moments, and then she exhaled. “Thank Mother Mary. That’s wonderful.” Something rustled. “I’d heard that you walked away, so I was fairly certain your arteries were spared, but a mother needs to hear confirmation.”
I took another turn, this one away from the lake and more toward town. “I understand.”
“So your body is all right, and now we must deal with your head.” More papers rustled.
