I stretched against him, holding back a wince as my fresh bruises protested. “Yeah.”
“It’s only been hours since I saw you, but we’ve managed to pick up a kid and a dog?” He brushed his hand down my arm and held my hand, tangling his fingers with mine.
Everything inside me settled and calmed for the first time that day. After visiting the veterinarian, who’d declared Bowser malnourished and bruised but otherwise healthy, and shopping for necessities for both dog and teenager, we’d had dinner and then crashed. Violet slept on my sofa, and Bowser had snored next to her on the floor. “It’s a long story,” I admitted.
“Usually is,” he murmured. “Want to tell me about it?”
I did, but there was a fairly decent chance Aiden would go kill Crackle, and I just didn’t have the energy to block the way with my body right now. “How about tomorrow?”
“Humph,” he said.
So long as he didn’t see the bruises, we could have a peaceful night. “How about you tell me what’s going on with you and your case? I don’t have the details.” I was tired, but it felt good to be talking to him with his big body right next to me. We had a lot to figure out with our relationship and our lives, but when we were holding hands and snuggling, I felt like everything would work out. Life was weird when your untouchable hero-crush became…touchable. “Forget my job for now. What’s up with yours?”
“It’s interesting,” he said, stretching a little bit. “Saber and I were undercover with a drug operation in Portland, using our former covers as members of the MC, figuring we’d be okay. Turns out we weren’t, but I haven’t figured out how we got caught. Doesn’t make sense.”
“What happened?” I asked drowsily.
Aiden was quiet for a moment, no doubt filtering out the information he couldn’t share. “Head guy called us in and tried to shoot us for being cops. It was fairly simple.”
“Yeah, but you got shot,” I said, losing some of my sleepiness.
Aiden shrugged, nearly dislodging me. “Eh. Guy was a moron. We took him and his three guys down, called for backup, and arrested the entire operation. We have enough to make the charges stick, but I’m headed over to Portland tomorrow to interview the main guy.”
“To find out how your cover was exposed?”
“Yeah. He also has lines on several other operations, so he has some leverage to make a deal. Although any deal will include prison time for him, no matter what.” Aiden’s voice thickened and his body relaxed even more. “They were running opioids smuggled in from the southern border. The fentanyl kind that kills people.”
I tightened my hold on his hand, which was near my hip, his arm heavy over my waist—right below my still aching ribcage. “Then I’m glad you shut them down.”
“Me, too.” He nuzzled my neck.
I shivered.
“Tell me you’re not trying to figure out how to keep a teen and a dog. Please,” he murmured.
I grinned. “With our lives? No.” Then I sobered. “But I don’t know what to do with them. She doesn’t want to go into foster care, and even if I talked her into it, she wouldn’t get to keep the dog. The dog isn’t really hers, although they seem to have adopted each other.” It wouldn’t be fair to tear them apart.
“We can’t keep them,” he whispered.
I knew that. I really did. “There are some really good foster homes, but she’s just adamant.” If Violet ran away, she’d get hurt. Enough had happened to her in her young life, and I wanted to help.
“We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” His breathing evened out, and that fast, he was asleep.
Yeah, I admired that ability. Was even kind of jealous. It took me forever to get to sleep, but with Aiden warming me, I finally nodded off.
The nightmares got me early in the morning. Full on, Jareth Davey, coming at me with red roses and spray paint. Crackle laughed in the background, throwing knives made of ice at me while I ducked. I awoke, gasping, still warm in Aiden’s arms.
Nightmares sucked.
Morning light, weak from the weight of winter, filtered through the blinds covering my sliding glass door. I slid out of bed, leaving Aiden sleeping, and used the bathroom before tugging on yoga pants, a sweatshirt, heavy socks, and a ponytail holder. A bruise covered my right cheekbone in painful purple, red, and yellow striations. The yellow was a good sign that it was healing quickly. It was unfortunate I knew that fact. Then I padded out into the living room, remembering at the last second that I had company.
Huh.
The dog looked up, stretched to his feet, and padded right over to the door. Smart dog. I tiptoed around the sleeping girl on my sofa and let Bowser out, watching him take care of business quickly in the snow and run back inside. More snow lightly fell, almost lazily. He moved for the food and water I’d given him the night before and then returned to flop by the sofa, going right back to sleep.
Violet didn’t even stir. When was the last time she’d felt safe enough to sleep like that?
My heart hurt for her. I grasped my phone from the kitchen counter and moved into my laundry room, shutting the door quietly. A washer and dryer took up one wall next to a sink, while the opposite wall held a board I used to diagram legal cases. There was a ton of room beneath the board, and I thought the owners had intended to install cupboards but didn’t. I opened the door to the garage and tugged out my yoga mat, placing it on the floor.
