I drop my voice, forcing control I don’t feel into my tone. “She ain’t steppin’ one foot into this station unless she wants to. You try and force her? You’ll have to go through me.”
Harris slams his hand down on his desk. “Get out of my office, Stone. Before I forget how much rope I’ve already given you.”
Shoving at the door, I stalk out, my pulse hammering so hard, I can feel it in my temples.
The bullpen quiets as I cut through, my fellow Rangers watching me with everything from respect to pity. I have my office in sight when Marvin swoops in like a goddamn vulture, his signature smirk plastered across his smug face.
“Guessin’ that didn’t go so well,” he drawls. “Can’t blame you, though. If I had a woman like Grace, I wouldn’t want her put through the wringer. You’re doin’ the right thing—keeping her close. Protecting what’s yours.”
The way he says the words—like Grace is a possession or some prize to be hoarded—rubs me raw.
“Get out of my sight, Marvin. Or Parker won’t be the only one with a suspension on her record.” I clench my right hand into a fist, raising it just enough he gets the hint and double-times it back to his desk.
I slam the door and put my back to it. How the hell am I supposed to protect and serve the people of Texas when all I can think about is Grace and the assholes who tried to use her as a human sacrifice?
Fuck.
Shedding my jacket, I force a couple of deep breaths. For almost twenty years, this was all I wanted to do with my life. Move up through the ranks, eventually replace Harris when he retires, and have a chance to do some real good. Now…I’m not so sure.
By the time lunch rolls around, my eyes are burning from all the paperwork Harris sent my way the past two weeks. Jasper’s been texting every hour—thank God—or I’d have called Grace a dozen times by now, and probably gotten my ass handed to me for it.
But the second I’m outside the station, I reach for my phone.
She picks up on the second ring. “AJ.” The gentle warmth in her voice raises a lump in my throat. God, I needed to hear her say my name.
“Just checkin’ in. Jas said everything was fine, but…”
“It is. Connor’s in the kitchen making jalapeño poppers, and Jasper’s trying to teach me how to play poker. Apparently, I used to be good at it?”
“You were a card shark, darlin’. Couple times a month, we’d host poker night, and you almost always came out on top.”
“Well, that explains why he’s already lost twenty dollars,” she says.
That pulls a laugh out of me, though it’s rough around the edges. “If he’s got a single cent left by the end of the week, maybe we can have folks over on Saturday.”
“I’d like that.” A door closes softly, and she sighs. “It’s strange being here without you. The only memories I have of this house…are with you.”
Her words tear through me, ripping open a wound I’m not sure how to heal. She should have those memories. God, she should. Weeknights with friends, lazy mornings with Belle, quiet moments that belong only to her.
“You deserve to make our home yours in every way, Grace. With me and without me. Just…” I swallow hard, desperate to soften the rough edge to my voice. “Don’t ask me to like the idea of you bein’ there all alone.”
“I won’t.” Her voice trembles. “And I’m not ready for that either. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.”
Damn if I don’t want to floor it all the way back to the lake, wrap her in my arms, and tell her she’ll never be alone again. But even if I could, that’s not what she needs.
“You will be, darlin’. Once the bastards who took you are gone, you’ll find your footing again. I promise.”
“I hope so.” A hint of warmth returns to her tone, along with an undercurrent of longing. “I’m glad you called.”
“Me too. I like hearin’ your voice.”
We linger for a little longer before I let her go with a promise that I’ll come home safe.
Twenty minutes later, I slide into a booth at a run-down diner a few blocks from the train station—the kind where the servers don’t care who you are or what your business is, as long as you tip well.
Parker has jammed herself in the corner, a plate of greasy fries untouched in front of her as she sucks down half a milkshake in under a minute.
Hardison sits across from her, looking on in shock. “And you’re chasing that with grease. This isn’t how superheroes get origin stories, y’know.”
