Her dark eyes lifted to mine. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
I kissed her again before rolling her over and showing her exactly how much I was dying for her.
We didn’t arrive back at Reid’s house until late the following evening. Long after the sun had set and the moon had shone bright. Reid had seemed more distant today and he dodged a lot of my questions. I had a feeling he was holding back.
It was his way of protecting me.
And I certainly appreciated him for that, but I needed his honesty more than anything.
He kissed the top of my head as the Uber driver rolled to a stop in his driveway. “We’re here.”
I sighed, lifting my head to gaze into his dark blue eyes. They held mine for two solid breaths before he got out, walked to my side of the car, and opened the door. We collected our bags from the trunk and made our way up the steps. Reid pulled his keys from his pocket but stopped short of the door, his body growing tense and aware.
“What is it?” I whispered.
Placing his long index finger over his lips, he knelt down and retrieved a hand gun from a plank of wood. The lethal look in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
“Stay close.”
I nodded and he shifted me until I was at his back. I attempted to draw in a few deep breaths in order to slow my pounding heart, but it was no use.
The damn thing was trying to climb out of my throat.
Everything had been destroyed. Every piece of furniture and personal belonging had been ruined. Curtains and blinds ripped to shreds. Shattered glass littered the floor. Reid cleared every room. Thankfully, whoever had been here before was long gone.
A shaky hand covered my mouth. “Oh my God, Reid.”
He pulled his cell from his pocket. “Don’t touch anything. I need to call this in.” As he made the call, I looked around, careful not to touch anything. Although, there wasn’t much left to touch. Something told me this wasn’t just a random break-in, whoever did this wanted to send a message.
“Police will be here shortly,” Reid informed me once he ended the call.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as he stood next to me.
“What the hell are you sorry for?”
“This is all my fault. I brought this to you.”
He gently wrapped his fingers around my forearm, pulling me closer, his eyes holding mine. “This is not your fault. I don’t want you even thinking that shit, do you hear me?”
“But it is. I shouldn’t have come here. I should have just—”
His hands moved to cradle my face. “You’re exactly where you should be…with me,” he said, pulling me into his arms. I nodded against his chest, hoping that I could stay here forever, because with him is the only place I wanted to be.
It took a few hours to give our statements, process the scene, and secure the house. My initial thought had been Vinny but that was quickly eliminated once we got checked into yet another hotel and I had a chance to go out into the hall and return Ryder’s call.
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for hours,” he said, answering on the first ring.
“My place was trashed when we got back. I’ve been dealing with that shit. What’s up?”
“Rodriquez is dead.”
“You have got to be shitting me.”
“Bullet right between the eyes. The killer was in and out. Clean. No prints. No witnesses.”
“If Del Marco wanted Rodriquez dead he would have had his chance in prison. His reach is pretty far. Why wait until he got out?”
“Maybe that’s why he had him released early, so he could take care of it himself on the outside. A man like Del Marco isn’t going to do anything half-assed.”
