“I like most people.”
He gave Sorcha a disbelieving scowl. “Since when?”
“Always.”
Luke snorted. “Oh, okay. If you want to believe that. Far be it from me to destroy your delusions.”
Though his tone was teasing, it still irritated her. “I’m not delusional. I’m a people person.”
He scoffed at Sorcha’s words. “Have you seen yourself around others? You’re always fidgeting. You have a moat wider than the Grand Canyon. For someone who likes them, you sure go out of your way to keep them as far away from you as possible. Dodging questions. Deflecting. Trust me, you are not a people person.”
Damn. He wasn’t being a jerk. The bastard was really observant.
He’s a detective, idiot.
Of course he’d pay attention to something like that. It was actually unnerving how that intense amber gaze of his took in everything. Stripped down everyone he passed.
Even fully clothed, she felt naked.
“Do you always know what someone’s thinking?” she asked.
“Most of the time, I choose not to pull any individual thoughts out of the chaos I hear. It’s exhausting enough to be in my head. Last thing I want is to hear the petty concerns of others.” He paused, then deepened his voice into a mocking tone. “My feet hurt. I hate my boss. Why do they always screw up my order. My ex is a lying jackass who should be run over by a bus…” He sighed heavily. “Ninety-nine percent of all thoughts are wasted, and I have better things to do, so I block it out.”
“You can do that?”
That evil grin flashed. “I can do a lot of things. Some much more interesting and pleasurable than others.”
That intended innuendo gave her goosebumps, even in this wretched heat. “What exactly are your powers again?” Yes, she kept asking that one question. At this point, she was hoping to wear him down until he gave her the information she wanted.
Or at least annoy him enough that he would eventually answer.
“Mine to bear and use…sparingly. Believe it or not, I don’t like taking unfair advantage of others.”
That was new and unexpected. “Doesn’t that fly in the face of your demon persona?”
“Remember, he’s not really a demon.” Helly flounced back to her seat.
They kept saying that. Maybe it was time she started believing them because he didn’t act like a demon.
He was an enigma that was unlike anyone she’d ever met.
Which made her wonder something. “How many cases have you worked since you’ve been at Infernal Affairs?”
Luke shrugged. “Don’t know.”
She found that hard to believe. She always kept a running tally of how many cases she worked on a small board. Her goal was to close every one. So far, she’d been lucky. She’d closed the majority of hers…
But there was always the handful that refused to be solved. Those that kept her up at night, wondering what fact she’d missed. What piece of evidence had eluded her.
How the poor families were coping with their undeserved heartbreak.
So, she found it difficult to believe that Luke didn’t keep records about his. Was it possible that he didn’t care?
Luke shrugged nonchalantly. “I never look at what I’ve done. Only what I need to be doing. The past holds nothing for me. It’s just a bad nightmare and who needs those?”
And it was an anchor that forever held her tethered to that one cold January night that had changed everything in her life. That one second when the police had shown up on her parents’ doorstep to tell them that Siobhan would never find her way home.
It was as eternal as the anger she still felt over the fact that her sister’s ghost hadn’t come to her.
