“So she’s attracted to you, too.”
“It would seem so, sir.”
“It would seem so?” Irving raised a bushy white eyebrow then punched a button on his intercom. “Darcangelo, get your ass in my office.”
Darius wasn’t sure what this had to do with Darcangelo. He worked in Vice, not Major Crimes. “You’re assigning him to the case, sir?”
He supposed that made sense. Darcangelo had come to the DPD from the FBI, where he’d investigated sex trafficking. He had solid cybercrime experience.
“No, I’m not assigning him to the case. It’s still yours.”
“Mine?” Darius couldn’t understand this. “But, sir—”
Darcangelo appeared in the doorway, a maroon button-up shirt hanging over the waistband of well-worn jeans, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. “What’s up, old man?”
“Come in and shut the door behind you.” He motioned to the chair beside Darius. “Silva has some concerns about his ability to manage this case. It seems he feels attracted to Ms. Dillon. He did laundry at her house yesterday, and they kissed.”
Darcangelo didn’t seem fazed by this news. Instead, he grinned. “Laundry, huh? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Heat rushed into Darius’ face. He hadn’t expected Chief Irving to humiliate him by sharing his situation with anyone else in the department.
“Not to put you on the spot, but please tell Silva how you met your wife.”
Darcangelo’s brows rose in surprise. “You want me to tell him…?”
“I believe that’s what I just said.”
Darcangelo gave Darius a glance, clearly not comfortable with this request. “I was on loan to DPD from the FBI, working undercover to catch Alexi Burien, a notorious Russian mobster who trafficked in children—a ruthless killer. Tessa witnessed the murder of a teenage girl who was one of his victims. She got caught in his web and became a target. I tried to protect her.”
Darius had heard of Burien and how Darcangelo had eventually taken him down. He hadn’t known that Darcangelo had met his wife on that case.
Irving chuckled. “What Darcangelo isn’t saying is that he and Tessa got involvedwhilehe was working on this case. He made it his personal mission to keep her safe, breaking lots of rules in the process. He even moved her into his FBI safe house. You can imagine where that led. I hired him anyway.”
Darcangelo seemed to understand what this was about now. “You asked Irving to take you off Sasha’s case because you kissed her?”
“We have a code of conduct, and I violated that code.”
“Not by much. You seriously need to lighten up, man.” Darcangelo stood, pushed a button on Irving’s phone. “Hunter, we need you in Irving’s office—now.”
Darius soon found himself listening to Hunter tell how he’d taken Sophie hostage to break out of prison and had later gone on the run with her. He’d known that Hunter had once been wrongly convicted, but he’d had no idea that he’d gotten together with his wife by putting a gun to her head.
“Andhe got her pregnant while evading capture,” Darcangelo added. “He could have landed her in prison, too.”
Hunter crossed his arms over his chest, glared at his buddy. “Thanks for spelling that out for us, Dickangelo.”
Darcangelo shrugged. “Just keeping it real.”
“Geezus.” Darius didn’t know what to say to that, so he pointed out the obvious. “You weren’t SWAT captain at the time.”
“True, but, as you can see, I hired him anyway.” Irving pointed toward the door. “You two clowns can go now.”
Chuckling, Darcangelo and Hunter left the office, closing the door behind them.
“One of the many things I respect about you, Silva, is your strict adherence to the code of conduct. But you can’t stop yourself from having feelings. You’re not just a cop. You’re also a man. And you’re the best detective for this job. No one has your combination of experience and skills. I trust you to use your best judgment where your interaction with Ms. Dillon is concerned. Get back up to Scarlet, and get the job done.”
Confused but strangely relieved, Darius stood. “Yes, sir.”
“Your lungs sound clear.There’s no sign of infection in your incision. Your X-rays look great.” Dr. Renshaw, the town’s orthopedic surgeon, turned away from his computer screen. “Can you wiggle your fingers for me?”
