“I’m coming back for you, Sia. You won’t be alone again, ever. I promise.”
I hiccuped completely unsexily. “Okay.”
The corner of his mouth flickered up. “See you soon.” He rapped his knuckles on the doorframe as he left, and I knew the nurses were in for a whiplash of his rattlesnake’s tongue.
I could sleep to that.
The machine’s constant bleep was my company as I closed my eyes, blocking out the white room, and sank into the darkness again.
Only this time, I was armed with Ward’s kiss. And I wasn’t afraid.
CHAPTER TEN
WARD
The body wasn’t half as heavy when another man helped me lift the unwanted weight. We weren’t as quiet as I wanted, however.
“Your knees giving you grief?” I asked the other black masked man as he hefted the wrapped package into the trunk of the car that belonged to neither of us. “Massage should help with that.”
“Thanks, Coach.” The balaclava did little to muffle Solace’s frustration. “This used to be a helluva lot easier before my injury. Call Valentine, or break in your new boy, next time, alright?”
“Knox?” I shook my head and tossed the legs into the owner’s own boot, and closed the lip, noting the peeling paint. “Hell, no. That kid talks twice as much as Shannon, and has Hux’s moral compass. He’d be a fucking nightmare.”
“Point.” Solace shook his head. “Where do you want me to take him?”
“I’ll drive.”
“Nah, go back to your girl. Lewis and I are gonna take the scenic route to his final destination. You just gonna tell me thewhere, and it’s done.”
I frowned. “Won’t Hallie want you for the night?”
It felt wrong, taking him away from her when this was my job. My duty, when the little shit of an intern had nearly killed my wife. Left her scared because he’d become obsessed with the woman I loved. I’d missed that while I was blinded with a little obsession of my own.
Solace shrugged. “I’ll see her after. We’l make up for the time apart." His eyes glittered, and I had no doubt of his intention.
“If you’re sure.” I left the offer between us, but I wanted to be back with Sia, and if he would take the project on…
I’d take the extra time with my girl. I’d given too many years away with her as it was.
“I’ve got this,” Solace repeated. “Go. Take her home as soon as they’ll let you.”
I nodded. “I appreciate this.”
“Give my knees a glowing motherfucking report.”
“Will do.” I watched him pull away, and prayed that Solace would do a good job of keeping Lewis’s orange hair hidden.
In the end, that hair was what sank him. Sia didn’t keep cats, and neither of us took lovers.Thank fuck,or Solance and I would have a collection of baggies to dispose of. She didn’t collect stuffies either. But Hux had a cop friend, and he ran an analysis on the hairs found in her apartment kicked beneath her bed.
Out of the way.
Missed.
But not by us.
After the police went through and cleared her townhouse, we did our own search, determined to turn up the sort of evidence that didn’t need a judge or a jury to convict.
We found what we were looking for. The incontrovertible proof that another man stood over my wife and hurt her.
