Another officer cuffed me, and I gritted my teeth.F4gnovelsGo

“Officer, it’s my apartment and she intruded. She would have killed me, but he saved my life.” Di continued to lay it on thick for my benefit, but I caught none of it. My attention was fixed on Lake. To the untrained eye, she was a picture of calm, but I could tell she was trying to keep it together.F4gnovelsGo

She was learning to keep her fear below the surface.F4gnovelsGo

I never even noticed when the officer took the cuffs off. I didn’t hear a word he said after. I just kept watching Lake.F4gnovelsGo

“Sir. Sir?” I finally tore my attention away from Lake with a growl and fixed my gaze on the rookie. “C–could you come down to the station and make a statement?”F4gnovelsGo

I wanted to say no but knew I didn’t exactly have that option. It was late, and I wanted Lake alone so I could erase the past couple of months, including these last few hours.F4gnovelsGo

We all gave our statements and bunked in a hotel for the night. When Di slid her key in the slot, I stood in the hallway with my arm around Lake and stared even after her room door closed.F4gnovelsGo

“Keiran?”F4gnovelsGo

My head whipped around at the sound of Lake calling my name. “I need to talk to Di.” I handed her the key card and nudged her to our room three doors down. “Go inside and wait for me.” She nodded silently and turned away, but I gripped her arm to keep her there. “We will talk tonight,” I warned. She didn’t respond. She pulled her arm away, and I watched her disappear into our room.F4gnovelsGo

I knocked on Di’s door and waited until she yanked the door open. “This isn’t that kind of party,” she greeted. I scrubbed my hand down my face, still unused to her snarkiness twenty-four seven.F4gnovelsGo

“I want to talk to you.”F4gnovelsGo

“Why?”F4gnovelsGo

I shoved my way inside and slammed the door close. “Because I said so. Come on.” I gestured to the bed and took a seat in the chair directly across from it. I had to turn my glare on full force to get her to obey. She huffed and sat on the bed but not before shooting me a hateful look. I decided to start with that. “Do you hate me for what I did?”F4gnovelsGo

Her eyebrow raised and she said, “Why would you care? That’s not like you.”F4gnovelsGo

“It matters because I need to know if I can trust you. Lake considers you a friend and so does Keenan. Will your mother make you forget that?”F4gnovelsGo

She looked wary now and dropped her arms she had crossed. “I wouldn’t hurt them, and I don’t hate you—heavily irritated maybe, but I don’t hate you.”F4gnovelsGo

“Your mother is not who you hoped she might be. I knew her growing up. She’s cold and calculating. She won’t love you, but she will sacrifice you first chance she gets.”F4gnovelsGo

“But I’m her daughter.”F4gnovelsGo

“You were Mario’s daughter, and he sold you to how many men?”F4gnovelsGo

She stood up with her fists clenched and snarled. “Fuck you.”F4gnovelsGo

And just like with Lake, I was fucking this up. This is why Dash handled what needed rationalizing. He had a gentler approach that I attempted to channel now.F4gnovelsGo

“I’m sorry.”F4gnovelsGo

It was the first apology of the night. It seemed like I would be adopting them a lot before the night finally ended.F4gnovelsGo

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I guess I’ll never know for myself because she’s gone again.”F4gnovelsGo

I considered my next words carefully. “I know you’re curious about your mother, but she’ll hurt you, Di, and I can promise it will hurt much worse than when you didn’t know her.”F4gnovelsGo

“I already told you,” she laughed dryly. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Can you go please?” I sat there for another minute, but she wouldn’t meet my gaze. She appeared lost as she fixated on a spot on the wall. I reluctantly left the room and crossed the hall to enter my own. The room was completely dark as I shed my shirt and searched out Lake through the darkness. She sat against the headboard with her knees to her chest.F4gnovelsGo

“Hey,” she greeted softly,F4gnovelsGo

“You waited.” I flicked on the lamp by the bed and her eyes immediately found my bare chest and traveled down to where I was unbuckling my belt. I heard her suck in a breath and hid the grin that pulled at my lips. I needed to remain serious for this.F4gnovelsGo

“You told me to.”F4gnovelsGo

“I did, but I think you and I both know following directions is no longer something you can do.”F4gnovelsGo

“I don’t want to fight with you,” she whispered, and I saw what she refused to show down the street with the police. I didn’t want to scare her, and the slight shiver that wracked her body told me I did exactly that.