Page 87 of Veil of Lies

I stood up straighter. At 6’ 5”, I towered over him. He was soft around the middle; I was built like a linebacker. Taking the gun and taser out of the equation, there was no question who’d win in a fight. And nope, it wasn’t him.

The fat fucker.

“I’m a friend,” I gritted.

“Another boyfriend?” he smirked. “Her other two are already in there.”

I cocked my head in surprise. Had something happened? Last I checked, Harley and Stella hadn’t defined their relationship and Quinn was just a pathetic guy with an unrequited crush.

“Not a boyfriend, no. Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”

“Well seeing as how I’m the one stopping you from entering, I think you’ll find it is, actually.”

Douche cop’s shit-eating grin widened as he puffed out his chest, trying - and failing - to look more intimidating. Seriously, how had this guy even passed out from the Police Academy? He was worse than a fucking mall cop!

The door was yanked open and Quinn appeared. “Why are you standing outside?” Quinn barked in surprise. His hair was sticking up like he’d spent several hours raking it with his fingers, and he looked like he hadn’t slept for a month.

“Mall cop here wasn’t letting me in.” Mall cop bristled with anger and ground his teeth.

Quinn cocked an eyebrow and stared down at the fat cop. “Oh come on, Raymond, I told you Brax was on his way.” To my surprise, Raymond looked slightly chagrined.

How was it I got the attitude while he was this fucker’s best friend?

“You’re right, I completely forgot.” Raymond sighed like he was grossly overworked and underpaid. “Sorry about that, Brat,” he said, deliberately mispronouncing my name.

I ground my teeth but decided to ignore his attempt to wind me up. I had a feeling he was hoping I’d lose my temper, so he had a legitimate reason to taser me and send my sorry ass straight to the lockup. Well that wasn’t happening.

“No problem, Roger.” I shoved past him none too gently, enjoying the way he grunted as he smacked into the door frame. The door closed behind us and Quinn scowled at me.

“Making new friends already, asshole? You do realize that if you get arrested for assaulting a police officer, none of us have time to bail you out?”

I huffed and decided it wasn’t worth replying.

Harley sat by Stella’s bed, her small hand in his much larger one. Like Quinn, he also looked terrible. Stella’s eyes were closed. Aside from the bandage across her shoulder and the cannula in her arm, she looked like she was just sleeping.

Her thick red hair spread over the pillow and her long lashes fluttered every now and again. She was like a princess in one of the twins’ favorite movies. It was hard to believe she’d been gunned down just a few hours ago.

My stomach roiled uncomfortably. I took a seat on the opposite side of the bed. “Has she woken up yet?”

“Nope, but the nurse said she’s likely to sleep a lot for the next couple of days, while her body recovers.” Harley barely cast me a second glance.

He sat staring intently at Stella, as if he could persuade her to wake up by sheer force of will.

“How long does she need to stay here?”

“They want to keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours, then if all’s well, she can go home.”

“Back to college.”

“Well yeah, obviously. She doesn’t have a home, remember?”

Like me. Grandma’s ice palace didn’t count. Stella and I had a lot in common, except my father was dead and hers was in prison. But I shoved that thought aside.

The door swung open and a tall woman wearing scrubs walked in. She had dark shadows under her eyes and hair trying to escape from a loose chignon, but there was a sparkle in her eye when she saw the three of us hovering around Stella’s bed.

“Let me guess, you’re the third boyfriend?” she asked with a faint smile.

“Er no, just a…friend.”

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