Page 64 of Take Me, Sir

“How about the DA?” A woman's voice came from behind me. “Do I get a say?”

The cop sighed. “What are you doing here, Mueller?”

Aramina barely glanced at me as she stepped right up to the officer, but I didn't mind. We'd met only once and under very different circumstances. “Detective McAllister called me and said that we were taking down some bad guys.”

“Those bad guys.” I pointed toward the men who were being led out of the room. “She's not one of them.”

Again, the woman ignored me. “Kyndall Letlow?”

Kyndall nodded.

“District Attorney Aramina Mueller.” She held out a hand, then dropped it with a wry grin. “Right. Let's get her out of those cuffs.”

“No offense, but she got caught up in a raid. You don't have the authority to release her,” the cop said mulishly.

The DA's eyes narrowed, and I was suddenly glad that she wasn't looking at me that way. I had a feeling she was the sort of prosecutor who chewed up defense lawyers for breakfast.

“I'm the prosecutor handling this operation, so if I tell you to uncuff someone, you do it.” She took a step closer to him, eyes flashing. “And if I tell you to do the damn waltz, then you do the fucking waltz.”

The officer skulked off as soon as Kyndall's cuffs were off, muttering some less than complimentary things under his breath, but the DA didn't even blink.

“You didn't need to do that,” Kyndall said, turning away as I tried to put my arms around her.

I frowned. I knew there were a lot of people around, but I would've thought, after the day she'd had, that she'd want some comfort.

“Actually, I did.” Aramina glanced at me, then turned back to Kyndall. “I've been working to get Maverick behind bars for a long time, but we can't ever get anything to stick. You're going to change that.”

“Whatever you need,” Kyndall said immediately. “Just tell me.”

“What does she receive in return?” I asked, earning an appraising look from Aramina.

“I don't need anything,” Kyndall said. “I'm the one who fucked up to begin with.”

“Everyone fucks up one time or another,” Aramina said. “I'm going to ignore any charges for being involved in gambling, which probably would've been impossible to prove anyway, and you're going to testify against Stanley Maverick for blackmail and kidnapping.”

Kyndall nodded. “Of course.”

A movement caught my attention, and I looked down to see Kyndall cradling her hand. A flash of anger went through me.

“Did that cop hurt you?” I reached for her hand, and she jerked it away. But not before I'd seen the finger-sized bruises on her wrist. “I'm going to kill that son of a bitch.”

“It wasn't him,” she snapped.

“Then who the hell was it?” I growled the question, my patience stretched to the breaking point. I took a step toward her. “Kyndall...”

“The asshole in the snazzy suit, okay?”

I started to turn when the DA took a half-step into my path.

“You can't do that, Dean.” Aramina looked up at me. “What kind of DA would I be if I let you go after a suspect?”

I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure I could manage a polite response, but I knew she was right. Besides, I needed to take care of Kyndall.

“Can I go?” she asked suddenly. “I need to see my family.”

Aramina nodded. “Of course. I'll expect to see you at the police station tomorrow to give your statement.”

Kyndall nodded, already walking toward the door. I caught up with her just as she stepped outside.

“Are you sure you're all right, love?”

“I'm fine. Just want to see my nephew.”

I cut in front of her. “I'm serious, Kyndall.” I started to reach for her, but she took a step back. “I just want to take care of you.”

She shook her head, finally looking up at me. Her eyes were haunted. “I don't deserve it, Dean. None of it. I just have to see that Anthony's okay for myself, and then I'm staying as far away from everyone as possible.”

She walked around me, leaving me staring after her.

Fuck. No.

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