Page 138 of My Damaged Protector

“Well, I'd just arrived when it all happened. And it all happened so fast. One minute, Peter was trying to leave the room to tell the doctor I'm here, the next he and Ian are leaving together.”

“Leaving together? Hmmm. Ma'am, according to the report we got, this Ian knocked Peter out and carried him away. Is that what happened?”

Pretty much.

“Yeah, but…”

“Yes or no, ma'am.”

“Yes. But what I'm trying to say is Ian is not a criminal. I'm sure there's a misunderstanding here somewhere.”

“Is there? Because from what I understand, this Ian is your boyfriend, and he kidnapped your stepbrother.”

“What? No. Ian isn't my boyfriend.”

“Then who is he to you?”

Good question. Who is Ian to me?

The man I love but may never get to tell how I feel or even be with as I should.

“A friend.”

“What kind of a friend, ma'am?”

How many kinds of friends are there?

“An old friend,” I grumble.

If the detective notices the attitude in my tone, he doesn't point it out.

“So, your old friend kidnapped your stepbrother. Why do you think he'd do that?”

Goodness, what on earth am I supposed to say to that?

Peter is blackmailing me, Ian probably found out and decided to turn the tables on Peter. Only he was too stupid to do it discreetly like how Peter blackmailed me.

This is bad.

“I don't know. And I don't think Ian kidnapped Peter. This is probably all just a big misunderstanding,” I lie through my teeth

“Is that so?” the detective asks, looking at me more carefully now.

He doesn't think I'm involved in the kidnapping too, does he?

“Yes.”

“Hmmm. This Ian, how long have you known him, and can you tell me if you've been romantically involved with him before?”

Yeah, he totally thinks I'm in on this, too.

Refusing to give him what he wants, which is clearly something to incriminate me, I shrug.

When he had Lauren taken out by his partner, I thought it was because he was on my side. But now that I'm thinking about it, I'm seeing it was all just a ploy to get him to trick me into confessing about a crime I know nothing about.

No way.

“Ian is a good friend,” I say.

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