Page 79 of Black Bird

“Dahlia.” He growled.

“Who the hell is that?” Wren asked, stroking Denver’s ebony back.

Athan didn’t look at anyone when he answered. Rhaena felt inclined to let him take over her careless mistake. “She’s the owner of the club I saw you both at the night of Sarah’s attack.”

“Is she a suspect?” Sarah asked. “Didn’t you say you were there to talk to her that night before I’d even left?”

“Yeah, I was.”

“How does she tie in with all of this?” Wren pressed further.

“We’re not really sure yet. There’s been a pretty decent transfer of funds between her and Conrad Stratford. That’s all we really know. Could be unrelated, but I think what Rhaena was trying to say was that they’ve been laying pretty low themselves, since …” He glanced at Wren.

“We get it,” Wren said, lowering her gaze to her lap.

“So, nothing other than bank transfers?” Sarah asked.

“Pretty much,” Rhaena finally said, feeling rather rotten about dropping the name. “Sometimes these cases have their lulls. Really nothing we can do but wait until we get another bite on our line.”

It seemed enough to satisfy both the girls … for now. Sarah reached forward, closing up the empty cardboard boxes, and raising herself off the floor. Rhaena watched Athan’s eyes trail her the entire way to the kitchen.

“Rhaena, is it cool if I shower first?” Wren asked, moving Denver off her lap.

“Yeah, just leave me some hot water.” Rhaena nodded as Wren disappeared down the hall.

“That’s a good idea, actually. I’ll haul these down the garbage chute and check on Poe.” Sarah raised the empty boxes at them and Athan offered her a slight smile. “Night, Rhaena,” she said, turning and heading out of the apartment.

“Night,” Rhaena replied, waiting until the door closed, and water started running down the hallway. “You still haven’t told her.”

Athan stared at the closed front door. “No.”

“You know that eventually this little fairytale is gonna end, right? Either something will happen, or you’re gonna cross that line you’ve drawn and shit’s gonna hit the fan.” She propped her head up on her hand.

“I know.”

Rhaena knew it was hard on him. This whole ordeal had been tough, but every day that passed … she could tell he was steadily falling for Sarah. “Do you love her?” she asked quietly. He didn’t move. Refused to acknowledge the question. “Just because it’s quiet doesn’t mean they’re not out there plotting more shit. As many cases as we’ve been on, you know that as well as I do.”

“I do,” he said, finally looking at her. She’d never seen that look before. Not ever. There was a long pause and his chest seemed to move quicker. “Love her.”

She couldn’t help but feel a dull sting when he’d admitted it. “Then be fair to her, Athan. I really don’t want this to blow up in your face. I wanna see you happy.”

“I hurt her once.” His jaw clenched and he swallowed. “She suffered so much because of me. I don’t wanna do it again.”

Rhaena offered him a tight smile. “Lemme tell you a little secret about women, Kane. We’re tough.”

“I’ll lose her.”

“I don’t think you will. We’retough. We just wanna hear you say it. We want to be let in. You tell her the truth … she’ll be pissed, yeah. She might walk out of here and tell you she never wants to see you again, but it’ll be the farthest thing from the truth. Just the fact that you were willing to be that vulnerable will stick with her. Especially if she loves you back.”

“How will I know?” His eyes were so desperate. So worried.

Rhaena smiled at him then. “You already do, bud.”

Athan kept quiet as he locked the door behind him and crept into his apartment. The sound of the shower wasn’t present, but Sarah wasn’t in the living room. The kitchen was clear, and still smelled like burnt food … but she’d cleaned that too. The pan was drying on a small towel next to the sink, the spatula next to it. No sign of the pathetic excuse for the human food he’d tried to impress her with. As house guests went, he supposed he had a good one. It had been effortless … her practically living with him these past two weeks. Effortless except that he died not touching her every time he saw her. Rhaena had called him out twice now. There wasn’t any reason he could find to deny that what he felt was genuine and not just because he’d marked her.

He’d thought of little else these days, especially after the things they’d done with each other … the things she’d done tohim. He had let her. That morning had changed everything. His adult life had been spent pleasing women for money. He’d been good at it. It was never about him, and he’d never felt comfortable letting anyone touch him without having some sort of connection. It only got worse when Dahlia had shackled him to her and forced him to allow her to do all of the things that had him screaming inside. He hated every moment of it. When Sarah had touched him … especially below the waist, he thought his heart might explode. It didn’t only shock him at how absolutely divine she’d felt … but the fact that he’d wanted her to. Wanted it so badly he was certain he’d damn his own rules to hell and let her take him wherever she wanted.

The fact … that she’d only wanted to please him. To make him feel good. To feelanything… he still didn’t know what to do with it. All these years it had solely been for the needs of whoever was under him, and nothing more.

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