Page 35 of Copper

Is he scared I’ll say no again?

Because I wouldn’t. Not this time. He’s probably used to me pushing him away. I don’t want to push him away anymore, but I don’t know how to initiate a relationship with him again.

“I’m not bringing them home yet.” Aaron straightens his tie in his bathroom mirror. He looks at me with kind but tired eyes in the reflection as I lean against the doorframe, my arms crossed over my chest. “They’ll come back when it’s safe. I’m going to keep all my women safe.”

“Do you consider me your woman, Aaron?” I ask. My heart does a swoop, and I clutch my chest for a moment, hoping that Aaron Dwyer finally hasn’t given me a heart attack.

He turns to face me with hooded eyes. “Let’s get one thing straight, Lucy. I loved my wife. She gave me two beautiful daughters, and nothing will ever change how much respect, love, and appreciation I had for the time I had with her. But you’ve always been my woman, and I hope that someday, when this shit is all over, you’ll look me in the eye and agree to be mine full-time. Not because I’m keeping you safe. Not because I’m hungry for affection and can pay you a Benjamin for it at a slimy club.” He waves his fingers between us, and I don’t look away. “This is us. It always has been. It always will be as far as I’m concerned, and you’ll have to do more than get chased by some mafia guys to get rid of me a second time. I learned my lesson after the first stupid fuckup when I was a college kid. It’s got to be harder than that.”

I smile at him. It’s a shit-eating grin. “You think this is easy? Nah. I just make it look that way.”

He grins back, and it’s the first time I’ve seen his perfect teeth in days. Before I can help myself, I walk to him and push my face into his chest. My nose and lips press against his blue tie, and his hands slide through my hair. My legs nearly buckle at the proximity of him. The closeness.

But I’m in his arms. I won’t fall. Aaron would never let me get hurt.

“Let me come to the club with you to watch the video. We can look together, and you can nap on the couch in the security room while I look,” I suggest.

“It’s my job to find him. It’s your day off. Stay here and…do whatever you do on days off.”

“I have a vested interest in finding him. I can identify him. Let me help, Aaron. I can’t just stay in this house while you exhaust yourself for me. Let me help. The sooner you get a warrant for Murphy, the sooner your girls can get back to you.”

Chapter 17

Aaron

“Aaron,wakeup,”Lucysays. Her voice is angelic and sounds far away. I don’t like leaving the dream I was having, and I come out of it like I’m coming out of anesthesia. I was out like a light, and I blink around at the sparse room, trying to remember where I am.

Maybe it’s because I fell asleep in the employee break room at the club where Lucy was rolling through security footage, and she was the last thing I saw when my eyes gave out. Maybe it’s because the entire room smells like the lotion I watched her rub on her arms before we left the house. Whatever the reason, I dreamt of her while I napped. I don’t know if it was sexual, but my face was in her hair.

I check my watch. “How long was I out?”

“Three hours.”

I groan. “Shit. You can’t do my job for me. Thanks for waking me up.”

She laughs and tightens her ponytail. “I would have let you sleep, but I found something.”

I straighten my shoulders and wipe my eyes, blinking again. “Did you see Todd Daniels with Murphy?” I ask. I stand, stretch my arms above my head, and walk to the small television where we’ve been watching grainy club footage. Lucy has the screen paused, and I expect to see Todd Daniels.

“Will Justin Hammons do?”

I squint at the screen, and a chuckle starts low in my throat. Turning to Lucy, I wrap my arms around her and swing her around as she giggles, the sound ripping through me like a punch. I haven’t heard her giggle like a schoolgirl…well, since we were in school.

I set her down and wipe my eyes again, picking up my phone and dialing Coleson’s number. “This is even better than Todd Daniels.”

“Why?” Lucy asks.

I run my hands through my hair and lean forward again, kissing her on her cheek. “Murphy had ties through paperwork with George Cannon. Todd Daniels was a member of the motorcycle club. A third victim has now been filmed going to a strip club with Murphy. All three victims had ties. If this doesn’t get us a warrant to search Murphy’s house, I don’t know what will.”

I spin around in a circle, my hands on my hips. “Let’s celebrate.”

“Um, it’s four in the morning.”

“Is that why the club is so quiet? I could have sworn it was four in the evening.”

“No, we’ve been here for eighteen hours.”

“No wonder my eyes feel like they’re crossing. What’s open this time of night?”

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