Page 56 of Unexpected Temptation

I hold one of her hands in both of mine, trying not to shift awkwardly in the chair. I’m all sticky down there. Why couldn’t the cops have come just a little later? Listen to me. Is this how I’m thinking already? Hating the cops, automatically trusting Tristan, like he’s my man or something?

“I guess the date’s off,” I whisper under my breath once Mom has fallen asleep. I go upstairs and check on Loki and Luna, then return to Mom when she calls out for me.

Instead of sitting here feeling down about everything, I decide next time I get the chance, I’ll grab my cell and text Tristan.Maybe he’ll get to check his phone, and there’s something I can do to help.

I almost tell Mom,“I’ve been thinking about homes …”

But right now, with my bank balance dwindling, we’ll be lucky to make rent.

Oh, Tristan. Please get free. Please don’t be an evil man. Even to myself, in my own head, I sound pathetic, but I can’t stop. Tristan, please make all this okay.

I push those pleas down. I can’t be weak. I can’t bedependent,but after spending so long trying to keep it together, I almost want to let go.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TRISTAN

They process me, then take me to an interview room. At some point, I feel myself coldly disconnecting from it all, as though it’s combat. I can do nothing as they take my prints and take my belongings. I think about Maya and Loki standing in the window, the little dog in her arms, curled up. Am I making this up? Hell, it doesn’t matter.

Her heat still grips me. Maybe that’s what tries to explode when Tank finally makes his appearance. He’s got another officer at his side, a tall, lean woman with a dark ponytail and dark, searching eyes.

She sits. Tank takes a moment and then sits beside her, which tells me a lot. He’s hunkered himself down, giving nothing away, but she’s clearly in charge. They don’t turn on any recording devices.

“I’m Officer Ramirez,” the officer says, “and you know officer Thomas Lake, presumably.”

“We served together,” I say.

“You often visit the gym together. Isn’t that true?”

I smile at her, trying to figure her out. “Is there a reason you aren’t recording this, ma’am?”

She flinches. “Detective is fine.”

I smirk and shrug. “Detective.”

Tank flashes me an urgent look like he’s willing me to play along, but fuck that.

“A solid reason,” I go on when they don’t reply, “is that you’re not working for the police, ma’am. A solid reason is that you’re a Trentini lapdog.”

She rolls her eyes. “You think you’re a very clever man, don’t you? Do you realize how long you’re looking at here?”

“Ten years with exceptional behavior.”

She sucks in. “Could be as long as twenty, Tristan.”

“Yeah, the law’s a bitch,” I grunt, “but you’re presuming a lot.”

She rolls her eyes again. I wish they’d sent a man. It’d be so much easier to dream about kicking his teeth in. “Are we going to pretend we don’t have your vehicle visiting Rafeal Trentini, picking up a package, then visiting your little fuck buddy on the way home?”

I clench my fists. The bitch … She notices. Iseeher notice. She smirks. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m fine,” I tell her. “Just wondering when you’re going to get to the point.”

“Do you have a plausible story for the cocaine?”

“I don’t know about any cocaine,” I snap. “I went to visit Raffie because he was having a hard time. We talked it out. Then he said he needed to make a phone call. He was gone about fifteen minutes.”

She nods. “Very thorough. So he planted it, did he?”

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