Page 24 of Devotion

A chill races down my spine as his voice stampedes into my head. Loud and clear as though he’s standing right in this room, the warmth of his lips pressed to my ear. Startled, I lean away from my keyboard, the vibration of my heart beating against my palm when I place it over my chest.

Unknown: Take care of yourself, Madam Divina. You’ll hear from me again soon.

10

Layla

“Hey, so—"

“Not now,” I snap.

I don’t bother to check whether Mack’s pissed about being ignored. I’m on a mission. A mission that involves me marching into Chief Jude’s office to tell him everything—about the odd caller, about my connection to the latest victim, about the email chat that took place after.

All of it.

I hardly slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard his voice inside my head. It tore at the thin veil separating what’s real and what’s imagined. In short, I hated it. Hated that it’s stuck with me. Hated how it made him feel like a part of my world.

“Whoa, I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

My hand is already stretched toward Chief Jude’s doorknob when Martinez intercepts, blocking me from the entrance.

“I need to speak to him.”

“Not rightnowyou don’t,” Martinez says, and when he points toward the window, prompting me to peek into Chief’s office, I get a glimpse of what he means.

Chief is out of his seat, pacing as he and a very red-faced Commissioner Phillips appear to be having a heated discussion.

“What’s going on?”

Martinez, realizing I’m heeding his warning, steps aside, slipping both hands inside his pockets.

“They’ve been going at it for at least an hour. Some budget bullshit.”

Damn it. I hoped to get this off my chest sooner rather than later. Now, it looks like I’ll have to wait.

My gaze veers right when I feel Martinez’s eyes on me.

“I’m uh… due for a break,” he says with a smirk. “What do you say we take ittogether?”

Typically, I can pretend not to be annoyed with his fuckery, but in addition to not having slept last night, my nerves are fried. And now Martinez knows that, too, when I roll my eyes and walk away.

“Chill, Bennett,” he says, laughing as he takes my hand, but I recognize that look in his eyes and launch a preemptive strike.

“Red light.”

He laughs harder, stepping closer to whisper. “Relax, I didn’t say anything about fucking you.”

“No, but I know you, Martinez.”

I attempt to walk away again, but he doesn’t let go. My eyes dart around to make sure no one’s watching.

“Fair enough,” he whispers. “Okay, so our routine’s gotten predictable. Which is why you should let me switch things up.”

My eyes flit toward his, but I don’t speak.

“You look tense. Let me take you to dinner tonight.”

I hold his gaze, trying to remember the last time we didanythingbut hole up in my apartment and fuck. But then he smiles, and it weakens my will.

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