Page 14 of Devoted

"I got ya. Guess the K-9 unit is probably done sniffing that warehouse. We should get backthere."

"Yep. Guessso."

We collect up the trash and toss it. "You didn't eat much, Silvana. Hope you're not going to keel over from low bloodsugar."

"I had a big breakfast. Besides, I'm hoping to fit into a certain pair of jeans byThursday."

We get to the car and climb inside. "Is that when you knew you loved her?" Silvana asks. "That first time you met her in Clark'soffice?"

His question throws me for a second, maybe because it's one I've never asked myself. I lean back against the seat and stare out the front windshield. So many scenes that made me love her go through my head, it takes me a second to find the one that sticks out. "It was raining. And cold as shit. Ten and I got called to a scene at a well-known drug house in one of the worst sections of town. The neighbors reported a brawl and a gun shot. We got there just after the first four squad cars. Two guys were lying in the mud in the front yard, still moving but badly hurt. This asshole was standing on the front porch using a little girl as his shield. He had a gun. He was waving it all over the fucking place while he gripped that little girl by her hair. She must have been six or seven. She was wearing a little blue dress with no shoes. She was crying so hard her face was turning red. Cops were stationed everywhere on the street and the yard. The rain was coming down in torrents and that poor little girl was shaking so hard, the guy was having a hard time holding onto her. Just when we thought he'd give her up, he wrapped her hair tighter around his fist. It was hard as hell to watch. Too hard for Ten. She broke every fucking rule in the book that day, but it wasawesome."

"Yeah? What'd shedo?"

My head was back in that day. It was pouring rain but the memory was like a clear day. "I heard her next to me mutter 'fuck this shit'. Next thing I know, Ten is handing me her gun. I tell her, don't, Ten. He's strung out. He could fire that thing at anytime. She ignores me. She holds out her arms and just marches toward the guy. His eyes nearly bug out of his head and he points the gun at Ten. But she just keeps walking. I pull my gun and aim it at the guy's at his head, but I'm not convinced I can get a clean shot. Ten walks up the two steps. She draws that fist of hers back and bops the guy hard enough to make him release his hold on the little girl. Ten grabs hold of her and manages to get a backward kick hard into the guy's balls before carrying the little girl tosafety."

"Holy shit. I'd heard about that day through the grapevine but hearing it from an eyewitness. Shit. What was going through your head? Besides the fear of losingTen?"

I put the keys in the ignition. "I thought she was the only female cop at the scene and the only one wearing a mega pair of balls. And yeah, the fear of losing her had me fucking spinning. I think that's when it was solid in my head that there wasn't ever going to be anyone else in my life likeTen."

"Man, wish I'd been there to see that." Silvana pulls his seatbelt around him. "That must have been somethingelse."

"Yep." I start the car. "Guess it's back towork."

9

Kane

Istare at my phone,watching her dance around her room, alone, in panties and a bra. She spent countless hours alone in that room for no other reason except I didn't want to share her with anyone else. There were times when I found myself jealous as hell of Blake. She was so fond of him. They were constantly laughing. Their conversations came so naturally. But there was nothing natural aboutourrelationship. Mostly because there is nothing natural aboutme.

A knock sounds on the door. Oscar pops his head in. "The plane isready."

"Thanks. I'll be right there." I have a hard time clicking out of the video. It's all I have of her now, the snippets of security images and videos I saved before deleting it all, the entire Lace Underground. She came. She conquered. She destroyed. Yet I still have to watch the videos occasionally just to assure myself she was real. Every goddamn glorious inch of her was real. And for a short stretch of time, she belonged tome.

10

Maddox

Iparkmy motorcycle and pull off my helmet. I rest back on the seat and stare at the rundown beach house, my uncle's pride and joy. Television glow wavers from light to dark against the kitchen curtains. For the millionth time, I silently wish that everything was back to the way it was before Freestone. Before Angie decided to march headlong into a dangerous assignment. I want badly to be sitting back in the smelly, hot car with Ten, staking out some dimwitted drug dealer or arguing over what taco stand has the best hot sauce. I want to go back to the time before all this, a time when I could quietly suffer the heartbreak of knowing that Ten and I weren't ever meant to be together. I want back to the time when I had to stoically endure the torture of being with her, loving her, wanting her, knowing I would never have her. Who knew those would be simplertimes?

I knock a few times before using the key to enter. Three candy bar wrappers are sitting next to an empty carton of milk on the coffee table. Ten is curled up on the couch under the wool throw blanket. I pick up the remote and shut off the television. The sudden silence wakes her. Her copper hair falls back off her face as she lifts her head from her self-madecocoon.

"Didn't mean to wake you. Maybe you should head into thebedroom."

She sits up all the way and squints even though the only light is coming from thekitchen.

"Do you need some aspirin?" Iask.

She nods weakly. "Please."

I head to the kitchen for the bottle of aspirin. She gets up from the couch as I return. She's pulled on a pair of drawstring pajama pants and a cropped t-shirt. Her nipples push against the thin fabric. I swallow hard and pull my gazeaway.

Her hair is wild and uncombed. Some of the color is coming back to her face. She's a stunning mess. My heart races just looking ather.

She holds out her palm out for the aspirin. It's just shaky enough to talk myself into setting my hand underneath hers to steady it. I leave it there pressed against hers for longer than necessary. She makes no move to pull it awayquickly.

"It's so late," she says before pushing the aspirin into her mouth. "Were you stillworking?"

"Yeah, Silvana and I made a couple of arrests. The jerks were either lazy or stupid or both. Thought they could ship a hundred grand worth of crack through the parcel service." I walk to the kitchen for a cold drink. "Had to write up the paperwork alone. Clark has Silvana working on researching what's his name." I can't bring myself to say his name, especially not in front of her. When I turn back with my soda, Ten has her arms lifted high to tie her hair up in a rubber band. The edge of her short t-shirt lifts high enough to expose the bottom curves of herbreasts.

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