Page 28 of Condemned By Secrets

He looked at her and tried to stop. “I’m sorry,”—he managed around chuckles—“I just”—he laughed again. “What am I going to do with you?”

Her face blanched.

“No, I didn’t mean—” He wisely cleared his throat around another chuckle. “Relax, if I arrested every woman who slapped me, I’d—”

She raised an eyebrow at him, and he stopped, coughing into his hand.

“—nevermind.”

Watching his face, Annadidstart to relax. He wasn’t angry with her, instead he looked . . . relieved.

“What’s going on with you though?” He stepped toward her and swiped a thumb under her eye to catch a tear she hadn’t felt fall. “You can talk to me, Anna.”

Can I?She searched his eyes. They were open, unguarded. In the waning light filtering into her room, the light blue hue had turned to a soft gray offering her the comfort of a cozy blanket. He’d told her to tell him if Richard crossed the line. What if Luther could help her?

Anna took a deep breath. She wouldn’t find out unless she asked.

???

“It’s Richard.”

Luther’s whole body tensed at Anna's statement, and his hands clenched into fists. “What did he do?”

“At work this morning . . .” When she trailed off, Luther held his breath. The suspense allowed his thoughts to run wild. If Cartwright hurt her . . . Luther ground his teeth and cautioned himself to stop jumping to conclusions.

She sighed, her shoulders drooped, and he hated that she looked so strung out. He vowed whatever it was, he’d help her with it.

“Richard implied if I wanted his help with the project, there were certain”—her voice tightened and she looked away—“concessions I had to make.”

Again, his mind raced to assumptions he didn’t like. Luther worked to keep the sound of his voice calm despite the frustration building from her drawing the explanation out. “What kind of concessions, Anna?”

She brought her gaze back to his and he saw the answer he’d been dreading. “You know what kind, Luther.”

His lip curled in disgust as his blood pressure spiked. “Cartwright tried to bribe you for, for . . .”Damn!He couldn’t say it. The thought of Cartwright bribing her for sexual favors had nausea rolling his stomach and he swallowed against the sour tang of it rising to burn his throat.

“Yes. But . . . I’ll handle it.”

Her voice was anything but confident, and Luther lost control of his words. “Handle it!” he yelled. “I hope you fired his ass!”

She winced. “Technically, he doesn’t work for me. He’s a consultant for the county. I can file a complaint, but who knows how long that will take to do anything.”

Luther took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “I’m sorry. Anna, come here.”

He grabbed her and pulled her close. As her small body melded into his, some of the tension gripping him slipped away. She fit perfectly in the crook of his arm, and he wanted to shield her from the Cartwrights of the world. It was pitiful, wrong—so wrong—she’d had to deal with that kind of behavior in the first place.

As much as he wanted to go after Cartwright, he was a cop. He couldn’t go around threatening men because they hit on his girlfriend.

Luther’s thoughts stuttered.Girlfriend?

He swallowed and tried it out again.Girlfriend.He liked the way it sounded as he rolled the title around in his head. Anna, however, probably wouldn’t be thrilled he was thinking about her that way. Now he understood the anger behind the slap, but he was still unsure why she was so determined to push him away.

As she pressed her cheek against his chest, Luther stroked her hair. The movement of the soft strands sent her smell wafting into his nostrils, and he closed his eyes, breathing in deep. Damn, he wanted this woman. Her scent was intoxicating, and he wanted to drink it in, drink her.

“Thank you.” Anna’s murmured words broke into his thoughts, and Luther reminded himself that wasn’t going to happen—yet.

“I’ll talk to him, but you need to file the complaint.” An idea started to form, and Luther grinned. Yeah, he’d talk to Cartwright. They’d have aconversationabout how he was still a suspect in Anna’s vandalism case.

“I know.” She sighed and pressed against Luther’s chest, but he wasn’t ready to release her. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

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