Page 18 of Pulse

“Sorry, babe.” Brooke patted Curly’s arm.

“Don’t worry, I’ve always known I’m second in your heart.”

They laughed, including Talia. She always enjoyed being around couples who were confident and secure enough to tease each other.

“He’s a beautiful dog. May I pet him?”

“Only if you want him slobbering after you the whole time you’re here.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.” Grinning, Talia crouched down, careful to keep from flashing the entire party. She held her hand out, and Ray immediately nudged his large head against it. “Oh, you’re a sweet boy, aren’t you? I’ve always wanted one, but I worry I work too much to provide the care and attention a dog would need.”

Heat prickled the back of her neck, and it had nothing to do with the hot sun blazing down on her. She lifted her gaze, still crouched beside the friendly dog, and met the troubled eyes of the man who’d occupied her mind since the previous night.

She nodded once in greeting as she rose back to her full height. Pulse stood about twenty-five feet away, nursing a beer under a large canopy tent. He sported the same dark circles she’d seen in her mirror that morning, only without the added benefit of concealer. Expression pinched, he saluted her with his beer bottle.

“Talia, it was so nice to meet you finally,” Brooke said as she placed a hand on Talia’s upper arm and pulled her attention away from Pulse. “The caterers are summoning me, so I gottarun, but we’ll make sure to invite you to our next girls’ night. Oh, and I love your dress.”

“Oh, that’s… thank you.” Talia glanced down at her simple black bodycon dress. It was her favorite, hugging her in all the right ways, but it wasn’t anything glamorous. She’d left her blazer in her car when she’d arrived. It was way too hot to stand outside in a black blazer, and she didn’t want to come across as stiff and stuffy. “Nice to meet you too.”

Curly’s eyes smoldered as he accepted a kiss from his ol’ lady. He whispered something in her ear that had Brooke’s gaze heating and her cheeks flushing.

And then she was off to deal with whatever the caterers needed from her.

“There’s no escaping ‘em once the ol’ ladies get their hooks in you. Girls’ night is just the beginning. They tend to adopt people, so expect them to be blowing up your phone from now on.”

She highly doubted it. People tended to say things like that without actually meaning them. Smiling, Talia turned her attention to Curly, watching his ol’ lady with a possessive stare. “She seems fantastic.”

Curly kept his gaze on Brooke as she walked away, then turned his sharp attention back to Talia. “This might not be the best time, but I don’t know when I’ll catch you again, and I don’t want to miss the chance to thank you for being so available and quick to jump in last night. I want to say that won’t happen again, but…” He shrugged.

“Nature of the beast. No worries. I’m very used to the unpredictable nature of my job. It’s part of what keeps it exciting.” She took a second to study the man she’d met in person a few times but spent a formidable portion of her youth reading about in the papers and watching splashed across the news. Curly’s former club made headlines frequently for their criminal antics. He’d been part of a different club back then,one that Talia wouldn’t have agreed to represent. Drugs, women, weapons, his club had run it all and with very little respect or care for anyone but themselves.

Yet none of that justified the way Curly had been taken down. The thirteen years he’d spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit due to a corrupt system and a few supremely evil players.

Guilt compressed her chest from all sides like a steel vise. Over the years, she’d grown accustomed to the heavy sensation, but since meeting Curly in person, the shame felt fresh and intense again.

“Is the shit with Pulse put to bed, or will there be more from the cops?” Curly asked.

Her gaze drifted to Pulse again, now deep in conversation with the man claimed by Liv. The enforcer patch on his cut clued her into his identity. He was a formidable man, large and with a cunning gaze she felt could turn lethal in a flash.

Though Pulse had his back to her now, his stiff stance gave off the impression of discomfort. Were he and Spec also discussing last night’s arrest?

Talia shook her head as a heavy sigh slipped out. Unfortunately, she couldn’t give Curly the answer he wanted. “I’m not sure to be honest. Something was off about the whole ordeal.”

Curly tensed. “How so?”

She gave him her full attention, tuning out the rest of the club and their guests drinking, laughing, and having fun. It wasn’t her scene anyway. No one would accuse the workaholic attorney of being a party animal. “I’m not in any way trying to victim blame here. There are legitimate hospital records, and she was severely beaten, which is horrifying, and someone needs to have their ass sent to jail for a very long time over it.”

“But it couldn’t have been my guy. I know that without seeing any evidence. Pulse isn’t that man.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It couldn’t have been Pulse, and verifying his alibi was easy. But the detectives didn’t do an ounce of detecting. They went straight for the arrest. Why? The report claims the victim was drifting in and out of consciousness when she named him. Why wasn’t he questioned as a suspect instead of cuffed and dragged to the station? Why didn’t they wait to talk to her again when she was more lucid?”

Curly rubbed a thumb over his bearded chin. “Do you think the cops are starting a campaign against my club? Was this the first of many bullshit arrests we can expect?”

Talia frowned. Her brain whirled as she scanned everything that had happened since she stepped foot in the police station last night. After the interrogation, she’d wanted more time to speak with Pulse alone, but he’d been in a shitty headspace and stormed out without so much as a wave goodbye.

Understandable but frustrating.

“I don’t know. Could be, but it felt personal.”

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