Page 64 of Black Heart

“I guess she changed her mind,” Tristan said, shrugging it off as they made their way to the front door.

She heard a door slam open behind her, drawing her attention in time to watch Elizabeth quickly make her way past them, wiping frantically at the tears that were streaming down her face and-

“You’re a bad man, Detective Black!” Elizabeth yelled around a hysterical sob as she shoved the front door open and fled from the building.

Marty opened her mouth and-

“Mommy!” a large man covered in tattoos yelled as he raced past them, burying his face in his hands as he sobbed hysterically. She looked up at Tristan, who simply smiled at her, acting as though a man built like a linebacker hadn’t just run past him, crying hysterically.

“What was that about?” Marty asked as another man ran past them, this time sobbing into his phone. When he spotted Tristan, he stumbled to a halt and just as suddenly turned around and ran the other way.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Tristan said with a straight face and heaven help her, but it took everything she had not to smile.

“Why don’t we stop by the coffee shop and grab breakfast?” Tristan suggested as he held the door open for her.

“You’re not going to tell me what just happened, are you?” Marty asked with a sigh.

“I really think it would be for the best if we pretended that this never happened.”

“Probably,” Marty murmured in agreement.

There were some things that she really didn’t want to know and how Tristan managed to scare the hell out of a room full of people with anger management problems was definitely one of them.

CHAPTER23

“Ithink I’m gonna be sick,” Shayne grumbled as Tristan pointedly ignored him and focused on the woman sitting across from him.

Was he smiling like an idiot? Probably. But he just didn’t care. For the first time in his life, he was happy, and it was all thanks to the woman trying to work as she tried even harder not to smile back. He watched as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, clearly trying to hold back a beautiful smile. He wondered if she was as happy as he was.

Probably not.

For years, he’d been living in his own personal hell as he struggled to stay away from her. Every day was worse than the last and if he caught a glimpse of her, it was like having his heart ripped to shreds all over again. Now, that was all over. She was his and he planned on doing whatever it took to keep it that way. Now that he knew what it felt like to make love to her, hold her, and simply be with her, he wasn’t about to let her go.

The other aspect of his existence was going to be a slight problem, but he was done letting it rule his life. She was his life now. She was all he ever wanted, ever hoped for and he refused to live without her. Now that she was his, he couldn’t help but regret all those years he’d wasted. They could be married with a family of their own, but he’d pushed her away.

He would never do that again.

“Stop,” Marty said, her lips tugging up into a pleased smile even as she did her best to focus on her work.

“Stop what?” Tristan asked, unable to help but smile as he watched her.

“Making me gag, lad,” Shayne offered helpfully, but Tristan ignored him as he continued to look at Marty.

“Watching me work,” Marty said with a mock glare that had him chuckling as he forced himself to focus back on his work, but not before he glanced at his watch.

They’d been working all morning and he still had a ton of shit to do, but they needed to take a lunch break soon if he wanted a chance to look into a few things since he’d promised Hank that this investigation into the disappearances wouldn’t interfere with his other cases. If he was going to get anything done, he was going to have to do it during his lunch breaks and after work. He’d bring Marty with him if she wanted to tag along.

“Do you feel like joining me on a working lunch?” Tristan asked, glancing up to find Marty watching him as she thought it over.

“Will there be an actual lunch during this working lunch?” she asked teasingly.

“I think I can manage that,” Tristan drawled as he shot her a wink.

“Then, it’s a date,” Marty said with a warm smile that had him rethinking his plan to work through lunch. Perhaps he should take her back to his place for a quick-

A hard knock on their office door interrupted that rather intriguing thought, but that was fine since he knew that they had tonight, and if he had a say about it, every night after that.

“Yes?” Tristan said as he glanced back down at the file he was working on.

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