Page 37 of Beware of Dog

It was a problem, and only growing bigger and wilder by the day.

Her hand bumped against his ribs, and then took a loose hold on his shirt. Now was the time to brush her away, to set a boundary, to explain it to her in black and white that she couldn’t just be on top of him like this.

He said, “Does your friend want to eat?”

Way to go, jackass. Way to lay down the law.

“She was asleep last I checked. I’ll see again in a little while.”

“’Kay.”

She fit perfectly under his arm. She didn’t have her sister’s model-long legs, and he liked that she was smaller, that she could snug so tightly into his side. It felt good in a way he hadn’t expected. Comfortable in a way that was dangerous. He didn’t have to pretend to be civilized with her; didn’t have to bite back his opinions and swallow his pride. He could justbe…and she seemed okay with that. Might have even liked it.

On screen, a woman threw a drink in another woman’s face, which caused her to stumble backward and fall into the pool. Shep snorted.

But Cass didn’t laugh as he’d expected. Instead, she fiddled with her handful of his shirt and said, softly, “There’s no way Sig will take a plea deal.”

He stroked the outside of her shoulder with his thumb, wanting to offer some greater comfort than his presence alone. That was the rub with Cass: she made himwantto provide comfort. He didn’t think he was good at it, but she hadn’t complained so far.

“I don’t know him,” he said, “but I know guys like him. I hate to say it, sweetheart, but, yeah, I don’t think he’ll take a deal, either. Taking a deal would mean he for sure had to face time. Or go on the registry at the very least. He wants to get off scot free, and, honestly, I don’t know how your friend’s gonna hold up on the stand. If she wavers at all, a jury’ll acquit him.”

He craned his neck far enough to see her pout. “That sucks.” Then she sat up straight. She kept hold of his shirt, though, and her hip was still pressed to his; she didn’t dislodge his arm from around her shoulders. Straightened only far enough to make eye contact, hope sparking in her gaze. Her eyes were the same blue as her sister’s. But where Raven’s look was cold, Cass’s was anything but.

“I can testify,” she said. “I can back up Jamie’s story.”

She looked so eager, the blue of her eyes so bright, that he hated to be the voice of reason. Someone had to be, though, and he was the only one here. “Yeah, youcould. But you weren’t there when it happened. Anything you say would be hearsay. Even if the DA wanted you on the stand, the judge would throw out your testimony.”

She was wise beyond her years in a multitude of ways, growing up with the club at her back. But some of her reactionsstill struck him as achinglyyoung, and this was one of them. The way her eyes went anime big and sad, and all the fight drained out of her in a sudden rush.

“Fuck,” she muttered, turned, and flopped back against his side. “You’re right.Fuck.”

“That’s the hard part of these kinds of cases,” he said, rubbing her shoulder again. “It’s he-said, she-said, and he’s gonna say she wanted it.”

“Yeah. Wanker.” A bolt of tension shot through her. “Wait. Melissa said something. She said a ‘witness’ told them where they could find Sig on campus. Maybe,” her tone shifted, growing excited again, “someone did see what happened to Jamie. Sig’s never alone. He’s got friends around all the time. Maybe one of them ratted him out.”

“Hopefully, but that’s for Dixon to find out.”

“No. But.” Cass slipped away from him and got to her feet, hands lifting in a way he knew well. “If Sig treats women this way, then he’s got to be a shitty friend, too. Maybe if—”

“Cass.”

She’d begun to pace the width of the coffee table, and paused to glance toward him.

“If there is a witness, that’s Dixon’s job to talk to him. You get that, right? That you can’t be involved?”

She scowled. It was very cute. “But—”

“Nope.”

“But if I just—”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Stopinterrupting me, you’re insufferable.”

He offered a sweepinggo aheadgesture.

She put her hands on her hips and squared off from him. Stuck her chin and one leg out, and reminded him, hilariously and adorably, of the side-ponytail girls he’d gone to school with. All she needed was dangly earrings, gum, and a Jersey accent.“We’ve already established,” she said, her own accent getting crisper in her agitation, “that Sig is influential. That he can intimidate people, which means”—she ticked her points off on her fingers—“that if there’s a witness, he can intimidate him.”

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