Page 21 of Behind the Scenes
So of course they had to take me down to the station for interrogation. Of course they had to take an extra hour doing it. Not that it got them anywhere.
A wasteof my fucking time.
“Welcome back, darling,” she said as she stood.
I locked the door behind me and met her halfway. My mind was too fried to even know where to begin the lecture I wanted to give her.
She had timed it so perfectly. The cops had shown up right after my scream had alerted them, and right as the restaurant’s owner was helping me “compose” myself after having to push through a suspiciously blocked door—Harley’s doing, I guessed.
Sweet souls inside the restaurant tried to defend me and fight off the police’s questions, but their relationship wasn’t any better than mine, so it fell on deaf ears.
I wanted to tell Harley how much she could have fucked up my career. How close I had come to getting some of the most important people in my business in trouble.
She picked a hell of a victim.And the cops still didn’t fully believe me when I told them I had nothing to do with his murder.
I had a few calls to make so this whole thing would go away. But not now. Not when exhaustion was weighing on me. So much so that I didn’t push her away when she helped me take off my purse and coat before motioning for me to sit at the table.
I opened my mouth to tell her where to put the coat and purse, but somehow, she already knew to carefully hang them in the hidden closet right by the doorway. The action caused another shiver to run up my spine, but I couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or fear.
The emotions were too raw, and my mind was too tired to tell the difference.
“I took careful precautions not to stain your clothes,” she said. “I know how pissed you would have been to have to buy new ones.”
This time I didn’t dignify her with a response. I did, however, switch our glasses of wine before taking a big gulp.
“The trust you have in me warms my heart,” she teased as I motioned for her to sit opposite me.
She smiled, as if my invitation was enticing.
“So you just kill people for fun, huh?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. “Actor by day, serial killer by night? A bit cliché, don’t you think?”
Her smirk had her dimples appearing. I wanted to smack them right off her face for how they made my heart stutter.
“Come on, darling. You have better questions than that.”
I should. As a fucking lawyer, I should have a million better questions. I was almost embarrassed that I didn’t.
“You’re not going to kill me,” I said. “But you’re willing to risk my career. You know I could have ended up in jail?”
“Never.” The sureness in her voice caused my chest to expand. “You’re too smart for that.”
“Are you always this reckless?” I asked and took another sip of wine.
“No.” She took a sip of her own wine. “I have a selectionprocess.”
“But you graciously went out of your way to change that,” I deadpanned. “For me.”
“For you,” she confirmed as she licked the remnants of the wine from her lips.
The feeling of those same lips on my neck in the alley had scandalous thoughts running through my head.
“I am acriminal defense lawyer,” I said, emphasizing the words. “You do realize what it is I do?”
The amusement that flashed across her face caused a burst of annoyance to run through me.
“And I am as criminal as they get, my love.” She ended her sentence with another delicate sip.
She’s playing me. That’s all this is for her. A game.
