Page 66 of Desire Me
Rae reached her hand out again, this time to shake Charlotte’s hand. “I’d like to say it’s nice to meet you, but really I just want to go back to bed and pretend this never happened.”
Charlotte’s smile was kind. “I don’t think anyone here would be surprised at that.” Glancing around, she seemed to take in the bustle of the bodies and myriad conversations. “How about I make some coffee while y’all talk?”
She was off to the kitchen before anyone responded. King shrugged. “She’s a born caretaker. The minute I answered the phone, she started dressing; there was no question as to whether she was coming with me.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Plus I think she wanted to meet the woman who has our Saint wrapped around her little finger.”
“And that’s the way he likes it,” Saint said, his grin tired but there.
King gestured to the suit. “Saint, you know Douglas Fortner from the police commissioner’s office.”
Saint didn’t stand, though he shook the man’s hand. “Thank you for coming.”
“Anything for JCL,” Fortner said. “I’m going to have a chat with the detectives. Back in a minute.”
“He’ll take care of everything,” King said quietly after Fortner was out of earshot.
“I wish there wasn’t anything to take care of,” Saint said, “but it was four against one. There was no putting them in cuffs like we managed yesterday afternoon.”
“Fortner understands that, Saint,” Jack assured him. “You know JCL has a direct line to the commissioner. There won’t be any issues here. It’s a clear case of self-defense.”
“I hope so.”
Jack frowned, easing to one side when Charlotte arrived with a tray of coffee. Everyone took some, King mixing the brew for Rae before handing it over. She cupped the warmth gratefully in her hands. “Can you bring me up to speed on the details of what you know?” Jack asked.
Saint talked, Rae sipped her coffee, and light grew through the windows as dawn broke. Saint knew Rae had to be exhausted; fuck knew he was. When he finished answering Jack’s questions, his boss nodded and drank from his own cup for a few minutes without speaking. Then, “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. You’re already packed, right?”
The man knew them well—Saint had packed their belongings and put them in his SUV before he’d contacted anyone, knowing they’d lose access to large areas of the house once the police arrived. “Yeah.”
“Good. I’ve got some phone calls to make.” He stood. “I want your team to meet me up at the office in three hours.”
“Will do.”
King pulled the opposite armchair closer after Jack left, settling Charlotte in his lap with her drink. Rae rested against Saint’s chest, head tucked once more beneath his chin. He felt a shiver hit her despite the coffee.
After taking her cup from her hand, he set it on the table and snuggled her close. “Rest a bit, okay. We’ve got a little more time before we can leave.” Fortner had finished his discussion with the detectives and left with Jack, giving Saint a nod as he went out. He assumed that meant things had been smoothed over.
Rae mumbled something about not wanting to be rude but didn’t argue further. He knew her adrenaline had to be crashing as hard as his was, but he’d had years to get used to it. If she could doze for even half an hour, she’d feel much better.
He stared across at King, who was conversing quietly with Charlotte. In the few weeks since they’d been back together, Saint could see the stress from the years they’d been separated peeling away. Before, both had been struggling to live without each other; now, happiness had lifted that burden, despite both of them being shot by the man who’d tried to steal their goddaughter. King hadn’t been back on duty long when Saint met Rae. Curled in the chair opposite him, the couple seemed absorbed in each other in the way only people truly in love were. He envied that. Rae was growing closer to him, but their trust was fragile after the mistakes he’d made. He’d give anything to be on solid footing, knowing Rae was out of danger, looking into a future with her instead of worrying about the past.
But the past had to be dealt with first.
The three of them talked quietly while Rae napped, and within an hour the detectives had released them to get some rest. There would be more follow-up later, but for now he could focus on Rae. He drove them to his downtown apartment, where they showered and ate, and then it was on to JCL’s downtown offices for the meeting with Jack.
“So this is where you usually spend your days—you know, tracking down women, kicking bad-guy ass, stuff like that.”
He laughed. “Like cops, it’s mostly paperwork, not excitement.”
“I heard you helped break down a baby-selling ring just a few weeks ago.”
Saint groaned. “King must have been talking. But that’s the exception, not the rule.” Lately there had been a lot of exceptions, but he seriously hoped their lives would all get back to normal soon. Although he doubted Dain and Olivia would ever get back to normal, not with their baby coming any day.
They moved through Lori’s reception area, empty this early in the morning, and down the hall toward Jack’s conference room. King, Elliot, and Dain were already inside, raiding the coffee station alongside Jack, Con, and another man Saint didn’t recognize at first. When he turned from filling an extra-large cup with black coffee and straightened to his full six-and-a-half-foot height, Saint realized he was the new team lead Jack had introduced at the Halloween party a few weeks ago.
Rae made a sound beside him. He glanced her way to see her eyes wide as they focused on the new guy. “What is it?”
Rae leaned close, her voice barely above a whisper. “That is the biggest, coldest, most terrifying man I’ve ever seen.”
“You can’t remember half the men you’ve seen, remember?” Elliot whispered in a drive-by.
