Page 25 of White Raven
Athan swallowed, lowering his eyes and the car chirped as he unlocked it. “It’s a ledger.” He opened the door, shoving the box into the back seat. “It’s how she scoped me out.”
Sarah’s mouth slowly parted, and her body drooped. “Scoped you out…this is from—”
“Yeah…”
An almost three-hundred-year-old reminder of how that evil bitched tracked him down and chose him from a list of God only knew how many prospective names. She’d kept it like a fucking trophy all these years. Locked up in the desk he was made to service her on countless times. He felt a rage slowly breaking from its chains and creeping through his body like a virus.
“Gimme your lighter.” Sarah’s hand extended towards him, waiting.
“Don’t. Not yet.”
“Fuck that, Athan. Burn it.”
He eased his hands down her tense shoulders, instantly calmed by her presence. Those hazel orbs in her skull started to darken. He’d never be able to suppress that near-instant arousal any time he saw her like that. His mouth cut into a sultry smirk. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
“Nope. We’re not doing that. Don’t change the subject. If this shit causes you pain, it needs to die.”
“I know someone who might have an interest in it. If she says she doesn’t want it, then I’ll let you burn it yourself.” He turned and lifted the lid on the box in the seat. “Toss it in there.” She hesitated, narrowing her eyes at him.
“What interest would someone have with a useless ledger?”
“The kind that a collector of old shit would kill for. I still haven’t been able to take you on the second part of our date. Just trust me.” Her eyes found their color again, and she sighed, tossing the book into the box. Athan gripped her by the hips, pulling her against him and Sarah bit down on her lip. He leaned in, brushing the tip of his nose across the place where her neck met her shoulder. “If you don’t want me to bend you over and fuck you in public, then you’re gonna have to learn how to control that animal you’ve got in there.”
“That’s a happy memory I’d gladly make, detective.” Sarah’s voice was breathless, and the waist of his jeans tugged forward when she pulled him closer.
“Let’s go home.”
The ice in Rhaena’s tumbler rattled against the metal as she strode from the break room towards her desk, careful not to let Ryan see her glare over her straw as she slid her chair out and plunked down into it. Her new partner sat cross-legged in Athan’s chair with a stack of paper in her lap, chewing on the end of a pen cap.
“So…full prints on the box, aside from Kane and St. James, and there’s not a single match in the system. That’s peculiar.” Ryan’s teeth clicked against the plastic.
“And here I thought I had a solid lead,” Rhaena griped, rolling her eyes.
“I wouldn’t say that. It’s still a lead. Whoever left it wants them on a goose chase. Same with the paper inside. Several prints…no matches. Not even a set that came close. They’re playing you.”
Rhaena swallowed and froze in her seat. “They?”
Ryan uncurled her legs and leaned forward, plopping the papers on the desk. “They. Two sets if I’m reading this report right.”
“And you searched both?”
The pen cap slid to the other side of her toothy grin, and she gnawed on it, making Rhaena’s nerves itch. “With a fine-toothed comb, partner.”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” The little mole above her lip rose with the corner of her mouth and Rhaena felt thoroughly eye-fucked before swiveling her chair towards her monitor. Ryan’s following sigh was enough to almost feel bad about the dismissal—but not much. “What’s it gonna take to initiate me into the club, Northwood?”
“There is no club, Sykes. This is our job. One I take very seriously.”
“And you don’t think I do?”
Rhaena shot her a glare. “You can take this however you want; I couldn’t care less. But when a case pertains to people I care about, no one's gonna take it more seriously than me.”
“I see,” Sykes stood, pulling on her jacket. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”
“Hot date?” Rhaena asked, not sparing a glance at her.
“You could say that.” She shouldered her bag and Rhaena startled when a file hit her desk as her new partner stepped around it.
