Page 111 of I Want You
I took a breath for what felt like the first time, my heart beating solely for her.
“Take him in. Book him for aiding and abetting and obstruction of justice,” I told Shapiro.
“Um, Captain?” Neves questioned.
“We don’t need his permission to arrest him, Neves.” Monroe hauled Tyler in front of him. “Go check on her. I’ll bring them in. Just get to the station when you can.”
I passed Langston off to Shapiro as Monroe issued orders to get them booked and detained.
The urgency to hold Scarlett in my arms was all-consuming. I turned toward her, ready to run to get her in my arms. She threw herself at me, wrapping her legs around my waist, my face buried in an unruly mess of strawberry curls as I held her tightly.
“Letty.” I breathed her name like a prayer. My mouth crashed into hers. Wetness coated my cheeks, but I wasn’t sure if they were her tears or mine. “Do not ever do that to me again.”
Her lips found mine for another kiss. After a minute, she pulled back. “Luke?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“You’re crushing me.”
Fuck. I loosened my grip on her, letting her slide down my body until her feet hit the ground. “Sorry. Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” My hands trailed over her from head to toe.
“I’m okay. But Luke, he killed Alana. It wasn’t Ryan, it was Tyler. And Cap… Steve… Langston… he knew about it. He was covering it up.”
“I know. I just put it together earlier. I tried to call you to let you know, and when you didn’t answer my calls or texts, I came looking for you.”
“Thank you. I can’t believe you got here when you did. Thank you for saving me. Both of you,” she said, looking overmy shoulder.
“We didn’t save you. You saved yourself,” Wes smirked.
“What happened? I saw you in the window, backed up against the rows of flower arrangements, and the next thing I knew, I heard screaming. When I got inside, you were gone.”
“I threw every vase I could get my hands on at him until I got to the door.”
“That’s when she broke his nose to get out,” said Wes. Pride welled up in my chest. My girl defended herself, got herself to safety. “I got here just in time to see that masterpiece.”
I brought her to my chest again, trying not to crush her but probably failing. She let me hold her without complaint, tightening her grasp on me right back.
* * *
“So, you’re telling me you have an experienced police officer and a lumberjack private investigator come to your rescue, and you still had to save yourself?” Seb laughed.
I didn’t find it quite as funny. My narrowed glare didn’t do shit to curb his amusement.
“I was trying to get to her,” I said.
“I think it’s amazing that you knew in your gut that Scarlett was in danger. It’s romantic,” Maeve said. She cradled Veda in her arms, sitting in my father’s favorite recliner after family dinner.
Wyatt cuffed Seb on the shoulder as he passed, taking a seat at the base of Maeve’s chair. “When’s the court date?”
“Tuesday,” Scarlett and I said in unison. I ran my hand downher leg. At some point, she would need to testify, but that wasn’t the stage we were at right now.
“I’m fine,” she told me gently. She cupped my cheek, drawing small circles with her thumb along my skin. She was fine. She was the strongest, most resilient person I knew. But my heart broke every time I thought about what could have happened. How things could have ended differently.
I still couldn’t believe Calla Bay’s own police captain had falsified evidence, aided and abetted a known criminal—a murderer—and was willing to let an innocent man go to prison. I didn’t think any of us could believe it. Even Wes was disappointed at having been right from the beginning. Scarlett changed the topic, trying to break the solemnness that hung over us whenever this came up.
“When’s the move-in date for the house?” she asked, directing her question to Reid and Claire, taking up one seat on the couch as Claire perched herself on Reid’s lap.
“Funny you should bring that up,” Claire said. “We wanted to invite you all to the housewarming party on New Year’s Eve.” She sent a loaded smile to Reid, and he returned it with a wolfish grin.
