Page 76 of Breaking Conviction
“You said you let youremotionsget the best of you, and you nearly beat a man to death. What happens when I piss you off, Wes? Is this what I have to be afraid of? I already left one monster. I don’t want to crawl into bed with another.”
“Naomi, love…” Wes reached for her hand in both of his and he was surprised she let him hold it. “Fuck, you don’t know my history, yet. And I’ll tell you someday, but you have to believe me. I would never, ever hurt you or Thea. I-I’d die before hurting someone innocent, and besides that I… I…careabout you guys too much to let anything ever happen to you again.”
Her face softened, but shame ripped through his chest as a drop of moisture trailed down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and continued to rub the soft skin there, pulling her in with her hand in his until they were flush together.
“I promise, Naomi… I will never let anything bad happen to you again. Not on my watch. I’m splitting in half just seeing this one tear. How could you think I’d want to cause another one?”
She sniffed and nodded, letting her cheek nuzzle his palm before finally squeezing his hands and stepping back.
“I… Thank you for sayin’ that. But I need time. I need to think. This is a lot to take in and I have my baby to think about.”
Wes nodded, hope lighting in his chest. “I understand. Take all the time you need. I’ll be waiting. But please, Naomi, consider what we’ve been through together. Really ask yourself if I’m someone you should be afraid of. If you think I am, then I’ll go. If I’ve lost that trust, I sure as hell don’t deserve to be in your life. But you and Thea need to stay so you’re safe.” He stepped forward again, holding her cheek in his hand. “But if you trust me. If you care for me, then please come back to me. I’ll be waiting.”
She sighed heavily before low vibrations entered the metal halls. She took her phone from her back jeans pocket and cursed.
“Shit… it’s Thea’s day care. I’m sorry. I hate to leave like this.”
“Of course, I get it… just… fuck it.” He bent slowly, allowing her plenty of time to bolt if she needed to, but she stayed still until his mouth met hers. Her plush lips molded to his, salty from her tears, but before he could get carried away, he ended it chastely.
“I don’t want to sway your decision, but I couldn’t stand you leaving without your lips on mine first.”
“Thank you…” The phone continued to vibrate and she stepped back. “I have to go.” He nodded as she turned around, walking toward the center stairwell, with each step taking his heart with her.
He’d hoped she’d look back just before the metal door shut, reverberating in the halls and slamming into his chest.
She never did.
Chapter Thirty
Wes itched to go after Naomi, but she’d asked him to give her space. Honoring that one wish was the least he could do after adding a new trauma to her life. The mix of disappointment and horror on her face wasn’t something he’d soon forget, but he had a job to do. He wasn’t going to let his emotions get away from him again.
Instead, he, Devil, Hawk, and Phoenix spent hours in the basement with Andrew Ascot. They’d tried every non-torture-related tactic and even the ones that were on the cusp but still had no viable information from Ascot.
“Maybe he actuallydoesn’tknow anything,” Phoenix murmured, barely loud enough to hear over the heavy metal music drifting up from the locked basement door. “Also, Devil, my dude, I don’t know how you listen to this shit. I get why the UN considers it torture.”
They’d put on one of Devil’s workout playlists and turned the volume up to deafening decibels, playing the tracks for Ascot while they “gave him time to think.”
“ADA Aguilar said that there was enough evidence that Ascot was involved in the trafficking to sign an arrest warrant,” Wes countered, trying his best not to snap at Phoenix’s whining. He was still furious at his teammate for bringing Naomi to the interrogation room in the first place. Phoenix had done that shit on purpose, but Wes wasn’t sure yet what that purpose was. “He knows something, we just have to figure out how to convince him to tell us.”
“Yeah, well it sounds like y’all are about to level up.” Phoenix slapped his thighs before standing up from his rolling chair around the round table in the war room. “And y’all know how I feel ‘bout that, so tell me how it goes, alright?”
“Phoenix,” Hawk growled. “We need you to stay on base.”
“I will, I will. Cross my heart. I just can’t—” He tipped his head in Ascot’s direction. “I just can’t. If anyone needs me, I’ll be upstairs. Probably begging Naomi to make some more of that bacon she let get cold this morning.”
Wes perked his head up. “What do you mean ‘let get cold?’”
Phoenix shrugged. “I went upstairs after you and her had y’all’s lil’ lover’s quarrel. When I got up there, she was runnin’ around like a bat outta hell. Her plate was still full of food when she left.” He patted his stomach. “Don’t worry. I ate the rest. Can’t let good home cookin’ go to waste.”
“Wait…” Wes waved his hand. “Back up. She’s gone?”
“Yup.” Phoenix nodded. “Looked like she had places to fuckin’ be, too. I don’t think she even noticed I was up there.”
“FUCK, Phoenix, you asshole! Why are you just now telling me this?”
Phoenix frowned and waved his hands up, either too dumb to put two and two together or a genius at fucking Wes over. “Dayum, dude, chill out. I didn’t know it was a big deal. You were busy.”
“I’ll be back.” Wes stood from his rolling chair so fast it almost fell before he shoved it toward the table, not caring that it didn’t stay under.
