Page 66 of His Surrender
He stopped, his hand resting on the door handle. “I hate this. Just so you know. I hate being at odds with you.”
“All part of the job,” I responded, confused by the tightness in my chest. I realized then what it was… I felt betrayed by him. And it hurt like hell.
“See you in court tomorrow,” Emery said before opening the door and leaving.
I took several deep breaths, trying to calm my anger. He had thrown a wrench into my plans, but hope wasn’t lost. My expert witnesses would still give testimony that would blow a hole in the defendant’s story, both with the evaluation of the crime scene and the autopsy of the victim’s body.
Once composed, I rejoined my team in the conference room and told them about the suppression of the text messages.
“It’s a hard hit, but I’m confident in our argument,” Garrett, my co-counsel on the case, said.
I was too.
Later that night, I walked through my front door, checked Sputnik’s water bowl and gave him a treat, and then fell into bed, exhausted. It was only nine thirty, but I felt like I could sleep for a week straight. Right as my eyes closed, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Hello?” I mumbled without checking the caller ID.
“Did I wake you?” Remi asked.
The sound of his voice perked me right back up, and I opened my eyes before sitting up a bit. “No. I just got home.”
“Really? Yeah, you’ll definitely need a vacation or something after this case. You’ve been working too hard.”
“Is that care I hear in your voice, Mr. Barnett?” Knowing he was worried about me touched me, despite my joking tone.
“Maybe,” he answered. “I called to say I had a gig at the 906 this Friday if you wanted to come. I understand if you’re too busy or if you want to stay in and relax that night.”
“I’ll be there.” I didn’t even need to think about it.
Remi had only stayed that one night with me, but we had talked on the phone every night before bed since then. We’d also texted each other throughout the day. He was quickly becoming a normal part of my life, someone I looked forward to talking to and seeing every day. It had also been too long since I’d heard him play the piano, and I missed it.
He came alive when he played, as if the music set his soul on fire. It was beautiful to see. And so was he.
“Okay. Cool,” he said. “I’ll, uh, let you get some sleep.”
“Sweet dreams, darlin’.”
He breathed into the phone and was quiet a moment. “God, I love when you call me that. Damn you.”
I chuckled, and the call disconnected. After setting my phone on the nightstand, I turned over and pressed my face into the pillow he’d slept on. I could still smell him on it. I breathed in his scent and shut my eyes before falling into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 16
Remi
Jay sat in the chair across from the piano, making eye contact with me over the top of his glass of whiskey as I played. Blond hair fell into his face, and his smoldering gaze turned my blood to fire.
I enjoyed this, the subtle seduction, this game we played where we made eye contact from across the room, knowing we’d be going home together afterward.
Smoke clouded above his head as he puffed on his cigar. I looked away from him to see the keys as I changed to a higher octave on the song. I felt his eyes still on me, and knowing he was watching made me smile.
Almost two months had passed since the night we had first talked. And that’s all it’d taken for me to fall for him. That cocky, too-hot-for-his-own-good bastard who used to drive me crazy had come to mean so much to me in so little time.
The song ended and I looked up, meeting his stare again.
Everyone else in the room faded then. The table of women who clapped for me and all the occupied chairs of patrons blurred as only Jay came into focus. His beautiful face. His long fingers as he lifted his cigar to his lips. And those eyes that had seared into my heart.
I stood from the bench and walked toward the bar on the other side of the room, casting a look at Jay as I passed him. He smiled.
