Page 10 of North (The Moral Compass 2)

“Your friend here kicked Alicia’s backside, didn’t you, Princess?” North wraps his arm around my shoulder and kisses me on my cheek.

“Erm, okay, well, I have several questions. One, why was Bitch Features in this house? Two, why did you kick her ass, and three, what the fuck happened to the chair?”

Sutton points to an island chair with only three legs which is toppled over on the floor. North gives a dramatic version of the events that went down. It sounds like I really gave her what she came for.

Sutton laughs, West hollers, and high fives are all around as the security gate bleeps. North goes to the front door and lets whoever it is through the gates. He doesn’t come back into the kitchen but goes to the front door and waits outside. Weird.

North returns a few minutes later. “Erm, Princess, the nice police officers that brought you home the other night are here, and they want to talk to you.”

“Shit, North, I promise I never called him back. I didn’t arrange a date or anything. I promise I didn’t encourage him,” I ramble. Shit, why does this happen to me? We just kind of sorted us out, and now I have a bloody stalker.

“I don’t think he’s here for a date.” He smirks back. “I’ll bring them through, okay?”

I just nod. Why the hell would they be here if not for— Oh shit. Alicia.

“Good morning, Kara.” Nick the police officer says.

“Erm, yeah, morning? What can I do for you? Coffee?”

“No thanks, Kara. We’re here to talk to you about last night. We have had a complaint from Alicia Rose. She claims she was assaulted here in this kitchen, in fact,” Nick says. He’s a cocky fucker. Why did I think he was the nice copper of the two?

“Sorry, officer. I think there has been some misunderstanding,” North interrupts. “You see, Alicia helped me home last night after I’d had too many drinks,” North says, trying to set the scene.

“Sorry, Mr. McGarry, is it? I need the information from Kara.” He tries to get his authority across, but this just goes over North’s head. He’s used to dealing with people, and he can definitely show his dominance.

“Yeah, yeah, I get that,” North carries on. “Only Alicia is not always the most innocent. So, here’s the truth. Kara was here on her own and had set every single alarm. I was out for the night, but I came home drunk. Alicia is a family friend and came home with me to make sure I was okay. The alarms went off, and I’m surprised you guys weren’t called then, to be honest. Anyway, I got the alarms shut down and went to get a drink of water. Kara woke up scared, thought I was being attacked, and threw a chair at the attacker. Fortunately, it wasn’t an attacker. It was just Alicia. She was fine when she left here. No harm, no foul, officer.”

I stand there like a fucking goldfish with my mouth opening and closing as North squeezes my hand.

“Hmm, this true, Kara?” the other officer asks.

I just nod.

“Okay, I just need to check something out.” He wanders off into the hallway, and I can hear his radio crackling. I can’t look at anyone, especially North, who is gripping my hand. I suppose it’s to try and keep me calm, but it’s not working. Sutton is rubbing her tummy and making noises that set West and Nick the shitty copper on high alert.

Fuck, she’s a good friend. I know she’s warming up in case they try to arrest me. I swear to God, if I get arrested, I will make sure that bitch suffer every fucking day for the rest of her life. Doesn’t she think I’ve been through enough?

“Okay, Kara, Mr. McGarry, your claim regarding the alarms is confirmed with control and, given your recent history with break-ins and all that other stuff, I’m inclined to believe that this was a case of mistaken identity,” the nice police officer says. Narky Nick is fuming. It’s like he wanted to arrest me. Fuck, what did Alicia do, give him a blow job to seal the deal?

Putting their notebooks away, they both leave, and North sees them out. There’s some conversation taking place between North and the police. Then, all I hear is North yelling, “Mine!” and the front door slamming shut.

North walks back in the kitchen right up to me, lifts my chin, and smashes his lips to mine. I’m taken aback at first, but Sutton and West start whistling. When North breaks away, he looks deep into my eyes.

“Mine,” is all he says. Then, he pulls me into his chest.

What the hell?

Chapter 9

North

I’veneverbeenaliar; I don’t like liars, and I have definitely never lied to the police before. Something protective and primal came over me when the police arrived to interview Kara. There was no way on earth I was going to let her take the blame for what happened last night.

I admit, she went off like a madwoman, but not without good reason, and Alicia goaded her into it.

I’m not condoning violence, either, but after the last few months and the terror Kara and Sutton suffered, I’m not surprised she lashed out. I can’t help but smile when I think back to her screaming through the bathroom door, declaring her feelings. I know I shouldn’t feel glad, but I am. If that fight hadn’t happened, neither would have last night. We would still be dodging each other’s affections and hiding our feelings.

I’m also glad I didn’t hide when she told me to this morning. I still need to address that with her, though. It’s not like Sutton and West couldn’t see what was happening, so it wasn’t going to be a shock, and they wouldn’t have been upset by us being together. In fact, they seem bloody ecstatic.

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