Page 54 of The Piece You Stole

Eli doesn’t wait. He gets to his feet and turns to me with his hand held out, palm side up. “Miss Leo.”

I dart a glance at the cops.

They still seem to have forgotten I exist because they’re glaring at Eli with murder in their eyes.

I put my hand in Eli’s and let him pull me to my feet.

The moment he closes his hand tight around mine, I realize I’ve made a mistake. One that doesn’t truly hit home until Eli is leading the way down the hallway, because all the excitement in the interview room made me forget about the person who is probably waiting for me outside.

Rylan.

Slowing, I tug at my hand. “Uh, I need to use the bathroom.”

And also see if this bathroom has a window big enough I can crawl out of.

Eli’s hand tightens as he gives me a shark-like smile. “Which you can do once we’ve collected your belongings.”

I don’t trust his smile because it feels like I’m a rat that’s just been saved from a cat by a dog.

He leads the way to the booking room where we wait. Seconds later, Detective Ferdinand and Bradley stomp in, hurry through a booking out process I doubt is supposed to go that fast, and then practically fling my heels at me.

Before I can remind Eli that I need to use the bathroom—and escape—he’s leading the way out through the police station, gripping my shoulder so tightly that it’s clear Rylan warned him I might try to run.

With the main room full of cops eyeing us with barely concealed hostility, I doubt I can expect any help from them. And then there are the cops, Ferdinand and Bradley, I feel watching me. They knew almost everything about me. If Rylan wasn’t the one who set this up to punish me, then it had to have been someone else. Someone who knew I was with Rylan and knew enough to have me arrested, but who? And why?

I trail Eli as the cop’s hard stares and silence mark our path through the desks, out through the station’s front door, and into a wall of blinding light.

I fling my hand up to cover my face as I get my answer about the rabid noses Eli was talking about.

Reporters. Lots and lots of reporters.

There has to be at least a dozen of them from the flashing lights and questions they launch at me. Confused, unsteady on my feet, and exhausted from my long night in interview room number five, it can’t take Eli much effort to pull me through the gathered throng, throwing out greetings, promises to meet up for coffee soon, and gentle rebukes about a less than fair newspaper headline.

By the time I’m trying to yank myself free, it’s too late. We’re stopping in front of a car.

A familiar black car.

Rylan’s Lexus. The door swings open before Eli can reach for the handle, and I wonder if maybe jail might not have been so bad.

They say the grass is always greener on the other side, right?

With the mass of reporters behind me, Eli’s fingers digging into my shoulder, and Nathan watching me with a faint smile curving his lips, I’m trapped. Again.

Rylan doesn’t pause in his conversation about another investment opportunity in Cuba. His gaze skates over me, settles on Nathan, and then he nods.

Nathan retrieves a black suitcase from the floor by his feet, and as Eli presses me into the car, Nathan hands Eli the suitcase.

I doubt a mafia attorney like Eli comes cheap, especially when this service seems to include hand-delivering me to Rylan himself. Less than thirty minutes of work and he likely just made over five grand. Probably more from the size of that suitcase.

Transaction made, Eli takes a step back and slams the door closed.

No one says a word.

As the driver takes off, I fix my gaze on my lap, as Rylan’s voice washes over and around me.

CHAPTER 14

ADEN

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