Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Midas
The relief hits me so hard I stagger back a little. And then before anyone can say anything, I’m moving. Not a damn person is going to stop me from reaching her.
I yank her into my arms, ignoring her gasp as I hold her tightly to me and breathe her in.
“Oh, thank fuck. I thought something had happened to you. Jesus fuck.”
She looks up at me in shock, and it’s the opening I need. I slam my mouth down over hers and kiss her, silencing her protests until I hear a snarl from behind me.
“I should arrest you both for wasting police time.”
“Neither of us did anything wrong. And from the sounds of it, you’re the one who’s been wasting time. How long have you been here for, Legs?”
“Over two hours,” she whispers, somewhat dazed.
“You stuck a pregnant woman in an interrogation room for two hours and just left her there?” my lawyer hisses.
“I’ve got to pee.” She shakes me off as the woman in front of us points to the restroom doors. I watch her go and keep my eye on the door so she can’t slip past me.
My lawyer and the cop are arguing, drawing attention from others, when the captain walks in. “Someone want to tell me why my precinct sounds like a preschool?”
“Your officer here told my client he was being arrested and didn’t read him his Miranda rights.
After interrogating him, he told him he was mistaken and wasn’t under arrest. Unbeknownst to us, he had also brought in a pregnant woman, a friend of my client, and left her alone in an interrogation room for over two hours before berating her in front of witnesses when she needed the restroom.
That sound about right?” my lawyer snaps.
The captain looks to his man and frowns. “My office. Now.”
The officer glares at me before storming off.
“I’ll handle it,” the captain states.
“Make sure you do because that officer is about as prejudiced as they come. He saw my client as a member of a motorcycle club and decided he was guilty of a crime. He just hadn’t figured out what the crime was yet. Eventually, he settled on stalking and provided zero evidence to back that up.”
“I said I’d handle it. If we need to bring your client back in for further questions, I’ll be sure it’s done with a different officer.”
“Thank you,” my lawyer answers curtly. We wait for him to leave before he looks at me, warning me to shut my mouth. “Here are the keys to your truck. One of the prospects drove it over. I suggest you leave now so you’re not brought up on another bogus charge like intimidating a witness.”
I want to tell him to fuck off, but this isn’t the time or place. “Fine. I’ll walk out with you.” I turn to the woman waiting outside the restroom door. “Can you tell her I had to go, but I’ll call her?”
My lawyer curses but lets it go. “It might be wise to inform the lady that she is no longer needed here—if she ever was. If she’d like to lodge a complaint, I’d be happy to help her.” He hands a business card to the woman, who looks like a deer in headlights.
“Erm…sure.” She takes the card and watches as we leave. He doesn’t say anything else until we step outside.
“You’re parked just around the corner there.” He points and I follow his finger, just spotting the tail lights of my truck. I start walking toward it, and he follows. “Tell me what happened.”
“I went to check up on Legs after a suspicious package turned up at the clubhouse.”
“What kind of package?”
“The kind we thought was a bomb to start with. In the end, we realized it was a message. The bag contained personal items that belonged to Legs.”
“Like photos?”
“Like underwear.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, that was my thought, too. I turned up there, and when there was no answer, I went next door to wait—”
“You know the person who lives next door?”
“Not really. He threatened to hurt Legs, so I threatened to break his legs. He ran off like a pussy and I’ve been waiting for him to come back,” I lie.
“So you’ve been using his apartment?”
“I needed Legs to be safe.”
“For fuck sake, Midas. They could at least get you on breaking and entering.”
“I have a key. As far as they’re concerned, I’m watching the apartment for the guy.”
“And the wall of photos?”
I swallow the bile rushing up the back of my throat. “Are new. I’ve been busy the last few days, with Havoc being gone and fixing up my apartment. Whoever did it, did it recently.”
“How sure are you that it wasn’t the guy who lived there?”
“One hundred percent sure.”
He glares at me, and I know he knows the guy’s dead, but I’ll never admit it out loud. “Sounds to me like your friend has caught more than just your eye. She needs to be careful.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“I recommend you stay away from her until all this blows over. Lucky for you, stalking cases are still notoriously hard to prove. And your motive is unclear. As shitty as it sounds, her previous profession will work in your favor too.”
“Yeah? We both fucked other people, so how come she’s the bad guy?” Shit. A moment of clarity now was not what I was expecting.
“I didn’t say it was fair. It’s just how it is. Stay away from her, Midas. Get someone else to warn her.”
“Aye, aye.” I salute him.
He flips me off as he reaches his Jaguar. I wait as he climbs in and lowers the window. “At the very least, try not to get caught.” I smirk as he pulls away from the curb and drives away.
I look back at the station and slip off my cut before turning it inside out and sliding it back on.
I tug my hood up and move into the shadows before making my way back toward the precinct.
The entrance is flooded with light, but there is nowhere to park out here.
The lot is in the back, which is why my truck is all the way back there.
There’s a bus stop farther down and a pull-in area used by cabs picking up and dropping off right next to the alley.
I slip into the mouth of it and wait. She’s just as likely to call a friend as she is to call a cab, but I’m banking on her not wanting to call a friend, given how late it is.
I poke my head out when I hear footsteps and see Legs with her phone to her ear.
She looks around, scanning the area, and I wonder if she’s looking for me.
I listen to her place a call for a cab and wait until she hangs up and puts her phone away.
As she turns to look at the road, I slip out of the shadows, cover her mouth with one hand, and lift her off her feet with the other.
She freezes solid before her fight-and-flight instinct kicks in, and she bucks against me, pushing her ass into my throbbing cock. Before she completely loses her mind, I place my lips against her ear and growl, “It’s me. Stop fighting. I don’t want to hurt the baby.”
She goes rigid, but thankfully, she stops fighting. While she’s in a daze, I hurry us over to my truck and yank the passenger door open before placing her inside.
The second I step back, she moves to dive back out. I bend down in front of her and get in her face. “You get out of this truck, Legs, and I’ll put you over my knee and spank your ass until it burns.”
“I’ll scream. I’ll have this place swarming with cops.”
“You think they’ll care? You know how they just treated us.
They’ll assume it’s just a lovers’ quarrel.
” I steal the words the asshole used and slam the door closed, hitting the key fob to lock the doors so she can’t get out.
I click it again when I round the truck and climb in beside her.
When her hand grabs the handle, I lock it once more, making her hiss.
“Midas, I’m not kidding here. Let me go.”
“No can do. Not until we talk.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.”
“That’s fine. Then you can just listen to what I have to say.”
I reach for her bag. When she drops it in the footwell, I rummage inside it until I have her phone.
I slip it into my pocket before removing my cut and laying it on the back seat next to the vase of dandelions.
She looks out the side window, oblivious, so I don’t draw attention to them. Now’s not the time.
“I want my phone back. I need to call my friend,” she grits out without looking at me.
I ignore her and pull out before heading back to Au.
When she realizes I’m not going to reply, she stops talking, wringing her hands in her lap.
I hate the acrimonious atmosphere between us.
I hate that I caused it, and that before the night is over, she’ll hate me even more than she does already.
But I’m too far gone to change my course of action now.
When I pull up behind the shop, she glances up and swallows. “What are we doing here, Midas?”
“I told you, we need to talk.”
She closes her eyes in defeat. “And you’ll take me home when we’re done talking?”
“I’ll make sure you’re home,” I agree carefully.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
I pop the locks and climb out, grabbing my cut but leaving the vase on the back seat. By the time I make it to Legs’s door, she’s already climbing out and waiting for me. She folds her arms over her chest in a protective manner.
“Come on.” I walk beside her, not wanting her to try to escape. I unlock the door and take a step back, so she has to squeeze past me in the narrow passageway. I relock the door and head upstairs, leaving her no choice this time but to follow me.
“You couldn’t just talk to me in the shop?”
I grin but don’t reply. I unlock the door to the apartment and swing it wide. I wait for her to pass me before locking the door. She turns at the sound of the lock clicking into place and takes a step back.
“Is that really necessary?”
“I’m not gonna hurt you, Legs.”
I take a step toward her as she takes another one backward.
“But you have hurt me, Midas, repeatedly. So excuse me if I don’t believe you.”
“I know, and I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Stop it. Just tell me what you want.”
“Same thing I always want. You.”