Chapter 34
Conner
Conner had been on edge ever since the meeting in the conference room. He hated that Sasha was going through this. The fact that she was so upset she was sick on the way home had all of his hero vibes kicking in full strength. The fact that the woman he was developing major feelings for was in this situation had him ready to march into battle, but there was absolutely nothing he could do. Being helpless wasn”t a feeling Conner McPhee knew how to tolerate.
When the officer made the comment at the door, Conner kept himself in check, but it was a struggle. He was ready argue and go into her apartment with her. She said it would be okay, so begrudgingly he went back down to the parking lot.
Close to the door was a group of officers who were standing around joking with each other. They didn”t think Conner was listening, but he heard every word.
When one of them said, “Did you check out her Instagram pics?” his ears perked up and his fist tightened.
“Yeah, I”d hide cameras in her room too,” one of them joked.
“Posting pictures like that, you know a girl like that is just wanting this kind of attention,” said another. And Conner was done.
He took a deep breath because all he wanted to do was turn around and knock the entire group of cops out. He could do it too. But they were police officers, he wouldn”t make this situation worse for Sasha, but he wouldn”t let that go unchecked.
He turned and said, “Excuse me.”
“Hey, you”re Conner McPhee,” said the officer who had just joked about hiding a camera in her room. ”What are you doing here?”
“The woman in there, the one you just joked about hiding cameras in her bedroom, is a very important person to me. I am here for her,” Conner said as he walked over to this group of men trying to keep his temper under control.
“It was just a joke,” said the officer, holding his hands up.
“That is how you joke? About putting a camera in the room of a woman who right now feels so violated by all this it is making her sick. Bad fucking joke, Officer 498,” he said reading off his badge number.
Next turning to another officer, “and I”m sure I misunderstood you, officer 882, but it certainly seemed like you were blaming the beautiful woman for posting pictures. I”m sure you were not insinuating this situation was at all her fault or that she is in any way enjoying this attention.”
“Listen, you don”t know what you”re talking about,” one of the officers started in.
Conner stopped him with a glare. “Be very careful of what you say, I know the police chief is a season ticket holder and a close friend of Coach Wagner. The entire organization has this woman”s back.”
Conner held his stare, not backing down. He may not be able to fight these men like he would on the ice, but he would make damn sure none of them made Sasha feel uncomfortable. He spotted her coming out of the apartment building and gave her a small smile before turning back to the officer to make sure they understood one another.
After making sure Sasha was good, they headed down to the station.
“Sasha, do you have a lawyer? I”m thinking we might want one there for you to be questioned.”
“They said there is one there waiting for us.”
“That’s right,” he said as he settled his hand on her leg.
“I’m so ready for all of this to be over.”
“I wish I could do more,” Conner said, hating the helpless feeling he couldn”t shake.
She laced her fingers through the hand that was still holding her knee. “You’re doing more than you know.”
They sat like that until Conner”s car pulled into the police station. They made their way inside hand in hand. Sasha was greeted by the lawyer from the Magic”s team.
“Ms. Maloof. I think they’re ready to question you. I’ll go sit with you.”
Conner reluctantly let go of her hand and watched as she disappeared behind some doors. All he knew was if he got any whiff of an officer speaking to her the way he had earlier he would not sit idly by. He sat in a hard plastic chair and pulled out his phone.
Cash - How are things going?
Conner - At the police station right now. Who comes to get you if it is the police you are in a fight with?
Cash - They fucking do and it’s a felony. Don”t lose it.
Conner - I”m good. Just pissed.
Cash - You need anything?
Conner - Nope, I just want to get her home. I”ll know more later.
He slipped his phone back in his pocket and waited for Sasha to be done.
After about an hour she came back into the waiting area with the lawyer and detective Owen.
“If we need anything else from you, we”ll give you a call.”
“Speaking of giving you a call,” detective Gomez appeared from the back and gave her phone and laptop. “We’ll be combing through the accounts for the next couple days, so just be aware of that, but these are good to go.”
“Thank you,” Sasha said, taking them from him.
Conner was already up and at her side. “Are we all set to go?”
She nodded.
“I’ll be in touch,” said detective Owen.
Conner put his hand on Sasha”s back and guided her out the door. He was anxious to get her home where she could relax. When they got to the parking lot he opened the car door for her and watched as she silently got in and slipped her laptop and phone into her work bag. The listless expression on her face gutted him. He had never known a woman quite as graceful and confident as she was, and to see her like this was something he needed to change.
“Do we need to go anywhere else?”
“No, I just want to go home.”
He nodded and drove them home; he was ready for that too. Practice was nothing compared to the energy all this had needed, and she was dealing so much more. He wanted her home and feeling safe and maybe she could unwind a little bit.
By the time they got home it was already after seven.
“Are you hungry?”
She just shook her head. “I think I”m just going to go take a shower.”
“Okay, whatever you need to do.”
But before she went up the stairs she turned and slipped her arms around Conner and held him tightly, and he hugged her right back. “Thank you for being there,” she whispered in his ear.
He just held her and stroked her hair. ”I would do anything for you, I love you,” were the words on his tongue. He knew he’d been developing feelings for her since the first time he saw her, but he didn”t know just how deep those feelings were until right now. He silently held her. He would do anything for her.
After a while Sasha turned and headed up the stairs. Conner knew she said she wasn”t hungry, but he was also fairly certain she hadn”t eaten anything since her bagel at breakfast. While he didn”t know her well enough to know her comfort food, he did know her pizza order, so he ordered them a pizza and went down to the basement to get some of his frustration out. The frustration he couldn”t unleash on the cops he would unleash now.
After a quick workout, he showered before the pizza came. Then he knocked on Sasha”s door.
“Come in,” she said quietly. When he opened the door, she was just sitting on her bed. Her hair was still wet and in black curls falling over her shoulders.
“Hey, I know you said you weren”t hungry, but I ordered a pizza if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, I think that sounds good,” she paused for a moment and then continued. “I just texted Hillary, I think I”m going to take tomorrow off.”
“I’ll stay home with you,” he answered back quickly.
“No, you have to go to practice. Playoffs start in a week. You guys have your final home game Thursday night.”
“Sasha, I”m not leaving you here by yourself. No.”
“I was wondering if it would be okay with you if I invited a friend over. We could just have a girl”s day, watch movies and eat junk food.”
“I can watch movies and eat junk food,” he protested, really not wanting her out of his sight for that long.
“You can”t eat junk food right now, and you have to be at practice.”
“Who is coming over?”
“I was going to invite Evie Masterson, if that is okay with you?”
“You can invite anyone over, but her name sounds familiar.”
“She was at the gala. She teaches figure skating at the local rink, and sometimes she teaches grown women how to stay up on the ice,” she said with a smile. It was the first real smile Conner had seen from her since that picture of her bedroom turned up on her phone. His whole body seemed to relax a bit.
“But I taught you how to stop,” he said, grinning at her.
“Yes, Conner, you taught me how to stop,” she said, placating him. “Does that sound okay with you?”
“That works for me,” he said, walking over to her and kissing her head. “There”s food if you”re hungry and if you wanna just chill out and watch tv that”s what I”ll be doing.”
“I’ll be down. I”m just going to call Evie,” she said, squeezing his hand before he left and made his way back downstairs.
He had just settled himself on the couch with a piece of pizza when he turned and saw Sasha joining him. She made a quick detour to the kitchen to get herself a slice, but then she joined him.
They didn”t talk about it; he just handed her the remote and they watched some bad reality tv and ate pizza. It felt surprisingly easy considering the day they”d had.
Once they got in bed, he followed her lead and just snuggled in behind her. He heard her sniffle. “Sasha?” he asked tentatively.
“Please just hold me, Conner.”
And so, he did. He held the woman he was probably in love within his arms while she wept. And the knowledge that there was nothing he could do but hold her ate at him. If this was all he could do, he would gladly do it as long as she needed him too.
After a while she finally drifted off to sleep, but he wasn”t letting go of her. He wasn”t usually one to cuddle through the night, but he was tonight. He would never let go of her if he had his way.