Chapter Twenty-Seven
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C assie’s heart jumped when she spotted Tristan’s truck in her driveway. Nerves mixed with anticipation, along with a sense of intense relief. She almost hadn’t come home, but with him here, she felt safe. Physically. Emotionally, she was in a world of trouble with him.
But he wasn’t in his truck when she parked next to it. Confused, she walked up to her front door and put the key in the lock. The alarm didn’t beep when she entered. Her attention shot to the living room as Tristan rose from her couch.
He didn’t make a move toward her. “Hi.”
“Hi. How did you—”
“I picked the lock. And you didn’t change your alarm code.”
She should’ve been mad at the invasion of privacy, but she wasn’t. “You memorized it from watching me punch it in one time?”
“I’m detail oriented.”
He really was. His vibe was off though. She couldn’t get a read on him.
“I was out with Gav and missed your call.”
Noticing the cut on his lower lip, she frowned. “What happened?”
“Had to escort someone out of the bar.”
“But you’re okay?” He looked unbearably hot standing there, big and powerful and calm except for the turbulence in his eyes.
“I’m fine. Just worried about you. Ivy messaged before I saw you’d called.”
“I was at my mom and stepdad’s place for dinner. She came over earlier. Actually, we had a really amazing talk.”
“That’s good.”
“It is, yeah.” She forced a smile, feeling off-balance and awkward. She’d wanted him to come over, and now that he was here, she was dreading the conversation.
He waited until she was seated on the couch before lowering himself on the other end, his gaze level and steady as he watched her. “For the record, I’m glad you called me.”
“Same.” Didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous as hell right now, though. They were already on uneven ground. What she had to tell him might make things worse.
“So, can we talk?”
She nodded, yanking herself out of her head. Get out of your own way, Cass. You’re a big girl. Just tell him. Whatever happens after that, he’ll know everything. “What did Ivy say?”
“That you’ve identified the prime suspect you think is behind all this.”
“That’s all?”
“No.” The look in his eyes hardened. “You think it’s your ex?”
She expelled a breath, cringing inside even though she was glad to finally have it out in the open. “Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Has to be. I thought he was still in prison, but he’s not. He was released, and I wasn’t notified.”
His expression darkened. “Why the hell not? And what did he go to prison for?”
“Ivy’s digging deeper into it, but it’s likely some administrative problem.
As for what he did...” She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
This was so ugly and embarrassing. She’d been practicing her explanation in her head all afternoon, but nothing had seemed right.
Now that the moment was here, she just wanted to tell him and move forward.
“We were together for more than three years. Moved in together about six months after we started dating.” She’d thought she was in love, and that he loved her. It made her want to laugh.
“In Vegas.”
She nodded.
“Was he a cop?”
“Yes. Things were okay at first. I was...dazzled, I guess you could say. He was incredibly charming and romantic at first. Pursued me relentlessly until I gave in. But once we moved in together, things started to slide.” His veneer had slipped bit by bit, in direct correlation with her sinking self-worth.
“Slide how?” His voice was low. Angry. And she knew that quiet rage smoldering in his eyes was all for Rob.
“He was a controlling narcissist. Only I didn’t see it until it was way too late.
” She got up, unable to sit or look at him as she continued.
She needed to move. “It was years of guilt trips and manipulation and gaslighting. Getting the cold shoulder whenever he was mad at me for some perceived slight. We drifted, and that only made his behavior worse. I wanted out, but he refused to let me go, would apologize profusely and beg me to stay, promised he’d do better and be all attentive and loving. But the cycle kept repeating.”
She’d kept hoping it—that he—would change. “It got to the point where we’d drifted so much, I was convinced he was cheating on me. But I never had any proof until I finally got hold of his second phone he didn’t realize I knew about. And what I found...”
“Go on,” Tristan said quietly.
“There was a message chain about a big party with an address. He’d told me he was going over to a friend’s place.
So I showed up at the address after I got off shift.
I was still in uniform.” Just thinking about it made her want to throw up.
“I found him and a bunch of other off-duty cops high as hell on coke and ecstasy, having sex with a group of prostitutes we had frequent dealings with. Unprotected sex,” she added.
“Jesus Christ.” Tristan shook his head, jaw clenched.
“Yeah.” It still triggered her. “He saw me. Chased after me out into the street in his damned underwear, insisting I didn’t understand, that it wasn’t what it looked like.
I mean, pretty hard to misunderstand that.
I left and went straight to our apartment, packed my shit and moved out that night.
I reported everything to my chief. Gave an official statement that included the names of all the cops I’d seen involved.
And I got my ass to the doctor the next day for a full battery of tests.
They put me on a round of powerful antibiotics as a precaution but thank God I was clean. ”
To her that was the worst part. That Rob would have exposed her to that level of risk without telling her.
“I’m so fucking sorry you went through all that,” Tristan said.
She nodded, tried to slow her racing heart.
Refused to cry about it anymore. But even thinking about that time in her life brought a visceral reaction.
“Apparently, it had been going on for almost a year before I found out.” The man she’d lived with had been having unprotected sex with sex workers for a fucking year without telling her.
“Anyway, once Internal Affairs got involved, guys started getting fired. The corruption was worse than anyone thought initially.”
They hadn’t been fired for having sex with prostitutes.
They had been fired for the drugs and abusing their positions of power over the women, among other things.
“As more people were exposed, the backlash started. I wound up getting death threats. Had to leave my job. I moved to San Diego for a couple months, waiting for the trials. I testified against him and a few others. He and one other cop were sentenced to prison time. As soon as the trial finished, I left Vegas for good and came out here.”
Tristan shook his head slowly, looking stunned and horrified and angry. He ran a hand over his face, expelled a hard breath. “And then they let a dirty cop with a personal grudge against you out early, without notifying you.”
“According to what Ivy found, yes. He’s been out for about a month.
And he definitely hates my guts enough to come after me.
It’s a stretch to think he’d be able to plan all this and pull it off, but he’s had months behind bars to come up with everything, and he’s friends with lots of other guys who hate me, so. .. It’s possible.”
“Has anyone verified if he’s in the area?”
“Not yet. Ivy’s on it. And CPS has informed the Sheriff’s Department. By now everyone back in Vegas will know too.”
“Have you still got more potential enemies there?”
“Oh yeah. Even the guys who didn’t go to prison were kicked off the force for their involvement. They lost their jobs, their reputations. Some of them lost their wives and girlfriends. Their fancy lifestyles bought and paid for by dirty money from drugs and sex crimes. All gone.”
“How far up the chain did the corruption go?”
“Officially, IA found that the illegal activity was fairly low level within the department, involving officers and some supervisors. Rob was one of the ringleaders.”
“That’s his name?”
“Rob Quinn.” Saying it left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Damn, Cass.” Concern shadowed Tristan’s eyes. “Didn’t anyone stick up for you?”
“Oh, sure. My partner, Dane, and our captain. But they were the only ones who stood by me when it all came out and IA got involved.”
“That was so damned brave of you. Couldn’t have been easy.”
“No,” she said with a humorless laugh. “Not easy. At first when I reported it, I was gaslighted. Laughed at. Then blackballed and shunned when the consequences started. So the threats of violence and death weren’t unexpected.” But it had been an ongoing nightmare for a long time.
Tristan stared at her a long moment, then shook his head slowly. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me any of this before? Or at least about your ex?”
“Because it’s humiliating . I willingly stayed with that piece of shit for more than three years.” She made a disparaging sound. “I should’ve known better. I was a cop. I should have trusted my instincts way sooner.”
“A guy like that would have been good at hiding everything.”
“Oh, he was. But deep down, I knew something bad was going on. I ignored my gut too long. Anyway, that’s everything.”
His gaze remained steady on her. “Thanks for telling me.”
“I was tired of hiding it. And I wanted you to know, so you understood.” It was only right, whether they entered a relationship or not. The thought of opening herself up again still scared her, but if the alternative was losing him, she couldn’t handle that.
He nodded, watching her. “Feel any better now?”
“A little. I’m relieved.”
“You thought I’d look at you differently?”
“I was hoping not.”
“I don’t. If anything, I respect you even more. I’m proud as hell of you for standing up against that kind of corruption, especially when you knew it would come at a high personal cost.”
His words hit dead center in that undefended spot deep inside her. “Thank you.”
A warm smile curved his mouth. Her heart tripped all over itself as he stretched a hand toward her. “Come sit back down.”
Craving the safety of that deep connection between them, she sat beside him. Close enough to reach out and stroke her fingertips lightly down his cheek, a wild mix of elation and fear churning inside her.
She was doing this. Taking another leap of faith despite her battle-scarred heart.
She just hoped that this time, she was making the right decision.
“How’s your lip?” she murmured.
His stare was hypnotic. “Sore.”
“Want me to kiss it better? I’ll be gentle.”
“Okay. But not too gentle,” he said in a deep, sexy tone that curled her toes.
Grinning, she swung a thigh across his and straddled his lap. His eyes heated. Darkened as she took his face in her hands and leaned in to kiss him gently.
He grabbed hold of her hips, fingers squeezing as a low sound rumbled up his chest. “Cass.”
“Hmmm?” She brushed her lips across his, her skin tingling all over.
He cupped her jaw. Eased her head back until she met his gaze. His eyes blazed with heat and determination. “Be straight with me. Don’t do this unless you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.”
“How sure? Because I don’t want you to regret this later. I couldn’t take that. Not with you.”
A sharp pain twinged in her chest. She hated that she’d hurt him by pulling away before. Wanted to make up for it now. “I won’t. Now shh.” Covering his lips with hers, she leaned into his strength and plunged into the unknown.