Chapter 35
AIDEN
The last thing I expected when I joined the force was that I’d one day be handing in my resignation. Especially under these circumstances. That I’d be leaving because of the person I had fallen in love with.
Not that I would want to change anything about it.
In the last week and a half since I had discovered my boyfriend was a serial killer, I’d had a lot to think about.
There had been so much he’d finally shared with me and options I’d been left with.
I’d been surprised when he had been adamant I had the freedom that if at any point I had second thoughts, I was allowed to walk away, even if it meant turning him in and having him arrested.
The feeling of knowing he thought I was worth that risk, the risk to his freedom, it was a heady feeling. But I knew in my heart that even if he hurt me again, I could never turn him in.
Because for me, my Daddy was worth the risk too. He was it for me, just like I was it for him.
For what I knew would be the last time, I walked into the precinct and gave Enid a sheepish smile as she went to hug me. I shook my head and she stepped back, eyeing me warily.
“Aiden Cooper, where the devil have you been? And what do you mean no to my hugs?” Her hands were on her hips as she stared at me over her glasses, which had me glancing back toward the door, wishing I could sprint back out and go back home to my Daddy.
But I straightened my spine, determined to get this done.
Today.
“Sorry, Enid. You know you’re my girl.” I gave her a sheepish smile. “But with all the throwing up and everything, you know how it is. Every muscle in my chest and back feels like I twisted and rearranged it.”
She gave me a sympathetic look and squeezed my shoulders. “Aw, honey. I hope you at least let Victoria come and take care of you while you were getting better.”
I bit my lip and winced at my best friend’s name. “No, but my boyfriend was over and he took good care of me, Enid.”
Her eyes lit up like I’d given her the best present. “A boyfriend? You scoundrel! Why am I always the last to hear the good gossip?”
With a laugh, I shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry?”
Looking over toward my desk, where Victoria was eyeing me, I felt my resolve slipping, but I knew I couldn’t count on Enid to protect me from Vic’s clutches forever. “Well, I better get to it, I guess.”
She glanced over and gave a chuckle. “Good luck with that one, honey.”
I snorted in agreement. It was time to face the one-man firing squad.
But first, I needed to get past her and the rest of the cops in the precinct, get to the chief, and do what I had come to do.
Easier said than done. Especially when facing Victoria. But I ignored her attempts to corner me and answer her questions. This wasn’t about her. As much as I loved her and would miss her when this was over, I needed to let her go.
Turning my back to her, I greeted my other friends and colleagues. They were all happy to see me up and about, all razzing me about being down with the man flu when nothing else would get me. But I accepted their good-natured teasing, knowing it would be the last time. Even if they didn’t.
It felt strange knowing that I was never going to be working with them again. There was a pang of longing, as I’d miss the camaraderie that came from our time together, but I knew I was ready for the next chapter of my life to begin.
Slowly, I made my way past them, keeping my eyes forward so I didn’t give Vic any ammunition to butt in before I could talk to Chief Vasquez.
With a fortifying breath, I walked past Victoria’s and my desks, ignoring her hissed questions she threw my way under her breath. My shoulders were held back, head held high, as I strolled to the chief’s office and knocked on the door.
“Come in!” he barked and for a moment, I hesitated.
Not because I questioned whether or not what I was doing was the right thing, but Chief Vasquez was an intimidating man and if anyone would be astute enough to see past my bullshit and call me out on my lies, besides Vic, it would be him.
But I knew what I had to do. It was time for me to quit my job, even if we weren’t going to be moving on quite yet.
I opened the door and peeked my head through the opening. “Good morning, Chief Vasquez. Do you have a moment?” Nerves clutched at my throat and stomach, and my hands shook as I opened the door further at his nod.
“Detective Cooper, good to see you’re all rested up and recovering well.”
My cheeks pinked as I thought of everyone at the station welcoming me back from my bout of the flu.
“You could have just faxed your paperwork over to HR.” He frowned at the paper in my hand.
It had been a little over two weeks that I’d been out of work while I recovered from the nasty gash Nate had sliced into my side after I’d walked in on him killing a delivery driver.
But thankfully, with the way my schedule rotated, I’d only missed five work days.
The last couple of those, I’d spent being taken care of by none other than Nate.
Unfortunately, that was enough that they expected some sort of work release from a doctor, which I couldn’t provide.
We hadn’t been left with a lot of options on how to handle the situation.
The fact still shocked me that he hadn’t run and had come to make sure I was all right and took it upon himself to take care of me when he noticed I hadn’t been in a state to do it myself. It was things like that that made me love him, despite the fact that he was a serial killer and a psychopath.
“Thank you, sir,” I offered with a tentative smile as my fingers played with the edge of the paper in my hand.
The fact I was dressed down, even for a plain clothed detective, wouldn’t have escaped his notice.
Nor did it escape my partner’s keen eye, given her incessant questioning once I’d arrived.
“I don’t want to take up much of your time, and I only have a moment, but I wanted to give you this.” I took a deep breath as I handed the letter over, with minimal shaking to my hands, thank you very much.
“First of all, I want to thank you for all the opportunities you’ve given me, sir. I’ve learned a lot from you and the department. But my life is taking a different direction and working here just doesn’t fit into my new plans.”
“New plans?” Chief Vasquez asked, one eyebrow raised as he frowned at the letter of resignation in his hands, stating that it would be in effect immediately.
While it might not have been exactly professional to leave without notice, I couldn’t stay on the case that was trying to put my Daddy in jail.
“Yes, sir. My partner is a land developer and an opportunity arose on the other side of the country that the company is looking to acquire and the project is expected to last at least a year. Starting shortly after the new year. And I’m not interested in a long-distance relationship, so I decided to go with him. ”
“Partner?” The shock on Vasquez’s face was obvious. I’d spent a lot of time at my desk bemoaning my single life and lack of dating prospects. “I hadn’t realized you were dating anyone.”
The frown returned and it left me slightly squeamish, though I couldn’t figure out why.
I nodded, trying to keep my nervous fidgeting to a minimum while maintaining eye contact. The chief was a shark, and if he smelled blood in the water, he’d latch on and never let go until I spilled all of my secrets.
“Yeah, it’s only recently become serious. But he’s not someone I’m willing to let go of.” Thinking about Nate made me smile and I couldn’t wait to get back home to him and get started on the adventure that our lives would be.
While it wasn’t going to be anywhere near what I thought my life would be like, it was the one I wanted.
Anything with him was what I wanted. Even if it meant that I had to start helping him.
While I didn’t revel in using my detective skills for such purposes, I had to make sure Nate minimized his risk of getting caught because I couldn’t live without him.
I refused to live without him.
Vasquez nodded and gave a heavy sigh. “If this is what you really want, Cooper, then I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need a reference or letter of recommendation.
“Thank you, Chief,” I replied with a smile, even though I knew it wouldn’t be necessary. The last thing I wanted to do was join a different police force and still end up hunting Nate. Plus, I couldn’t leave a trail as to where I was going once we left town.
Not to mention, Nate was super rich and wanted nothing more than to keep me naked and pampered at home.
If he could have me naked, barefoot, and pregnant in the kitchen at all times, I was sure he would.
Especially given once I’d put the idea in his head, he’d gently scooped me up into his arms, mindful of my still-healing stitches, and laid me out on the bed and ravaged me all night, filling me with his cum, not wanting even a drop to spill.
The memory made me shiver and I knew I needed to get out of there fast before I embarrassed myself by having to walk through the station with an obvious boner.
Not that I would see any of them ever again once I crossed the threshold out into the world. The only one I’d miss was Vic and I knew I’d have to be careful about how I extricated myself from her life.
I quickly shook the Chief’s hand, then relinquished my badge and gun.
“Goodbye, sir,” I said as I opened the door.
I should have expected to find my partner, former partner, standing on the other side of the door, arms crossed, with a scowl on her face and toes tapping.
“Well?” she demanded as I walked past her. “Spill it, Aiden. What the hell is going on with you?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her reach for me so I quickly stopped and spun to face her. The last thing I needed was for her to grab hold of me and pull or yank me. There’d be no hiding the sharp sting of skin pulling against the stitches if she got her hands on me.
“Vict—” I started, but she cut me off before I could even finish her name.
“Don’t you dare Victoria me, Aiden Cooper! What the hell is going on?” She poked a finger at my chest with each word, and while it wasn’t ideal, it was definitely better than her trying to manhandle me and pulling on my stitches.
I held up my hands in surrender and sighed. There had been a calculated risk in talking to Victoria first versus after it was already done, and I couldn’t help but think maybe I had bet on the wrong horse in this scenario.
“I just gave Chief Vasquez my letter of resignation.”
She pulled back, her mouth slack as she tried to process my words. The hurt was clear on her face and my heart plummeted. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.
“Resignation? What? Why?” With a frown, she glared up at me and I would have taken a step back if the action hadn’t been like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
“This is about him, isn’t it? Is he making you quit? Trying to control you? I told you—”
“Stop.” My tone held no room for argument. I knew Vic was worried about me with Nate and I regretted ever telling her about his diagnosis. Especially in light of the new development of finding out that he was a serial killer.
Her eyes hardened as she stared at me. “So, it’s true. You’re leaving. Moving away?”
Shocked, I took a step back. “How? Alyssa, did she tell you that? Why the hell are you suddenly all buddy-buddy with my sister?”
It didn’t make sense. We had been friends for a long time, but she had never shown an interest in being friends with my sister before. Not until Nate came into my life.
“He’s manipulating you, Aiden, and you can’t even see it. Isolating you from your family by convincing you to quit your job, move away from your family and friends. This isn’t you.”
I shook my head. “I had decided to quit on my own. That wasn’t his decision to make, Vic. You need to leave me, my family, and my boyfriend alone.”
Her eyes blazed as she got in my face, hissing. “He’s a fucking psychopath.”
“Thought that word wasn’t used anymore, Victoria? You’re a fucking hypocrite.” I tried to push past her, but she blocked my path, drawing the eyes of the other cops around us.
“Get out of my way, Vic.” The last thing I wanted was to start something in the middle of the precinct, but I also wasn’t going to let her bully me.
“Is there a problem here?” Ramirez asked as he stood from his desk and made his way over.
Victoria glanced back and forth between us for a moment and put her hands up in surrender as she took a step back. “Nope. You know how it is.”
“I’m sorry, Vic. You’re my friend, my best friend, and I love you. But Nate, he’s off-limits to whatever bullshit this is.” I waved my hand in her direction.
The fact that she’d never met him and never tried to give him a chance stung.
“I love him and that’s all that matters.”
I left her sputtering as I walked away. A part of my heart ached for pushing her away, but I knew it was necessary. Not just to protect Nate, but to protect Victoria as well.