Chapter Ten #3
“I’m working,” Bishop admitted. “We all heard Oracle. The cops will be copping, and with Lonnie Jackson dying, the commissioner is going to want to keep investigating. There’s no doubt he’s going to be up our asses.”
Lucian stared at her.
Oh, and she knew that look.
Someone was about to get bossy.
In three.
Two.
One…
“I don’t like the idea that you’re going to be out there alone.”
She laughed.
Yeah, there it was.
If anything, Lucian was predictable. So, she laid down the law, because he’d clearly forgotten she wasn’t depressed, wasn’t psychic, and wasn’t going to be alone.
“First, I’m going to be with Honor. She’s prickly as a cactus, paranoid as they come, and oh, look!” she said, grabbing her badge off the nightstand. “I’m an actual cop! Crazy how I get to fight the bad guys without my husband up in my business.”
Lucian rolled his eye.
“At some point, Bishop, I’m going to win a discussion when it comes to shit like this.”
She laughed.
That was funny.
DAMN.
AMUSING.
Why?
She pointed at Ridge, who was between them.
“What do you call this?” she asked. “Because you got your wife and sexy boyfriend too. That’s a whole lot of cake when it comes to eating it, too, Pirate. Like you said, you won the lottery on me being magnanimous. That means you’re staying out of my job. Got it?”
He snorted.
“I mean, I’m not complaining.”
Ridge just laid there, befuddled if this was all happening. He’d believed he’d be alone in the world, and now, he and Sophia were blessed.
With family.
Kissing Lucian, Bishop dropped a kiss to Ridge’s forehead and got out of bed.
“I also have to sneak into the morgue and get a phone unlocked, because what are the chances that Bodhi is going to let me do that?”
Ridge was honest.
“I can tell him to let you into the phone.”
She wished it was that easy.
It.
Was.
Not.
The law frowned upon doing sketchy shit when it came to a dead person’s personal property. She could get a warrant, but that was going to take time.
It was the weekend.
They didn’t have time to wait, and it wasn’t like she could tell a judge a psychic killer was on their asses, and this was a matter of speed.
Now could she?
“Bodhi doesn’t want to make waves. Chances are, he’s going to make me jump through hoops to keep this on the legal side. He’s also going to take a long coffee break because I know the man, so no worries. He’s a good man.”
Then, she headed toward the shower.
“Again, Lucian, we will be safe,” she said, before going into the bathroom.
Oh, and her husband knew who the ‘we’ was.
Her and their child.
When she was gone, Lucian let the man lean on him, and the whole time, he knew he was screwed. Before, he’d lusted after one person, and now, he was thinking about twice as much sex.
Jesus.
This was going to be a wild ride.
The only reason he held it back was because the man’s wife had just died.
“I don’t know how to deal with this,” Ridge admitted. “We didn’t talk about what happened in the static so the wives would be okay, and now, we’re talking about what happened in the static because it’s going to happen here now too.”
He was well aware.
Well, at least that gave him a clue that they were going to continue their relationship on this plane.
“You? When Bishop confronted me last night, I thought my marriage was over. Now, it’s back to normal. She was a little pissed that you didn’t tell me the truth when we had consummated this, but that was the only anger. May I suggest one thing?”
He lifted a brow.
“What?” he asked.
Lucian went there.
“No more lies, Ridge—not only to her, but to me too. I should have been told the truth the second I was in your body. I should have been warned.”
Yeah, he knew, and Ridge was sorry that he’d done it.
Mostly.
In a way, he was glad Wynter never found out that they’d done that. If she had, he would have broken them before her death, and she would have left him.
No.
Doubt.
Cheating in a marriage was the surefire way to end it in both of their books.
Honestly, he still couldn’t believe she was gone, and he was going to have to figure all of this out.
“There’s nothing to lie about,” he admitted. “Except to myself that I will be okay. I don’t know if I will be, Lucian. My wife relied on me, and I dropped the ball.”
He kissed him, softly at first, but then the lust had him by the throat. He deepened it, and in that connection, the static screamed for them.
It tried to lure them under, since it had been hours since they’d satiated that need.
Yeah, today was going to be rough.
They were both having blue balls physically and metaphysically.
As there was that tangle of tongues, and Ridge began fighting to pull back from the brink of taking them into the static.
He couldn’t do this.
He wasn’t emotionally able.
While his body craved it, his heart was still tied to Wynter, and how he’d broken them.
“Lucian, I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t do it. I can’t go into the static or have sex on either plane. Please, stop.”
Oh, he was well aware. There was no shock there.
So, he backed off.
“I know, Ridge. I know. I just wanted you to know that I’m here for when you’re ready. Take as much time as you need.”
He felt guilty.
Ridge knew he was the ONLY way Lucian could go deep in the static. They needed that connection to do it.
“I feel like I owe Wynter that. I cheated on her. I broke our marriage when we consummated it here on this plane. I need time to come to grips with it.”
Honestly, Ridge didn’t have to explain. He’d assumed this was going to be what happened.
So, with love and tenderness, he kissed him on the forehead.
“Then, you don’t go in. Oracle will have to figure out a way to help me get into the static. We’ll work it out. You lost your wife. Take all the time you need. The static will be there when you’re back to being strong.”
Still, Ridge felt horrible.
Before he could say anything, Lucian cupped his cheek and caressed his lower lip with his thumb.
“We’ll be okay. Heal your heart. Don’t think of anything else.”
Ridge closed his eyes.
And it was selfish, but he wasn’t sure anything could heal him enough to get him back into the static.
He just didn’t know how to tell Lucian that.
Because that part of him might just be dead.
* * * L I T T L E M O O N * * *
The Courthouse
Seven-Thirty A.M.
Wedding Time