Chapter 6
LILIANA
So he’s got mommy issues. He’d probably be thrilled to know I have daddy issues.
I finish up my drink and consider finding an excuse to leave, but Shaw has me cornered in the booth. For me to have a reason to go, I’d have to ask him to move, and right now…
That seems like too much effort.
And I might be curious.
Shaw’s dark eyes bore into the side of my head, and I meet them with confidence. No matter what happened in my gallery, I’m still a successful woman, and I can’t let this intimidating, mysterious asshole intimidate me.
And I need to know if he…knows yet.
“Do you and your friend come here often?” Shaw asks me, his gaze dropping briefly to my mouth.
“We do,” I admit, shrugging. “It’s in close proximity to the gallery as well as Alice’s office. It’s usually quiet as well.” I hold his eyes for as long as I can, and hate the way I have to fight the urge to clench my thighs.
Shaw shifts in his seat. “I take it you’re not a fan of law enforcement?” His voice comes out with an air of huskiness, and something in my core starts to ache unwantedly.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I let out a light laugh, waving him off. “I think that law enforcement is necessary, but sometimes…Sometimes, they overstep, and they don’t care who they hurt.” I swallow the little pang of grief in my chest.
He nods, his face returning to a blank expression. “Well, I suppose some do overstep, but sometimes we don’t have a choice. We bring justice.”
My stomach swirls with nausea. He has no idea.
“I think your partner would rather get a feel for my friend.” I nod toward the two of them, changing the subject. His partner’s hand is on Alice’s waist, pulling her into his body. I can already imagine the man’s cock growing hard against her abdomen.
And the thought makes me internally cringe.
“You have a point,” Detective Shaw grimaces, and I watch as he watches them, a familiar disgust on his face. Does his friend’s mannerisms put him off? It’s hard to say. Maybe he really does mean for this evening to be professional.
But regardless, I have to admit it still evokes some curiosity from me.
I’ve never seen a man discouraged by behavior of the like.
“You know,” he grunts out, shaking his head. “I think I might actually just call it a night. I’m not really feeling it.” His abrupt decision leads to him sliding out of the booth without even giving me a chance to say anything to him.
And now, I’m really curious.
Detective Shaw, who stands at least six feet three inches, saunters over to his partner, clapping a hand on his shoulder. The man stops moving with Alice and turns to him. The two have a very short exchange, and then he heads for the front door, giving me a brief, curt nod on the way out.
Wow, okay…Rude. I run my tongue along my bottom lip, and then glance back over to Alice and her new friend, who are now even more lost in each other. His partner no longer has a professional watchful eye on him, and so he grabs Alice’s chin and draws her lips to his.
I shake my head at the audacity and slide out of the booth. I know precisely what Alice will be up to tonight, and I have no desire to sit around and watch it play out. My heels hit the floor in silence, and I carefully stand to my feet, gauging how much my drink has affected me.
Thankfully, it hasn’t.
I’m still clearheaded, and I lean into that as I head for the exit, my bag draped over my shoulder. As I step out into the evening, I cast my gaze around, searching for the man who walked out of here in such a hurry.
A few car lengths away, I catch the back of Shaw’s head, walking in the opposite direction from my apartment. Pressing my lips together and mulling it over for a split second, I go with my instinct.
I’ll just follow him for a few blocks.
My mind laser focuses on him, and I steady my racing heart with deep, even breathing. Detective Shaw is moving with precision and speed, his long legs extending twice what mine ever could.
I’ll never keep up in heels. I swallow the frustration and do the next best thing.
I take them off. Holding the straps in my hand, I move through the city’s nightlife, the crowd thick on the street.
I weave through the people, most of them laughing drunkenly.
It’s an obnoxious sound, but the blur of people make it much easier for me.
I don’t really know why I’m following him, because honestly, it doesn’t matter what the man does with his life, but his demeanor is intriguing—beyond investigative. My guess is the detective has secrets of his own, and I’m dying to know them…
The thrill has tingles running down my spine as I let myself get a little closer, toying with the risk of being caught. I conjure up the scenario in my head, trying to come up with a plausible excuse.
I’m headed to see a friend, I imagine myself saying, with an innocent expression on my face. I picture the shock and suspicion etched in his expression as he tries to gauge whether I’m being honest with him. I don’t think he’d be able to read me well enough to know I was bullshitting him.
I laugh at the thought, but as I do, I feel a firm grip land on my wrist. Startled, I whip my head around to see who’s the reason behind it. I see an older, homely-looking man staring down at me.
“Where are you headed?” he croaks, his beady eyes dilated and red. “I didn’t tell you that you could leave. You can’t just take my money.”
“I’m sorry…What?” I blink a couple of times, trying to process the words that make no sense to me. It’s clear that he’s delusional, and I’m some sort of stand-in for whatever his mind is playing out in front of him.
However, that doesn’t stop him from dragging me backward, my bare heels digging into the concrete.
“I think…I think you’re mistaken,” I mutter, now starting to put up a fight as I realize the alleyway I’m being dragged into.
I try to jerk away from him, but he holds on tighter, his nails breaking the skin through my sweater.
“Let go!” The shout erupts from my lips without warning, erupting over the noise of the crowds.
The man says nothing in response to my comments. It’s as if he doesn’t hear them at all, and I’m starting to think that was his entire point. My heart throbs in the side of my temple, and I know the skin is broken now on my heels.
I try to swing my heels from where I’m holding them in my hand, but for someone drunk or high out of his mind, he has wits. As they get close to his face, he swats them away, sending both flying out of my hands. They land somewhere in the dark, and I let out a defeated cry.
“I don’t know why you gotta be like that,” he growls into my ear, his breath hot and tepid as he shoves me forward, the view around me nearly pitch-black. “Just be fucking still!”
My jaw is crushed against the brick as he shoves me, pinning me in a position where I am fully aware of what the intention is behind it. My bag digs into my side as he grips that wrist behind my back, and my other arm can’t seem to reach to fight back.
This is what your father’s victims felt like, Liliana.
My stomach lurches, and I struggle to swallow the bile rising in my throat. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as he starts to fuck with his zipper; the sound sends a sick shudder down my spine.
But then his weight is suddenly…gone.
I suck in a gasp, ignoring the pain searing through my lower lip. I spin around, my heart pounding in my chest as I’m shocked to see Detective Shaw pinning my assailant against the brick.
What…What the hell?
I can’t hear what Shaw is saying to him, but as he slams the guy’s head into the wall, the consciousness slips right from the man’s eyes—and then the detective lets him fall to the concrete with a vicious thud.
And I’m pretty sure it only caused more damage to the man’s skull.
I’m still frozen when Shaw turns to me, his breath hardly quickened. “Um…” I manage to mutter. I gesture to the guy on the ground. “I don’t think that’s how regular cops handle things…”
He glares at me, his eyes darkened under the glimmer of moonlight. “Why the fuck were you following me, Liliana?”
Uh oh…
“I wasn’t?” I sound foolish.
“I know which direction your apartment is from here.” He takes a step toward me, his height and frame seeming to swallow me the closer he gets. “You were following me. I know when I’m being tailed.”
I swallow hard, my head starting to go light. “I was just…I was just… curious.”
“Or were you offended?” He retorts, a sick smirk growing on his face. “Did you want me to treat you like my partner treated your friend, huh?”
I shake my head, fear now thrumming like electricity through my body. “No… No. I really didn’t think about it.”
He takes another step closer to me, and I take one back, bumping up against the brick wall.
I’m trapped.
His gaze stays trained on my face as he places a hand above my head, furthering the sensation of being unable to escape. “Do you have something to hide, Liliana?”
I try to steady my breath as I study his face. My lips part, but I can’t find the words, my throat feeling blocked.
Shaw dips closer, his nose almost brushing mine. “You can play mute, but if you’ve got skeletons in your closet… I’ll find them.”
Before I can say anything more, he reaches into his pocket and retrieves something—something I don’t see because I can’t look away from his face, as if I’m entranced. Shaw slides something cold into my hand and then pushes off the wall.
“Go home, Miss Wilson. And leave me the fuck alone, before you find out what happens when you don’t.”
With that, he disappears out of the alleyway and into the crowd.
My eyes drop down to my hand, and I uncurl my fist.
Pepper spray.