Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Roman sat sprawled on the couch, legs propped on the coffee table in front of him. Irina was spread out beside him, her feet in his lap. He glanced down and smiled. Tonight’s fuzzy socks had pink and blue stripes and came halfway up to her knees.
From the corner of his eye, he watched her, her attention glued to the TV.
He couldn’t believe how much things had changed in just the past forty-eight hours.
The reserve and distance between them had melted away, and they’d spent every minute of the day together, talking about everything and nothing.
He had cared for her before, but he felt even more possessive of her after learning how she’d overcome the adversity of her upbringing. His family was his support system. He couldn’t imagine coming from a single-parent home, let alone one where the parent was drugged out of her mind half the time.
Irina was so much stronger than he’d given her credit for, and he loved that she never let it slow her down or hold her back. She had set a course for herself in life, shed the skin of her past, and moved on. She would never play the victim.
Though he knew she was insecure about her background, she put on a brave face and persevered.
She had made a name for herself in country music, completely reinventing herself into a strong, smart, independent woman.
She didn’t need him to protect her from the jerks of the world, but he wanted to shelter her anyway.
It was ingrained in him to take care of the ones he loved…
and she was slowly worming her way into that category.
Irina caught him watching her and wiggled one fuzzy-socked foot near his groin. He grabbed it and growled a warning at her. “Trouble…”
“What?” she pouted prettily at him, affecting her most innocent expression. “You were looking awfully lonely over there.”
She bit her lip as he pressed his thumb against the arch of her foot and smirked down at her. “Is that right?”
“I just thought—”
Her words were interrupted by the vibrating of his phone on the table, and they both turned to look at it. For a moment, they only stared. A call at this time of night would either be good news or bad—there was no in between.
Irina tried to pull her foot away as he leaned forward to pick it up, but he held fast, not wanting to break the connection between them. Knox’s name lit the screen, and he tapped the button to answer. “What’s up?”
“How’s everything down there?”
“So far, so good.” Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, he stretched out an arm and swiped the remote off the table. Irina tried to tug her foot away one more time, and she let out a soft protest as he yanked her closer to him. “How are things going on your end?”
“They brought Adam Sorenson in for questioning yesterday. The kid admitted to sending her notes, but denies anything threatening. They’re running analysis of the handwriting now, so we’ll know more soon. He did lawyer up, and he managed to make bond. First offense, and all.”
Anger burned through him. It didn’t surprise him, but he didn’t like it. “Someone keeping an eye on him?”
“Yeah, I’ve got Callahan doing random checks to make sure he doesn’t try anything stupid. Apparently, they found more paraphernalia in his home that appeared to be stolen.”
Jerk. “Tell me they’re charging him.”
“Larceny, at least. Maybe harassment. They’ve got her car in impound, but so far they haven’t been able to find any evidence of him tampering with her brakes. They printed the bleeder valve but came up empty.”
“Have any of those jerks ever heard of gloves?” he snapped.
“Yeah, yeah,” Knox replied. “I know where you’re going. But you can’t make evidence just appear out of thin air. They need something concrete tying him to her accident in order to slap him with attempted murder. Otherwise…”
Knox trailed off, and Roman snorted. “So, what happens next?”
“If they don’t find any evidence?” He sighed. “He does a few months and is back out.”
Roman growled. “That’s ridiculous!” He could feel Irina’s gaze on him, but he ignored it.
“Preaching to the choir,” Knox replied. “I don’t make the rules. But at least Phelps said it seemed to scare the kid straight. Aside from pulling the lawyer in, he gave them the info they were looking for.”
That wasn’t much of a consolation. The kid could be lying through his teeth. “So, six months and he’ll be back to doing the same thing?”
He heard a harried sigh on the other end of the line. “One thing at a time. His arraignment is set for the beginning of next week.”
“Great,” Roman grumbled.
“Anyway, that’s why I was calling. Since the PD is pretty certain they’ve nailed their guy, you’ll be able to come home the day after tomorrow. The studio wants her back here, but they plan to keep you on at her place for a while until everything settles.”
It made sense, but he dreaded their time there coming to an end. “I’ll let her know.”
“I’ll email you the details.”
Not waiting for anything else, he ended the call and tossed the phone onto the cushion next to him, then tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling.
“Everything okay?”
Irina’s soft voice pulled him from his reverie, and he rolled his head to the side to look at her. “Yep. We go back in two days.”
“Oh.”
Yeah. He felt the same way. This time when she pulled away, he let her go. She pushed herself to a sitting position, perched on the edge of the couch, and sent a worried look his way. “So… what does that mean?”
“I’ll stay on at your place until everything’s settled.”
Her tongue darted out and swiped nervously over her lower lip, and she let out a shaky breath. “Then what will you do? I mean… after?”
“My job, or us?”
She flicked her eyes his way, then dropped them back to her hands. “Us, I guess.”
He reached out and turned her face toward his. “We figure it out day by day.”
Her gaze slid away again, and he pulled her into his lap.
“Hey.” He waited for her to meet his stare.
“That’s not me blowing you off. This is going to be a huge adjustment for both of us, so we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.
You’ll start touring again in a couple of months, and I probably won’t be able to travel with you most of the time. ”
“You would come?”
Those big blue eyes drilled into him, and a vise tightened around his chest. He was quickly beginning to realize that he would do just about anything for this woman. “If I can get away from work for a bit, sure.”
“But… will Knox mind?”
He didn’t honestly care what Knox thought. “I’d prefer to stay out of the spotlight, but we can deal with one issue at a time.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Too bad.” He wasn’t about to let go of her, not unless she chose to walk away. Maybe not even then. He wasn’t one to give up easily; he’d rather stay and fight it out than throw in the towel when things got tough. “I didn’t say it was gonna be easy.”
“I know.” Her shoulders dropped. “I just don’t want to put you in an awkward position.”
“Don’t you worry about me. One thing at a time,” he reminded her. “Let’s get home first, get settled, and figure out a routine from there.”
“But—”
Technically, in the eyes of God and the law, they were married. Unless something crazy happened, he had absolutely zero intention of annulling the marriage. She was his, and he was going to fight for her. He threw all his cards on the table. “I’m all in if you are.”
Her giant blue eyes flared wide at his words. “Okay.”
He stared at her, assessing her response. “Before you agree to anything, just know that I’m not letting you go. So, tell me—are you in?”
“Yes,” she breathed. A smile broke over her face as she wound her arms around his neck. “I’m so in.”
“Good.” He stood, pulling her to his chest. Everything else could wait, but right now, he needed his woman in his arms—right where she belonged.