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Chapter Forty-Four

I stepoutside the room with the female cop to give Logan and Skye some privacy. A part of me is happy this is done and we got him. But another regrets putting Skye through this ordeal. Even if she knew she was safe the whole time, I can’t imagine what it was like to be in her shoes. There must have been a moment when she thought he was going to get to her. I feel indebted to her, and I am filled with gratitude. Our methods may not have been one 100 percent legal, but the police got enough evidence to lock him up for a while. At least until his father shows up with a bunch of lawyers.

I want to go to River and check on her, but I’m not sure what to do, now that they took Jon. He’s in the back of a squad car screaming his head off and threatening to sue us and telling the cops they don’t know who they are dealing with. I don’t think he’s going to make any friends in county jail with that attitude. And tomorrow is Sunday, which means he’ll be held at least until Monday before his father can get a judge to set bail. He probably has a clean record, and his rich daddy will push his weight around for sure.

One of the cops comes back and nods at the lady cop next to me. He steps into the room and a moment later, Logan follows him back out. The lady cop goes in and asks Skye if she can ask her some questions.

Logan disappears down the stairs with the cop, which I think is a friend because of the way they’re talking. This might be the guy who was digging around for Logan and I wonder if this will help or hinder our plan. Not knowing what to do, I go back to my room and knock on the door for River to let me in.

The door opens suddenly and she nearly knocks me over when she barrels into me. Her face buried in my chest, I can feel the wetness through my T-shirt. She’s been crying too.

Fuck! In the middle of all this I didn’t think of how watching her sister would affect her. I feel ten kinds of stupid right now. I nudge her back into the room and lock the door behind me. Her arms are tight around my waist. I hug her back and pull her into me, even more. After a moment, her body relaxes into mine. But her silent tears run for a few more minutes. When she looks at me, her lashes are wet and darker, her cheeks are flushed red, and there’s a look of desperation in her eyes. I kiss her forehead before wiping what’s left of her tears off her face.

“We got him.”

“Do you think it will stick?”

“I think we have a very good chance it will. It’s out of our hands now. We did all we could. The police will have to take over from here, but with Logan on our side and the attack being on a cop’s girlfriend, I think we have a very good chance he’ll end up in jail. The police tend to take it personally when someone goes after one of their own.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Me too, River, me too.”

I pull her into me again and breathe her in, filling my lungs with her smell.

“I’m sorry,” I speak into her hair.

“What for?”

“For putting you through this. For letting Skye be a part of it. For you having to watch all of it. For a moment when I first had this idea, I thought we could leave the two of you out, do it behind your back, but it would be hard to explain all the cars on the street and a party you two were not invited to. I had visions of you breaking into the party and skewering both my balls.”

She laughs. “Nah, just one. I’d rather have you with functioning body parts.”

At the mention of said body part, it decides it’s a good time to make an appearance. Hard-ons show up at the most inconvenient of times.

Now is not the time, dude!

I send a mental note to my dick, but he’s having none of it. I know River can feel it, but far from pulling away as I thought she’d do in a moment like this, she actually pushes into me and grinds into my groin.

I moan.

Out loud.

She giggles. I’m glad for the little bit of levity in this moment. And for the fact all of this doesn’t seem to be getting between us, between what we built over the last week. It’s so new and tender still. I fear something will change and send us back to ground zero. I just can’t let that happen. Over the last few months, River found her way into my life and under my skin. And I like it like that. As irritating as she can be, I miss her when she’s not around and my thoughts always drift back to her.

A knock on the door has us both jumping. I push her behind me before opening it a crack. Logan. I open the door wider and the other cop is with him. They both walk in and Logan pushes the door closed.

A whistle leaves the cop’s lips. “This is it? The whole setup?”

“Yes. We have everything you need right here.” Logan points at the hard drive on the desk.

“So, do you think it will fly? Can we claim we had security cameras to make sure no one stole anything?”

“Yes. I believe you can. Lots of people have security cameras, both outside and inside their homes.”

River, whom I was still hiding behind my back, steps around me, her hand extended to the cop.

“Officer . . .”

He smiles at her. “I’m sorry, didn’t see you there.” He takes her hand. “Officer Levy, but you can call me Steven.”

I have the urge to punch him in the face as he smiles at River. Primal, caveman jealousy squeezes my chest and I wonder how much time I would get for sucker-punching a cop.

What the fuck?