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“Keep my sister safe,” Connor says over my shoulder.
“That’s my job,” Caleb responds.
That’s my job? Why does that kill me a little inside?
Chapter 29
Caleb
I clench the steering wheel of my SUV, trying not to look at the woman sitting next to me, knees pulled into her chest and somehow still stunning after finding a dead body, and being questioned for murder.
This has been the most confusing night of my life. My brain is working so many different angles, trying to figure out if today’s events are connected in any way. But I’m stuck on the last ten minutes in which Amelia told her brother she would be staying with me.
I never offered such a thing. Nor would I. But I find it impossible to deny her anything. It’s unlikely my boss will approve of it, so while she was using the bathroom at the police station I requested the next two days off to get a handle on this.
She makes a compelling case. If the killer found her apartment, it would be incredibly easy to find her brother’s apartment as well. I mentioned as much to the detective before we left and he agreed to have a patrol car drive by his house every hour and to leave one parked outside Maddie’s.
But Amelia, at my place? No one but me has been inside my apartment. And for very good reason. There’s only room for me. The whole apartment is barely the size of a six-man tent in the Army. But there I didn’t have to share with a very tempting woman. I don’t even own a couch. I have one single chair at the bar. One bed. And one TV propped up on an old nightstand left from the tenant before me.
Guess I’ll have to get used to sleeping on the floor.
My bad shoulder aches at the thought. I love my bed. It’s the one and only thing I’ve ever spent money on because it keeps my body in tip-top shape. I don’t need my old injury getting in the way of me doing my job because I slept poorly.
“Are you okay?” Amelia asks and I whip my head toward her. “You haven’t said a word since we left the station.”
I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and look back at the road. “I’m good.”
“Are you upset I told my brother I’d stay with you? I shouldn’t have, I know, but he can be such a worrier. I can stay at a hotel. Pick one and drop me off, I’ll be fine.”
I highly doubt that. Knowing her, she’d leave her door unlocked, maybe even invite the killer into her room, and offer to order him room service before he kills her.
“No. It’s probably for the best if you stay with me. Then I’ll know you’re safe.”
“Aw, it’s almost like you’re worried about me or something.”
My hold on the steering wheel becomes a death grip. She has no idea. I’m trying to be indifferent about everything when it comes to Amelia. But the more I shove it away, the harder it pushes back. I can no longer sleep unless I know she’s safe. Which is why I slipped a tracker in her phone while she was distracted at the police station.
I pull into her apartment complex and tell her to wait while I check it out. I stomp up to her floor. Her brother was right. I didn’t protect her from this, and I’m furious at myself. What if I endangered her more by allowing her to go on a date with Hawthorne?
I open the door and step inside, my hand at the gun on my hip. The room is cleaner than I’ve ever seen it. Which means it’s easier to check. I sweep the kitchen and bathroom. Both clear. Then move on to her room. I step in and pause. It smells like her in here. Sweet, tantalizing, beautiful.
“Is it good?”
I whirl at the voice behind me, grabbing the perpetrator and taking them to the ground in one swift movement.
Amelia is motionless beneath me. Her lips parted, her eyes wide and dazed. “Whoa.”
Only then do I realize I have her pinned down and I’m on top of her. And…I don’t hate it. My breath gets lodged somewhere in my throat and I can’t make myself move. My body presses around her, protecting her the way I should have before. Her fingers come to my sides where my shirt has ridden up and her fingernails glide along my skin. My mind short circuits.
“What are you thinking?” she whispers.
I’m thinking that this woman is more dangerous to me than a Russian mob boss. I’m thinking I want to throw caution to the wind and kiss her like I did the first night I laid eyes on her. I’m thinking…that my stupid thoughts have become a liability. She’s a liability.
I stand, jerking her up with me.
“Can you teach me how to do that takedown?” she asks without skipping a beat.
“Maybe later,” I mutter and finish checking the room. “It’s clear. Grab what you need. You’ve got five minutes.”