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“Aren’t you meant to be at home?” I ask, arching brow at him.

“I wanted to come in and check in on ye, make sure the newbie is doing his job properly.”

I regard him with amusement tugging on my lips. “Lorraine had enough of you?”

“She told me if I didn’t leave the house today, she’d bury me in the garden.” He looks grim and it makes me let out a soft chuckle, which only heightens his suspicion. “You’re in a good mood, lass?”

“Would you believe me if I said I was happy to see you?”

“Of course, everyone’s always glad to see me.”

“Except Lorraine, apparently.”

He continues as though I haven’t spoken. “But I’m surprised you would say it out loud. The cop that bad? So unbearable you have to gush over me as soon as I walk through the door?”

That pesky flush threatens to rise over my neck and to my cheeks as I think of how I gushed all over Harvey’s face not that long ago. Not that Stuart would ever be partied to that information. “I’m just more comfortable with the familiar,” I mumble. “And I’d hardly say I gushed.”

“Telling me you’re happy to see me is practically a declaration of love from you, Anni.” He chuckles and I look down at the desk to hide the emotion on my face. Stuart is the closest thingI have to a friend in this world, but our relationship has always been kept firmly in the Employee-Employer box. BecauseIdon’t know how to do anything else. But every time he calls me Anni, the name my mother used to call me before I was ripped from her arms, it makes me wish I could let him in. I wish I could tell him about Harvey and all the unfamiliar emotions swarming through my system like a plague of locusts. But I can’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I offer him the truth he is already a part of.

“I told Campos about Stanley.”

Stuart’s jaw drops and his eyes blow wide. I give him a few seconds to compose himself, but he doesn’t really. He clears his throat and manages to get his mouth working again to say, “How? Why?”

I shrug like it’s no big deal, but Stuart knows all too well that’s not true. I never told anyone what Stanley was doing to me, everyone I had contact with worked for him and they wouldn’t have stood up for me. Except Stuart. I didn’t know him well before, he was an enforcer for my father and a good one by all accounts. He used to visit the house often to receive assignments or debrief. To me, he was just another scary man who had the potential to lay hands on me. But one day Stuart was here later than usual and Stanley must have forgotten he was still around since he came to me as normal when he thought the house was empty, and left the door open—his way of letting me know that no one was going to save me. But that night, Stuart walked past and stood frozen as I gagged and cried each time my father stabbed his disgusting cock into me. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t stop it, I begged him with my eyes to do something, but he walked away. I cried that night knowing that even though someone knew, I was still not getting saved, but the next day, he came to the house while Stanley was away. He found me in my room and told me to tell him all about it. He promised it wouldend but he couldn’t stop it straight away, he wasn’t in a position to take out Stanley Wolfe. I thought it was nothing but empty promises from someone trying to be kind. But after that, Stanley was away at night more and more or Stuart was there at night for one reason or another so Stanley would have to leave me alone. Three months later the two of us had a solid plan and two weeks after that, Stanley was dead. “He was being a prick; I was pissed off.” I answer Stuart’s questions.

“I’ve seen you plenty pissed off over the years, lass. You’ve never let that slip before.” He looks concerned as he leans forward, resting his crossed forearms on the other side of the desk.

“I…I don’t know.” I sigh.

He regards me with crinkled brows for a moment before his eyes widen and his mouth gapes again. “Youlikehim!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” My response is too quick.

“Youlikelike him.” He looks incredulous.

I huff and hit him with my coldest glare. “What are you, a teenage girl?”

“Don’t deflect.”

“You’re being absurd.” I readjust my position in my chair, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. “I don’t do silly crushes.”

His cheeks puff out on a long exhale as he slumps back in his chair and swipes his palm over his face. This conversation is so far away from our usual comfortable professionalism that he seems out of his depth, and it makes me squirm in awkwardness. “Anni,” he sighs. “You’re a young woman, you’ve been through a lot, and you’ve come out the other end stronger and smarter than anyone. You’ve built an empire, but don’t be afraid to build a life too.”

“You’re saying I don’t have a life?” I bristle.

“Outside of Talon business, no. And you know that.” He gives me a sad smile and I suddenly have a golf ball stuck in my throat.“There’s nothing wrong with having feelings for someone, Anni. Although it being a cop is surprising.”

“Ex-cop,” I snap, then groan at my damned defensiveness.

Stuart rolls his lips into his mouth in an attempt not to laugh at me and I scowl at him. “I should leave you alone more often, I’m liking the developments made in my absence.”

“Congratulations Stuart,” I say with no enthusiasm, “You now have two women in your life who can’t stand the sight of you.”

He tips his head back and laughs a full belly laugh, that I cannot help but smile at. Despite how uncomfortable this new dynamic has made me, I do feel a sense of peace now that I’ve confided in someone. Something I’ve never done on a personal matter, not since Stuart first came to me with promises of helping me out of an impossible situation. It seems fitting that he is the one to take on my burdens once again. Maybe I’ve allowed him to move past the employee box, just an inch.

“How are those girls of yours?” he asks.

“Of mine?”