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“Ms Maxwell,” I greet with a smile.

She returns the gesture. “I’m afraid my boys aren’t around tonight, hence why I’m stuck with tall, inked, and scary.” She jerks her thumb over her shoulder and this time it’s his turn to roll his eyes, finally letting his arms drop to his side. “Honestly, you get a little bit kidnapped one time and you’ve suddenly got company wherever you go. I can barely pee alone.” She turns to lean on the bar, catching the bartender’s attention in one movement and a drink is ordered wordlessly.

My head jerks back as I compute what she just said. “You were kidnapped?”

She waves her hand dismissively. “It was like three hours and then my guys came and got me, no harm done.”

“I got shot!” Jase says, incredulous. “And do not tell Brent that I follow you to the bathroom, he’ll skin me alive.”

She snorts as her drink is set down in front of her and leans her head on his arm. “Don’t worry, boo. Mama bear’s got your back, I won’t let Daddy hurt you.”

His annoyed huff is amusing enough to make me chuckle, the affection between the two of them obvious. “I was actually here to see you,” I say, leaning on the bar next to her.

She places her hand to her chest. “Me? Well, colour me intrigued. What can I do for you, detective?”

I guess we’re all rolling our eyes tonight. “Let me guess, I scream cop?”

She snorts. “Honey, I couldn’t tell anything, but my Hayden has a sixth sense and he scoped you out.” I make a disapproving noise that makes her chuckle. “So?”

“I was looking at youth choirs online.” It’s a white lie, don’t want to give the solemn man-child next to her more fuel for his obvious displeasure at me speaking to his charge. “Your name popped up and I was wondering if I could bring someone along to your next session?”

The smile that breaks over her face is beautiful. I’ve seen sultry, flirty, and cheeky from this siren but now I’m seeing the woman who captured the hearts of three dangerous and unobtainable men. “I’m always happy to have new starlets in my crew.” Her expression turns more sombre. “Is this one of the girls Annika told the guys about?”

I stand straight, feeling defensive. “I didn’t realise they would tell people about that.”

Her hand on my arm is a comforting touch. “I’m not people, Harvey. They were…” She waves her other hand, searching for the right word, “perturbed, by what Annika told them. They don’t like the idea of children suffering. When they’re upset, I’m there to hold their hands. There are no secrets in our house.”

I nod, regarding her as I try to figure something out in my head. “How do you do it?” I ask.

“Do what?” She sips her drink.

“You’re not a part of this world. You come from the closest thing to royalty we have, you grew up in the spotlight, you’re asinger and you work with kids in your spare time and yet you’re married to…” I stumble a bit, thinking of the right way to phrase it, “the bad guys.”

Jase turns to glare at me from the other side of her and I’m certain this whole conversation will be relayed back to the Daos. I may be buried alive in the foundations of whatever construction site they have going at the moment by tomorrow. Elle tilts her head and looks at me, but there’s no anger in her eyes, only a slight spark of amusement.

“What makes you think they’re the bad guys?”

I stare back at her with a sarcastic tilt to my lips, saying nothing.

Her smirk fights to overpower the pout on her face as she seems to contemplate whether to say what she wants to say. In the end, she makes a decision and settles in to give it to me. “It doesn’t matter to me what my guys do, I love them. Whole heartedly and unconditionally. And I know, in my heart of hearts, that they are good men, kind, generous, and loving.” There’s a sheen in her eyes as she talks about the Daos,herDaos. “When it became clear that I was in this relationship for life, my father wanted to do his research about who I was to be associated with. He’s a numbers guy, you see. I’m guessing, as a cop, you’re aware that the capital has considerably lower crime rates than cities of a comparable size?”

Of course I know that, it’s the pride of the city’s police force. When she sees me nodding, she continues.

“Why do you think that is?”

I open my mouth to give the obvious answer but shut it quickly. She most definitely isn’t going to say it’s the exemplary work of the police.

“You and I know that you’ll never eliminate crime completely,” she continues. “But what happens when youhave people managing it rather than trying to snuff it out completely?”

My mouth opens and closes, trying to think of an argument against what she’s trying to tell me, but no words are coming to me.

“You see, when you have smart, good people managing all the goings on that the authorities try to eliminate without a hope in hell of succeeding, you can actually reduce the risk to the most vulnerable.” I frown at her, not completely willing to believe what she’s saying. “People like my guys, like Annika, are able to look at things with a little more perspective than the lawmakers who only see in black and white. They can allow the inevitable to happen whilst ensuring it doesn’t hurt innocent people.”

I lean my elbows on the bar and shake my head. “I was a cop for twenty years, trust me, innocent people are hurt all the time.”

“By The Talons?” she asks.

“Yes,” I answer fiercely because it’s true. One of the reasons Annika Wolfe was my enemy before I met her is because of some of the things I’d seen as a beat cop when I first started; the destruction left by gang members on the streets of this city. “But not for many years,” I concede, realising that since Annika took over the mantle from her sicko father, I have hardly seen the same sights.