Page 5 of Awaited Love with You (Wasted Love #3)
Looming Threats
Ryder
“ M y client posted bond within two hours of his arrest, and he has fully complied with your list of demands, Miss Poole.” My lawyer looks as annoyed as I feel.
We’re seated in a sterile government interview room—four concrete walls, one metal table, and a mirror that doesn’t reflect anything back.
There are no blackout curtains here, no flickering bulbs to dramatize the interrogation.
Just a quiet, humming tension and the knowledge that behind that glass, men are watching.
Men who thought they caught the devil himself, only to realize too late that the fire still burns beneath his skin.
They’re not pleased that the big fish is wriggling free.
Not pleased at all…
“You’ll soon see that these charges are baseless,” my lawyer says, “but we’re playing along while you spin your wheels.”
“I’m willing to drop some of the charges if Mr. Rochester confesses to other crimes.”
“What other crimes?”
“The fire.” She clicks her pen. “Can we start there?”
My lawyer shoots me a look, but I don’t blink.
“Mr. Rochester says no.”
“Okay, then…” She flips through her binder. “How about we discuss banking and counterfeit? Have you ever lured private citizens into your web for help with any counterfeit schemes?”
I blink again. “No.”
“Let me press on that one again…” She narrows her eyes, voice too casual. “Do you know who Autumn Jane is?”
“Never heard of her.”
“I thought you might say that…”
She fans the photos across the table like they’re nothing, but the moment they come into view, I clench my fist under the table.
The first photo is from the masquerade ball.
We’re deep in the shadows—her body pressed to mine, the gown that stopped time brushing against my leg.
The lighting’s soft, but not soft enough to save me.
Her mask is tilted just enough to show the curve of her mouth.
Her head’s tipped back like she’s waiting for me to take the next step. Like she’d let me do anything.
The second photo from the ball catches a glimpse of her eyes.
I can still remember how they locked on mine—stormy and daring—how that look kept me up more nights than I’ll ever admit.
Another is an image they’ve pulled from my gate’s security cameras. It shows her pulling through my gates in the rain for the first time, headlights cutting through fog. She’s gripping the wheel, jaw set. Still chasing danger. Still not realizing she was already in its jaws.
The final photo stops me cold.
How the hell did they get this?
Autumn is slumped in the back of one of my cars, blood blooming through her clothes on the night of the explosion. With her skin pale and lips parted, I remember not waiting for my men to pull her out.
I pulled her out myself.
It was the first night in years that I felt powerless. The night I knew that I wouldn’t sleep again until I annihilated all threats once and for all.
“These are clearly AI-generated,” I say.
“They’ve been verified by intelligence.” She snatches them back. “But you can keep pretending. Let’s move on.”
“Thank you.”
She flips a page. “Should the fact that your entire family is buried in your backyard concern anyone at all?”
“Not unless someone is planning to dig them up.” I finally stand, pushing back my chair.
“I’m done complying today. If this goes to trial, I’ll be there.”
“You won’t have a choice,” she says, shrugging. “You know, it’s always the men with nothing to lose—the ones without families—who act this way.”
I tense, tempted to serve her the words she deserves once and for all, but I hold back.
“See you in court, Miss Poole.” I smooth my jacket and walk out the side door.
Outside, Chester is waiting, already leaning against the car.
“So? How worried should we be?” he asks. “Scale of one to ten?”
“ Fifty .”
End of Episode 5