Page 92 of Blood and Thorns

“Hmm,” I hummed, dipping my head until my lips almost brushed hers. “Careful, you’re going to make me believe you actually like me.”

A gentle laugh escaped her lips, and I stiffened knowing I didn’t want to share that sound with anyone else, either. “We can’t have that now, can we?” she teased.

“What the fuck is this?” a voice snarled, and I turned to find Graves standing there dressed in a cheap suit.

“Detective,” I greeted, coldly. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Arabella tried to stand, face paling. “What are you doing here?”

“I didn’t believe it when someone tipped me off that you were out in public,” Graves sneered, his badge flashing just enough to remind us of his role, even if his authority behind it was rotten to the core. “Yet here you both are, slumming it with the plebeians.”

“Have you been following me?” she demanded, staying by my side.

“You haven’t been answering your phone.” His eyes flicked between us, restless and alert, clearly aware of the growing attention from nearby patrons.

The Fluffy Duckling wasn’t exactly a place frequented by law enforcement, and everything about Graves, from the stiff posture to the barely concealed arrogance, screamedcop.

“Have you even spoken to your dad lately?” he asked, tone darkening. “Or have you been too busy screwing Sebastian to remember who you’re supposed to be protecting?”

I lunged forward, grabbing Gabriel by the lapels and yanking him up until he was forced onto the balls of his feet. His breath hitched, but then he laughed, sharp and unsteady, the sound just a little too wild for someone who pretended to be in control of the situation.

“That’s right,” he goaded, eyes gleaming. “Go on. Give me a reason to put you in cuffs.”

A slap of a palm on the bar echoed through the room. “??????????!Take this outside or use the back room,” the bartender growled in our direction. “I mean it.”

I clenched my jaw, noting how Graves stared over my shoulder at Arabella with a viciousness I didn’t appreciate. I already knew they were once an item, but from his expression he saw her as nothing but a possession that he’d lost. A strange lump formed in my gut at their history, but then I remembered that she was now mine.

Reluctantly, I dropped him, and he staggered back, a flush darkening his expression before he wiped where I’d gripped him with disgust. “Touch me again, and that’s assault on an officer.”

I swept out my arm, allowing Graves to go first so I didn’t have him at my back. Arabella was a flurry of anxiety beside me, but she remained uncharacteristicallyquiet as she kept to my side. Like Graves was able to steal her light.

“Gabriel, what are you doing?” Arabella asked, her voice low and strained once we had privacy. “You shouldn’t be here.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine, his smile tight. “I was checking to see if you were okay, baby.”

I arched a brow. “Isthatwhy you’ve been skulking around outside my club?”

Langdon had mentioned it days ago that he’d caught Graves lurking in the alley, loitering like a dog looking for scraps. I hadn’t thought he was worth the effort, not until he’d been spotted outside a few of my other clubs too, ones not as publicly tied to me, which told me he wasn’t just aimlessly watching. He wasdigging.

“Where’s Lennon?” he demanded, suddenly turning to Arabella. “I know he spoke to you, but he never came back.”

Arabella stiffened beside me, and I didn’t need to glance down to know her expression. She was an open book, with every emotion etched across her features whether she meant it or not.

“I told him no,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t interested in your offer.”

Graves didn’t react immediately, instead his eyes hardening as he stared at her a beat too long. “You sure about that?” he asked, voice softening just enough to make it sinister. “I want to protect you, baby. You have to let me before you’re caught up in everything. Because if you’re lying to me, I can’t help you when things turn ugly.”

There it was, his ulterior motive. This wasn’t about her safety. It was about leverage.

“Careful, Detective. The last time we did this, you almost lost your badge, and I walked away with an apology,” I drawled, my face twisted into a sneer.

“You really think you’re untouchable, don’t you?” Graves hissed, something desperate flickering in his eyes before he shifted his gaze back to Arabella. “You wouldn’t have anything to do with his disappearance, would you, baby?” he asked, reaching across the narrow room like he could still touch her.

But I was already there, pulling Arabella to my side before he got too close.

“We both know how you have this little vicious side when pushed,” he continued.

“Your friend hasn’t been seen since he cornered Arabella at my fight weeks ago,” I growled.