Page 14 of Finn

My mind was already turning over the problem. Task force. Fax request. Files on the Guardians. We'd known heat was coming—hell, we'd been preparing for it since the Devils wentdown. But knowing and seeing it in black and white were two different things.

Chloe stirred, and I felt her eyelashes flutter against my skin before she opened those emerald eyes.

"Morning," she murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

"Morning, fox." I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Sleep okay?"

"Better than I have in weeks." She stretched against me, and I had to remind myself that we didn't have time for what my body was suggesting. "What time is it?"

"Early. You've got time before work."

The word hung between us. Work. The place where she'd just committed a felony for me.

"I should go home and change," she said, but she didn't move. "Can't show up in yesterday's clothes. Margaret notices everything."

"I'll make coffee first."

We sat at my small kitchen table twenty minutes later, mugs in hand, the early morning light turning everything honey-colored. Chloe had her legs tucked under her, still wearing my t-shirt, and something about the image made my chest ache in a way I wasn't used to.

"I need to meet with Pops today," I said. "Get ahead of this before it blows up."

She nodded, wrapping both hands around her mug. "What are you going to tell him?"

"The truth. That the task force is building a file. That we need to be airtight." I met her eyes. "I won't mention your name. Just that I have a source."

"He's going to want to know more."

"Probably. But Pops knows when not to push. He's been in this game longer than anyone."

She was quiet for a moment, staring into her coffee. "Finn... if this goes sideways?—"

"It won't."

"But if it does." She looked up at me, and there was something fierce in her expression. "I don't regret it. Whatever happens. I need you to know that."

I reached across the table and took her hand. Her fingers were small and warm in mine.

"It won't go sideways," I said again. "Because I won't let it. Protect thine own—that's the oath. And you're mine now, Chloe. That means you're protected."

Her smile was small but real. "That sounds almost romantic, coming from an outlaw."

"I'm a man of many talents."

She laughed—a genuine laugh that loosened something tight in my chest—and squeezed my hand before letting go.

"I have to go." She stood, and I followed her to the door. She'd changed back into her clothes from yesterday, her hair finger-combed into something presentable. "I'll text you when I know more. If anything changes at the station."

"Be careful today."

"Always am."

I caught her wrist before she could open the door. "Chloe. I mean it."

She turned back to me, and for a moment we just looked at each other. All the things we weren't saying hung in the air between us. Then she rose up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my mouth—soft, quick, a promise.

"I'll be careful," she said. "You too."

I watched her walk to her car, watched her pull out of my driveway, watched until her taillights disappeared around the bend. Then I went back inside and called Pops.