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J uno wasn’t very happy with Saint for going against her wishes to call in the cops. Now, she was going to have to tell them the story about why her car was sitting at a strip club, a pile of ashes on the asphalt. Calling Banshee was pure stupidity since she’d be there to hear her story and would probably report back to all the women down at the Harlots.

“I hope you don’t mind me telling the story once,” she said to Banshee. “I’m tired and don’t want to have to repeat myself. I need to ask you for a favor. Can you not tell anyone about this? I want to tell the girls when the time is right.” wasn’t sure if the time would ever be right, but she knew that if her friends heard the truth from Banshee, they might never forgive her.

Banshee nodded, “No problem,” she agreed. “All of your secrets will be safe with me. But are you sure that you’re not dating Saint?” This was just what didn’t need—people believing that she and Saint were dating. It was bad enough that she had to lie to Dare last night. She wouldn’t lie to all her friends in the Harlots.

“We’re not dating,” insisted.

“That’s a shame because he seems to really be into you, ,” Banshee said. “He has the same look in his eye as my husband gets when he looks at me.”

“I hate to disagree with you, Banshee, but I’m sure you’re seeing something that just isn’t there. He doesn’t look at me in any way,” insisted.

“You keep on telling yourself that, hun,” Banshee said. Her denial wasn’t getting her anywhere, and worried that sooner or later, Banshee would walk away from her and revoke her promise to keep her secret.

Saint walked back into the room, followed by two officers in full uniform. “, this is officer Daniels and officer Riggs. They would like to ask you a few questions about your car and what happened last night between you and Bruno.” She sat down, not bothering to scowl at Saint like she wanted to because it wouldn’t matter now.

Both officers stood in front of her and Officer Riggs pulled a small notebook and pen from his vest. Banshee sat down on the sofa next to her, and pulled her hand into her own, offering comfort. It did that too—gave her comfort, and for a second, she was thankful that Saint had called her.

“Okay guys, shoot,” she said. “I’d like to get this over with.” She could tell by the looks on their faces that they wanted the same.

“Why did you call us, Miss?” the tall officer asked. She was trying to figure out which officer was Riggs, and which one was Daniels. It probably didn’t matter, but was fixated on figuring that out.

“Someone destroyed her car,” Saint said. She shot him a look and he shrugged.

“How about if you start at the beginning and take your time?” the other guy asked.

“You’re Daniels, right?” asked. He nodded and she was glad that little problem was solved. “Well, I was at work last night,” she started, hoping that she wouldn’t have to tell them where she worked.

“And where is your work located?” Riggs asked.

“I used to work at a strip club downtown. It’s on Tenth and Elm Street.” refused to look at Banshee until she squeezed her hand and winked at her as though trying to tell that she’d be okay.

“I was fired last night,” she said.

“Why were you fired?” Officer Daniels asked.

“It’s a long story, but here it is in a nutshell. I forgot my phone and ran into the club after it had closed. I was flustered because Saint had found me dancing on stage earlier and I was afraid that he’d blow my cover. None of my friends or family knew what I was doing. They all thought that I was a secretary at a law firm a few towns over. I ran back into the club and my boss, Bruno, was still there. He had found my phone and was playing keep away with it—like a jerk.”

“Then what happened?” Officer Riggs asked.

“He told me that he’d give me my phone back if I’d kiss him.” Banshee gasped next to her, and worried that she’d change her mind about helping her out.

“Did you kiss him?” Officer Daniels asked.

“Of course I didn’t,” spat, “how could you even ask me that question?”

“I’m sorry, but we need to cover all our bases,” Officer Riggs insisted.

“Okay, then let’s skip to the part where he tried to get me to have sex with him or I’d lose my job,” said. The looks on each of the men’s faces was worth spilling that little secret. “And for the record, I didn’t have sex with him either. That’s why I’m now jobless,” she said.

“So, you called us to file a complaint about losing your job?” Officer Daniels asked.

“She called you to file a complaint about her former boss propositioning her for sex,” Saint growled. He didn’t need to come to her rescue. She was used to doing that for herself, but it was nice to have someone in her corner for a change. didn’t feel so alone.

“Given the fact that she worked at a strip club, I’m not sure that he’ll ever be found guilty,” Officer Riggs insisted.

“That’s discrimination,” Banshee spat. “It doesn’t matter what she did for a living, the guy is a pig and should be arrested.”

“Other girls down at the club were forced to have sex with him,” she almost whispered. “I was lucky that Saint came to my rescue, but Bruno had forced the other girls to agree to have sex with him in order to keep their jobs. Some of them are single mothers and need their job to put food on the table and a roof over their kids’ heads. They had no choice. Others were underage and they were afraid that if they told anyone about Bruno, they would get in trouble for working at the club.”

“I’m sorry that you’ve been dealing with all that alone,” Banshee said.

“Me too,” Saint agreed. He reached for her other hand, and she allowed him to take it into his own. Having Banshee on one side of her and Saint on the other, giving her their support, gave her the courage to continue.

“We’re getting a little off track though,” said, trying to reign them all in. She really didn’t care about Bruno threatening her job if she didn’t have sex with him. What she did care about was Bruno possibly being the one to set her car on fire.

“Okay, how about you get us back on track then,” Officer Daniels said.

“I had to run Saint to the emergency room because we both fell in the parking lot, and he broke his arm. I felt responsible,” she said.

“Which you weren’t,” Saint interrupted.

“I felt responsible,” she repeated, “and drove his truck to the hospital, leaving my car in the parking lot,” she said.

“Wait—was it the one that someone set fire to?” Officer Riggs asked.

“Yes, how did you know?” asked.

“Someone who lives in the area called us to report a burned-up car down at the club this morning before dawn. I’m guessing that was your car,” Officer Daniels asked.

“Do you get many burned cars parked at strip clubs?” asked. Saint chuckled and squeezed her hand, reminding her that their hands were still joined.

“Being a smart ass won’t help your case,” Officer Riggs said.

“Of course,” she said, “yes, that was my car. Did you find anything out about who set it on fire?” asked.

“We had our detectives go over the car. They were trying to figure out who the dead body in the driver’s seat belonged to. The educated guess was that the body belonged to the owner of the vehicle, but since you’re claiming the car was yours, we’ll have to go down other avenues,” Officer Daniels said.

“Oh, God,” she breathed, “there was someone in the car when it was set on fire?” The thought of anyone meeting their demise like that made her feel sick to her stomach. She hated that someone died in her car. It made her feel as though she was responsible somehow for the person’s death.

“Would you have any idea who the person was?” Officer Riggs asked.

“No,” she quickly breathed, “who would do something like that to another human being?” Saint wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her body into his own. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt natural to have him holding her like that.

“We’re not sure yet,” Daniels admitted. “The car has been towed in to be investigated, and an autopsy is being performed on the victim as we speak. We can contact you when we have more information.”

She nodded, “Thank you.”

“One last question,” Riggs said, “where were you last night between the hours of midnight and two in the morning?”

“I’ve already told you that I was at the emergency room with Saint,” she said.

“We’re there witnesses who saw you there?” Riggs asked.

“Yeah, me,” Saint said. “My brother Dare was there during that time with her and a very grumpy receptionist was behind the desk. I’m sure that between the three of us, has a solid alibi.”

“In that case, you need to stay someplace safe. Do you have somewhere you can stay?” Riggs asked.

“I’m sure that’s not necessary,” said. “My apartment is safe enough.”

“I’d really love to be able to tell you that you’re right, but you’re not,” Banshee said. “You’re not safe anywhere. Come home with me.” The last thing wanted was to stay with her club’s Prez. She was married and had a new baby at home. She didn’t want to be a third wheel—or in this case, a fourth wheel.

“I appreciate that, Banshee,” she said, “but I don’t want to cramp your style. You have a family and don’t need me hanging around. Plus, if it’s not safe for me anywhere, I can’t put your family in danger.”

“You can stay here,” Saint said. “I don’t have any family, and I can take care of myself if something happens. Besides, I need help getting around for the next two weeks. You can drive me around since you caused this,” he said. Using her guilt against her was a shitty move.

“I can get the Bastards involved, and even have some of the Harlots help out,” Banshee said.

“Sounds like you have a plan,” Officer Daniels said. “We’ll be in touch and if you have any questions, or think of anything else we should know, here’s my card.” He handed her the business card from his shirt pocket. took it and nodded her thanks. She was sure that protesting having to stay at Saint’s place wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Besides, she kind of liked the idea of getting to know him a little better. He was a conundrum—he looked like a badass biker on the outside, but on the inside, she sensed a sweet gentleness with a hint of nerd, and she dug guys like that.