Page 47 of Royal

Chapter 12

Gray

Lieutenant Anderson had given me a mandatory day off. No matter how much I tried to explain that all available officers and detectives were needed to catch the killer, he wouldn’t listen to it.

“You’re not any use if you can barely stand, Riley,” he’d told me. “Now go home and get some rest. That’s an order.”

I hadn’t gone home.

Royal didn’t work on the weekends, so I’d decided to go to his house instead. We’d texted over the past few days, but we hadn’t seen each other in person. Probably a good thing, too. I was still a bit salty about how he treated me the last time we were in the same place. We hadn’t discussed that over text. I sensed he felt guilty about it, and I didn’t want to make him feel worse. Even if he deserved to.

When I got to his house, he wasn’t home. Right as I was about to call him, his SUV pulled into the driveway.

A minute passed, and he didn’t get out; he just sat in the running vehicle. I couldn’t see him through the heavy downpour. Perhaps he was waiting for the rain to die down before making a run for the front door.

The garage door opened, and he drove inside before closing it.

Or he can do that instead.

I put my hand on the door handle to get out, when my phone rang.

“Detective Riley,” I answered without checking the caller ID.

“Gray?” Royal said. “There’s a car outside my house.”

I nearly laughed but stopped myself. Oh man. It’d be so easy to mess with him by playing dumb. He already sounded scared, though, and it’d be cruel to play a joke on him.

“No worries. It’s me,” I said. An audible sigh of relief reached my ears. I hadn’t hung around enough for him to know my car yet. The rain hadn’t helped any, either. “I just pulled up around the time you did. Can I come in?”

“Yeah. I’ll unlock the door.”

I cut across the grass through the rain and made it to his front step in seconds. He ushered me inside before locking the door.

“You scared the shit out of me, you ass,” Royal said.

“Oh yeah?” I smirked. “Sorry. Shoulda told you I was stopping by.”

“You don’t look that sorry.” His eyes narrowed. “Why did you come over? Something wrong?”

“Do I still need a reason to come see you?” I asked, feeling a little hurt.

Yeah, it’d only been like four days since we’d really started talking again, but we weren’t strangers anymore. Weren’t enemies, either. And after the hard-core fucking we’d done recently, I damn sure didn’t feel like I needed a reason to stop by.

“No. You don’t.” Royal sat on the couch before looking back at me with a small smile. “You’re soaked.”

“Wow. You should be a detective with that keen perception,” I said, stepping farther into the living room.

“Good to know. I might need another job soon.” Royal’s tone was off. “Maybe I’ll be a better detective.”

I shrugged out of my light jacket and draped it over the kitchen chair to dry before joining him on the couch. “Why do you say that?”

He glanced at me with an unsure gleam in his eyes. “The director is pissed at me for telling you about the segment last week. Threat to public safety or not, he didn’t care. I think the only reason he pulled the story was because he’s a spineless bastard and didn’t want to piss off the chief of the BAU. Rick hasn’t ever liked me, though. Pretty sure he’s searching for any reason possible to fire me.”

“He can’t fire you without cause. And if he makes up some bullshit reason, sue him.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Royal’s smile was thin. “Not that I’m complaining, but why aren’t you at work?”

“My lieutenant gave me the day off against my will, so I wanted to see you.” Then it occurred to me that Royal might not have wanted me there. “If you’d prefer me to leave, I can. I don’t want to interrupt any plans or anything.”