Page 6

Later that night they sat down in the living room side by side and watched a movie neither one of them even tried to follow. Mainly because they both had serious issues on their minds. Brax was worried about Roni. Roni was worried about the young man Jerard killed, his mama and family, and how it was already affecting her career. And the weight of all of that worry caused both of them to feel emotionally drained. And within minutes, Brax was nearly sleep and Roni had already slumped against him fast asleep. He knew she was just that drained.

He easily lifted her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. Pulling the coverings back, he placed her in bed. But he knew how she slept, and it wasn’t in that big, bulky, uncomfortable terrycloth robe. He got her to admit to him once that she, like he, always slept in the nude. It took him weeks to get over that sexy picture in his mind, just as he knew it was going to take him even longer to get over seeing her naked in her bathroom. But since he’d already seen her that way, and since he knew a bed nudist would be super-uncomfortable in that big robe, he slowly removed the robe, careful not to awaken her from her peaceful sleep.

But seeing her in the nude again awakened him. “I must really love you,” he found himself saying out loud as he quickly covered her naked body.

But then he realized that what he had actually verbalized, and was stunned himself. I must really love you ? Did he just say that out loud ?

Then he began to panic. Was she really asleep, or did she hear him? When he realized she was now snoring, he let out a deep exhale. He said it, and meant it, and she didn’t hear it. It was the best of both worlds. Because had she heard it, what were they going to do about it then? Settle down with each other? Neither one of them, he felt, was ready for that. Each of them, he knew, could destroy each other if they went down that road.

He loved her too much to even try.

That was why he was going to turn and leave.

But he couldn’t stop staring at her angelic face. Every time he turned to leave, which turned out to be several times, he turned right back and continued to stare at her. She was the only woman who had ever caught his attention and kept it. The only one. But why, he wondered?

And that face. He couldn’t help himself. He took the back of his hand and rubbed gently across the high cheekbone of her sweet, dark-brown face. It was a touch that made his heart soar so much that he smiled.

But just as he was withdrawing his hand, her big eyes opened. At first she seemed confused. Why was he standing there? And then she seemed scared.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“Why am I in bed?”

She didn’t ask why was she naked in bed, which he was relieved to know. “You fell asleep.”

“You’re leaving?”

She seemed genuinely concerned. “Why does it matter?” He always left. They’d never spent the night together.

But apparently this night was different. “I don’t want to be alone,” she said to him.

And as soon as she said it, Brax’s heart went out to her. And without thinking about it or calculating any pros and cons, he slipped out of his shoes, removed his suit coat, and got in bed with her and pulled her into his arms.

Roni closed her eyes when he held her. It wasn’t a sensual thing for her. It was a cry for help thing for her. A young man who could have easily turned his life around was dead. Her career was in shambles. And the very people responsible were being treated like heroes. As if they took another vermin off the street. As if they were the good guys, not the victim. It wasn’t right.

Brax held her tightly. He knew he was holding the most precious woman in the world to him, and that woman just happened to be naked, but he was doing everything in his power to not even go there. She needed him. She didn’t want to be alone. He wasn’t about to exploit that.

He held her for nearly an hour before either of them eventually fell asleep. But this time it was Brax who succumbed to the drain of the day and slept.

But Roni was wide away. And thinking about every single detail of what happened in that alley. And what happened later at the precinct. Sign the report, they told her, so that she, Jerard, and Mulvaney would be on the same page. But she didn’t sign shit and wasn’t going to sign it.

Her career, inside the NYPD anyway, was effectively over.

Their actions ruined her, but she’d be damned if she was going to lay around and let those bastards get away with what they did to that kid.

When she was certain Brax was in his deepest, slow-wave sleep, she eased out of bed, grabbed her a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, her heels and overcoat and keys, and left out of her bedroom. Closing the door, she waited to see if she heard any movement from Brax. When all she heard was his snoring, she walked away.

Because she lived on the sixteenth floor with many curtainless windows, there was always sunlight during the daytime and outside lights during the nighttime shining through. Her apartment was never dark. That was why she was able to walk easily through the rooms.

After dressing in her guest bedroom, she made her way to the kitchen where she unlocked a bottom cabinet and pulled out two fully loaded Glocks. She placed them both on either side of her hip, covered them with her overcoat, and eventually left the apartment.

The drive was a long one and her aging Mustang had just enough gas to probably get there and get back home. But halfway to her destination, she made the phone call. After several rings, Jerard picked up.

He had been asleep. “What’s up?”

“We need to talk.”

“This time of night? Ross, are you nuts? Talk about what?”

“You know what. Cap gave me until tomorrow morning to sign that report.”

“So?Sign it.”

“We need to talk first. I need to know what’s in it first.”

“Didn’t you see it already?”

“No. Cap told me what was in it, but I need to hear it from you. And then I need to make a decision. We need to talk, Lou.”

There was another pause, as if his murdering ass had better things to do than make sure the witness to his crime was satisfied. Which pissed her off even more. But then he came to his senses. “Where?”

“Where it happened.”

“When?”

“Now,” she said, and then ended the call.

For the remainder of the drive there, she put on music: some jazz on Sirius XM, and thought about Brax.

She’d never met anybody like him. All of the guys she knew were narcissistic egomaniacs who though every woman would put up with their bullshit just to be close to them. But Roni was never every woman. As soon as she found out she was being cheated on, she bounced. She left. But it still hurt when yet another hopeful relationship went down the toilet.

But Brax was a different kind of man altogether. There was nothing narcissistic about him. And the way he made her feel as if she was the most important person in his life stunned her still. Like tonight. All she had to say was that she didn’t want to be alone, and he stayed. No questions asked at all. He hopped in bed with her and held her. Even though she was butt-naked, he never even tried to take advantage of her. What man would do that? He was just that good to her. He even said he would try to take care of this situation for her, which she appreciated. But she knew, at the end of the day, she had to handle this. Only she could handle this.

Just before she arrived at the alley, she made one more phone call. And then she turned down the long, dark path that led to their crime scene.