Page 106 of Wasted

“Very well.” Fatigue weighted her shoulders as she turned onto the cross street. There was nothing more exhausting than conflict. And death threats, apparently.

“Right here.” He pointed at the short driveway behind the building.

Victoria turned the wheel and drove up to the closed overhead door.

It lifted, slowly opening.

She glanced at Cillian.

He held a remote opener in his hand. He glanced at her, catching her observation of him. “I grabbed it from my bike before the tow.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “It didn’t fall off in the accident?”

“I have a locked compartment. It was in there.”

“I see. Well, have a good evening.”

“Trying to get rid of me already?” He grinned.

She didn’t respond.

“Just kidding.” His lips straightened into a line. “About what happened earlier…what I said.” He looked away and pushed his fingers through his hair. “You deserve a lawyer who knows you’re innocent and will fight to prove it.”

He swung his gaze back to her. “I only want to protect you.” His eyes sparked. “You know that, right?”

Her irritation, already lessening during the drive there, dissipated completely. She’d known he had her best interests at heart at the lawyer’s office, too. But she was caught in a difficult situation Cillian couldn’t understand. He’d never known his father. He didn’t know the desire to please one’s father out of love and respect. And that wasn’t his fault. “Yes. I know.”

The tension at the corners of his mouth eased. “Could you pull into the garage? You might be able to help me look for something.”

“All right.” She pressed the gas slightly and drove down the incline into the underground garage. She turned left to follow the space between the stalls that lined opposite walls of the long structure. “Isn’t that your jeep?”

“Yep.”

She slowed to a stop behind the car parked next to his jeep. “What do you want me to help you find?”

“I was thinking, there’s no way Glenn could’ve known for sure I’d drive my bike today instead of the jeep.”

“True. Anyone rational would assume only an insane person would ride a motorcycle in freezing temperatures.”

He chuckled. “There’s that biting wit I love. Thought you’d lost it at the lawyer’s office.”

Her pulse beat erratically, skipping and hopping at an alarming rate.

All because he’d said the word, love. He probably hadn’t even meant it in the way her emotions wanted to interpret his usage.

She wouldn’t let him see her reaction. “You mean the attorney’s office where you walked in looking like you’d been literally dragged in off the street?” She pointedly scanned his tattered jeans. “You could have at least washed off the blood. It’s no wonder he thought I was a murderer.”

Cillian grinned. “Hey, you were the one who wanted to be on time.”

“And I suppose that’s why you’d like me to test drive your jeep? I assume you’re getting to the point where you’re going to say Clinton Glenn sabotaged that, as well.”

“Very astute. But, no, I wouldn’t dream of having you test drive it.” His mouth twitched as if he was barely holding back a laugh. “I thought you could help me look it over and see if we can figure out what he did to it.”

“You do realize I know next to nothing about vehicles of any kind, other than how to drive them.”

“Ah, well.” He opened the passenger door. “Then I guess you can wait safely in your car while I check it out.”

“A sound plan.” She looked toward the jeep as he started to leave the car.