When the heavy door buzzed open, we stepped into a squeaky-clean lobby. Guards waved us through the metal detector and directed us to the front desk behind its protective glass. I’d been here before for hearings and interviews, but this time, it was personal.
“Well, hello, gentlemen. What brings you to my fine establishment today?” Minnie had been working the desk at this prison for as long as I could remember. She’d been threatening to retire for the past five years but claimed her marriage wouldn’t survive retirement.
The truth was, the prison would probably fall apart without her. She was a grandmotherly figure to inmates, visitors, and law enforcement alike.
I produced my badge. “Good to see you again, Minnie. I need to see a list of all the visitors Tina Witt has had.”
“Ms. Witt sure is popular today,” Minnie said, giving us the eyes. “Lemme talk to the boss lady and I’ll see what I can get you.”
TWENTY-ONE
FAN, MEET SHIT
Nash
Igave Lina’s door an official-sounding knock and waited.
Finally, the door opened a crack and she peered out at me, then smiled and opened the door a little wider. “Hey. I was just taking a bath.”
I brushed past her and stepped inside.
“Uh, come on in,” she said, sounding nonplussed. She was wearing nothing but a towel and a pair of fuzzy flip-flops. Her skin glistened with water droplets. I had to look away because I didn’t trust myself. I felt like a volcano ready to blow. Betrayal and need. Those two opposing forces mixed in my blood, fanning the need to explode.
I shouldn’t have come when I was this keyed up.
“Your ibuprofen is on the counter,” Lina said, her voice more tentative now.
The box of files caught my eye. It was open and there were papers lined up in neat stacks around it.
I headed for it.
“Nash. Wait!”
She caught up to me just as I picked up the first folder. Her front met my back and she reached around me, but I shrugged her off and flipped it open. My gut rolled in on itself. I absorbed it like I would a blow.
“I can explain,” she said quietly.
I slammed the folder down on the table with Duncan Hugo’s face staring up at me. “Talk. Now.”
“Nash.”
“You can start with what you were doing visiting Tina Witt in prison today. Or maybe you should start with why you’ve got the guy who shot me in your files. Your choice.” I wanted the cold, the dark. But she’d unlocked something in me, and instead of the nothingness I’d gotten used to, I was burning alive with rage.
She crossed her arms in front of her defiantly. “This has nothing to do with you.”
Wrong move.
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Angelina. This has everything to do with me. And I’m not leaving until you tell me why.”
“Is this an interrogation, Chief? Do I need a lawyer?”
My stare was hard, unyielding. “You tell me,” I said. I was spoiling for a fight. I needed it more than my next breath.
She met my gaze with her own anger.
I gave in to the need and wrapped my fingers around her elbow. Hating the way I reacted to the feel of her against my palm, I pulled out a chair and pushed her into it. “Sit. Talk.”
Her chin came up defiantly.
“If the next words aren’t an explanation of why the fuck you’ve been paying Tina Witt visits and looking for Duncan Hugo, then I swear to God I will haul you down to the station right now and you can sit in a cell in nothing but that bath towel for the rest of the night.”
“You’re making a big deal out of—”
“I trusted you, Angelina. I opened up to you and you played me.”
I saw the wince before she smoothed it over with indignant anger. “I didn’t play you. I’m sorry your feelings got hurt. It wasn’t my intention.”
“God, you’re worse at apologies than Knox,” I observed.
“I’m just doing my job! It’s not a crime.”
I slammed my hand down on the table. “Damn it! Why are you looking for Hugo?”
She should have been scared, but she wasn’t. She looked ready to deck me.
“What are you after that made you come here? That had you cozying up to me asking me about the shooting. That put you in my bed talking to you about fucking panic attacks and memory loss.”
“You’re gonna want to walk that back,” she said with an icy calm.
“Do not try to tell me what I can and can’t do right now, Lina. I’ve had a long fucking day and you’re making it longer.”
“I was going to tell you.”
I swept her from head to toe and willed myself not to be affected by the way her chest heaved with every breath she took. “That’s how you’re gonna play this?”
“I’m not playing. That’s why I texted you today, you idiot.”
“Oh, so you weren’t worried that Lucian was going to poison me against you with the truth?”
“He didn’t know the truth. And I stupidly felt like I should be the one to tell you.”
I shoved the paper with Duncan Hugo’s face at her. “Talk. Now.”
She was silent and I could practically hear her calculating her options.
“Have it your way.” I moved fast so she wouldn’t see me coming. I ducked my shoulder low, wrapped my good arm around her waist, and hauled her over my shoulder. Her furry slippers went flying in opposite directions.
“Nash!”
“I gave you the chance to do this here,” I said as I headed toward the door.
“Don’t you dare!” she shrieked. She struggled against me and I slapped a hand to her ass to hold her still. My other hand locked around her bare thigh. I was instantly hard, and that pissed me off even more. But my dick didn’t seem to care about things like betrayal.
I made it all the way to the door before I heard what I wanted. “Okay! Jesus. You win, you gigantic asshole.”
“How’s that heart rate?” I asked her. I barely dodged the kick she aimed at my groin.
“I swear to God I’m going to have you singing soprano,” she said through what sounded like gritted teeth.
I started for the door again. “You’re gonna have to ride in the back and I’m definitely gonna have to cuff you,” I said conversationally. “I hope that towel holds up. Word’ll probably spread real fast. I can’t promise your mug shot won’t make it into the papers.”
“Okay! Oh my God!” She went limp against me. “Just put me down and I’ll tell you everything.”
“That’s all I wanted, Angel.”
I bent at the waist and let her slide off my shoulder until her feet hit the floor.
Her towel was barely hanging on at this point. One good breath or the lightest tug from me and it would be around her ankles. Her eyes sparking with fire didn’t do anything to alleviate the pressure building in my balls. “Fuck. Go put on a robe,” I ordered, looking away.
She spun on her heel and stormed toward her bedroom.
“It takes you longer than thirty seconds, I’m comin’ in there after you,” I called after her.
I looked back in time to see the middle finger she held over her shoulder.
For the twenty-eight seconds it took her to reappear, I fantasized about marching into that room, pinning her to the bed, and throwing that towel on the floor.