Passing His Guard

“You left out the Rohypnol part.” His top lip twitched at her slack-jawed look, all color draining from her beautiful face.

“You’re not going to tell them, are you?” she demanded in a harsh whisper.

“That’s depends . . .”

“On what?”

He gave her his signature sexy Disco grin. Her eyes went wide with understanding, but before he could barter for his silence, one of the other officers came over.

“Are you the one who called 911, ma’am?”

She nodded.

“Would you come with me, please? I have a few questions for you.” At first, she looked hesitant to leave Aiden’s side, as if she didn’t trust him not to rat her out. “Don’t worry, ma’am. It’ll only take a few minutes.”

CHAPTER

12

A few minutes felt like forever. She was fairly certain Aiden was only joking about the roofies, but this being her first felony and all, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous letting him out of her sight. In as much detail as she could remember, Rya

“I appreciate you being so understanding, Mr. Kruze. Under the circumstances, we had to take every precaution.”

The officer even picked the foil package up from the floor and handed it back to Aiden. What the hell? He took it back and shoved his hand in his front pocket, looking more pissed off than ever. Why? They were letting him go and with an apology at that.

“Like I said, it’s not a problem.” Aiden’s clipped tone belayed his a

“Is everything all right?” she asked, looking between him and the officer.

“It’s fine. They ran my ID. They know who I am.”

And that’s a bad thing?

“Apparently, it doesn’t look very good on your record when you rough up a senator’s son,” he grumbled.

Rya

“We’re free to go, then?” she asked.

“Well, not exactly,” the officer who’d spoken with her chimed in as he approached. “We’re going to need you to stay close.”

What? This can’t be happening. “How close?”

“In town close.”

“But why? For how long?” Quickly, she did the mental math, counting down the days to her deadline—seven. She had seven days to get Aiden to Manhattan.

“A couple of days. You’re witnesses in a murder investigation, ma’am. We’ll need you to come down to the station and give official statements tomorrow and answer any other questions. You’ll have to officially identify the suspects.”

“Identify the suspects? They’re right there!” She pointed to the three men as they were being led past her single file.

“I realize that. It’s just a formality, ma’am.”

“Can they do that?” she asked, turning to Aiden. “Can they keep us here?”

“Not without a court order. But given the circumstances, getting one wouldn’t be difficult.”

Shit. “I don’t even know where we are.”

“Portage, ma’am.”

“And where exactly is that?”

“Not quite an hour past Madison.”

“My girlfriend’s tired,” Aiden cut in, seeming anxious to be done with the whole thing. “And she’s had quite a shock. Can you point me to the closest motel around here?”

“That’d be the Shady Lawn.”

“Thank you, we’ll GPS it. If you’ll give me your card, I’ll call later today to schedule a time to come in and give our statements.”

The officer handed him his card and Aiden placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her to the exit. They were nearly out the door when the officer called, “Mr. Kruze . . .” Aiden stopped, but didn’t bother to turn back. “On behalf of the Portage Police Department, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused—”

“Don’t.” Aiden cut him off. “You’re just doing your job. I’m not my father.” He grumbled that last part under his breath, his heavy undertone of resentment not lost on Rya

“Keys . . .”

He held out his hand expectantly.

Rya

Aiden didn’t exactly strike her as the kind of guy who took well to not being in charge. He might appear to be a happy-go-lucky, womanizing flirt, but she’d glimpsed enough of his dark side to know that deep down there was a whole hell of a lot more to this fighter than met the eye. And damn if Rya

The Escape’s headlights flashed as he used the remote to unlock it. They broke apart, and she wordlessly rounded the back of the SUV. Without his support, her legs felt shaky and weak. Maybe it was the aftermath of adrenaline finally clearing her system that was messing with her head, making it feel light. By the time she climbed into the passenger seat, she was shaking. It didn’t help that she couldn’t stop thinking of how different this night would have ended if Aiden hadn’t come to her rescue. That easily could have been her lying dead in that store . . .

“Hey, you all right?” he asked, shooting her a sideways glance from the driver’s seat.

She nodded, not sure her voice would support the lie. She was just tired, that was all. Once she got some rest, this would all seem less . . . overwhelming.

Aiden didn’t look convinced. Turning in his seat, he reached for her, taking her face in his hands and forcing her eyes to meet his. At the intensity of his stare, her pulse quickened, butterflies awakened in her stomach. Never in her life had she seen eyes this color. The u

Rya

“You’re shaking.” His brows drew tight with concern.

She was shaking, worse than before. It definitely wasn’t Aiden’s touch making her tremble, or the genuine concern in his eyes making her walls of resistance crumble. And she surely didn’t want him to pull her into his arms like he had inside that store, holding her against his rock-hard body as he told her everything was going to be all right—even if it wasn’t true.