Chapter Nine

It was later that evening before I talked to Lucas again. By that time, Kitt and I both had been thoroughly questioned by the police. Jazz Devlin was out of town on his honeymoon, but the original officers who had questioned Kitt back months ago when he’d witnessed the shooting in the parking lot of the Golden Pony were called and they corroborated Kitt’s story.

Lo and behold, they weren’t even looking for him anymore, because the shooter in the street incident had been brought into the station on another charge a couple of weeks earlier and he had confessed to everything.

Nobody was looking for Kitt anymore—not the police. Not the bad guys. Not anybody. They said they had called and spoken to Jazz Devlin about it ten days earlier, and he’d had the information all that time. The investigation into why Ed Colton had come into my apartment to attack us would be ongoing. As for me, the police released me and Kitt as there was no evidence of any crime I’d committed.

We had been shot at in my home by an intruder, and since Georgia was known as a “Stand Your Ground” state, I had no duty to retreat from imminent danger before defending myself and others. My gun was licensed, and as long as the threat was reasonably imminent—and it didn’t get much more imminent that a Glock 17 pointed directly at Kitt’s face—I could use force to protect him and myself without being required to first try and get away. Then too, there was the shot-up cell phone as proof that Colton had fired and that he had meant business.

I took Kitt to yet another hotel near my apartment after we left the station, because I knew the forensics team wouldn’t be through with my place yet. The detectives told me they’d “let me know,” as soon as it was cleared. I used the company credit card, because why the fuck not?

Kitt hadn’t wanted much to eat. I finally tempted his appetite with buttered toast, smeared with honey, along with a big glass of chocolate milk. After he ate, he lay back down and started snoring softly in minutes.

It was about two hours later that Lucas called.

“We need to talk, Rio.”

“It’s a little soon for me. I usually need a day or two to get over my boss trying to kill me.”

There was a long silence and then a bitter little laugh. “You always did have an odd sense of humor.”

There wasn’t much to say to that, so I kept quiet. After a little while, he picked up the conversation again. “The police are investigating this thing. Do you think Devlin was paying Ed off to make sure Kitt never made it home?”

“I don’t know, Lucas. But I can’t think of any other reason he’d try to kill me and Kitt. Can you?”

He gave a heavy sigh. “No, I can’t. My wife is taking this really hard. The whole family is, as you can imagine.”

“I know. I’m a little shaky myself.”

“How’s Kitt? Was he hurt at all?”

“Kitt’s resting. He’ll stay with me until the police finish talking to his brother. He has no desire to go back to Devlin’s house at all, and I can’t say I blame him. I wouldn’t let him go if he wanted to. We’ll find him a good lawyer in the morning.”

“Kitt may not have a choice. Devlin’s his guardian.”

“No. Kitt’s not going to him.”

“You can’t just say no, Rio. Jazz Devlin has the legal right to take him home. The good news is that he’s on his honeymoon somewhere and won’t be available to pick him up right away, but if he gets back...”

“Devlin can go fuck himself. Kitt’s not going anywhere with him. Look, take care of your family. I’ll sort this out with Kitt. And don’t worry about getting rid of me—I know how awkward this is—to say the least. I’ll just need my severance pay, and I won’t be coming back in the office.”

There was another silence and then a sigh. “I’m sorry about all this, Rio. I don’t know what else to say.”

“There isn’t anything else. We’ll talk later, Lucas. After we find out more about this.”

We both hung up after that. I really hoped Lucas wasn’t more involved than he was letting on. But just then I didn’t trust anyone. I went over to the bed and sat down beside Kitt, who was still sound asleep. The kid could sleep though anything.

I had a lot to think about. In the short time I’d known him, I’d seen that he had a truly bad temper, and he flew off the handle whenever he got angry. He had to be absolutely comfortable at all times, or he’d stomp his foot like a toddler and storm off. He was lazy and almost impossible to get along with at times. He argued about almost everything, and he would lie to suit his purpose. In fact, he had only a nodding acquaintance with the truth, and trouble seemed to follow him wherever he went. He needed a very firm hand.

Yet, despite all that, I wanted him desperately. I needed him like I needed to breathe. The fact that he was a Little, or more correctly, I guess, a Middle, didn’t matter to me in the least, though normally, I might have run from that. None of it seemed to matter. I simply couldn’t imagine a life without him. I was in love with him. It was as simple and as complicated as that.

That didn’t mean we didn’t have obstacles in our way. I was older than he was, and he was going to be much richer soon, while I was almost certainly about to lose my job. I wouldn’t have him support me—no way I’d allow that to happen. So, all that would have to be worked out. It seemed on the surface to be just too much trouble. I didn’t know if we could work it out at all or if we’d just been living in a dream world.

But then I felt a hand on my arm and looked down at his sweet face. And just like that I changed my mind.

“How are you, baby?” I asked.

“I’m all right. But it was pretty scary, wasn’t it? I was so afraid he’d hurt you.”

“It was scary. You did great though. And if you hadn’t changed that ringtone and made it so loud…you saved us, Kitt. That makes twice now that you saved my life.” I bent to kiss him, and he pulled me down beside him. His mouth was luscious and hot and open to me, and I plundered it hungrily. I thought I could taste a trace of honey in that mouth, and I was greedy for every bit of it. I stayed until I’d tasted him thoroughly.