48

Ava Cain in handcuffs.

Now that's a beautiful fucking sight.

Too bad she's being led toward the police station by her fellow cops. I'd rather be the one pushing her face down onto my bed.

The bartender pauses in front of me. "Can I get you anything else?"

I'm done with the whiskeyin my hand, but Ijustnod toward the screen. "Turn that up."

He presses the remoteandthe sound of the local news fills the bar.

Hawkins tipped me off that Ava was going to be arrested this morning. After I was "wrongly accused",he was happy to keep me updated with developments in the case. Anything to stop me from publicly complaining about it—not that I give enough of a fuck to do that.

I chose a dive bar close to the station to watch itallplay out. It's quietinhere, withonly a few elderly barflies hanging around doing scratch tickets.

Ava looks as fucking delicious on the TV screen as in real life. There are faint dark circles under her eyes, but her haunted look is captivatingto me. She's dressed in her usual leather jacket. My cock hardens just at the sight of her, remembering the perfect little body hidden under those clothes.

If only I could reach through the glass and shatter it, dragging her out and into my lap.

Soon, soon.

There's an explosion of noise as reporters scream their questions at her.

"Why did you do it?"

"Psycho! Cop killer!"

"Detective! Anything to say to the people at home?"

One of her fellow detectives is dragging her forward, trying to get past the crowd. But at this last yell from the reporter behind the camera, Ava slows to a halt. The other cop tries to yank her forward, but she doesn't budge.

Instead, she turns her perfect face toward the camera. Steady, deliberate. A glint of steel in her gray eyes.

"I do have something to say. I'm innocent of the crimes I'm being accused of. And if the real Hyde killer is out there watching—"

She tilts her head up a fraction, her cuffed hands rising to her chin as if in thought. But then—herrightfingertips slip over the side of her throat, resting for a split-second on her pulse.

I trust you.

The moment is over in a flash. To anyone else, it would look like nothing at all.

She finishes her sentence. "I hope you do the right thing and turn yourself in." Her voice has an edge, an almost imperceptible intonation of irony.

But it's notimperceptibleto me. Not to the man who's spent the last months studying Ava Cain.

Little dove. Fiery joy creeps through me. She knew I'd be watching. That was a message for me, and me alone.

She's not broken yet. Fuck, the realization fills me with raw hunger. She really is my match. No matter how I push her, she rises to each challenge. But I've tested her enough. Now it's time to claim the prize.

I slide the empty glass across the bar and head for the door.

***

"Dr Keller, what are you doing back here?"

Hawkins looks up from his file, his brow furrowing.

I'm only supposed to appear when summoned.Broughtout to assist Hawkins when he can't be bothered to do his job. After my arrest and reversal, heclearlywants me to stay out of the picture.

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant. I want to speak to Detective Cain. I believe she's here."

Hawkins frowns in confusion. "You can't do that, I'm afraid. We've just taken her in for questioning."

"I've had some reportersreaching out tome about my time here. You know, when you arrested me and brought me in without doing your homework first."

Hawkins tenses. His smile is stiff, fixed to his face. "You're not thinking of talking to them, are you?"

I shrug coolly. "I was planning onhaving a little chatwith Ava while I'm here.But if that'snot possible, I supposeI've gotnothing else to do."

Hawkins swallows. "On second thoughts," he says weakly. "If you want to talk to Detective Cain, that can be arranged. Follow me."

We reach the door to the interrogation room, the same one I sat in while I poisoned Hawkins against Ava. He begins to follow me in, but I raise a hand. "Alone."

After amomenthe reluctantly nods. I flip off the microphone switch by the door; if Hawkins wants to watch us talk, he'll have to read our lips to understand a single thing.

Ava's eyes slowly rise to my face. If she's surprised to see me, she doesn't show it. Heat simmers inside me; there's something different in her eyes. No fear. No hate. Just pure steel.

This is the beginning of what I've longed for. Whenshebreaks the chains ofhermoral code and the ghosts ofherpast,she'lltrulybe free. A woman like Ava is wasted within the constraints of the law.

"Jackson," Ava says. "I thought you'd come to see me. But this was even faster than I thought."

Her hands are in cuffs attached to the metal bar on the table in front of her. I take a seat across from her. "Pretty little Ava. What kind of trouble have you got yourself into this time?"

She laughs. There's no fear in her voice any longer. "I think you know exactly what kind of trouble. Thanks for Fieldsbythe way. I'm assuming that was your handiwork?"

"Not my best, I admit."

"Just dumped him outside his apartment. Are you getting lazy, Hyde?"

Hyde.Fuck, there's something electric about her hearing that name on her tongue.

"Not at all. Fields deservednothing more thana knife to the gut and a place in the dirt to lie. You should have told me he was hurting youandI would have done it much sooner."

"He was just an asshole who liked to see how far he could get away with harassing women at the station. It didn't hurt after what I've lived through."

Fresh rage blooms inside me.

"If any man so much as brushes past you in the hall the wrong way, I will fucking fix it for you."

Her eyes glint at my threat, but with curiosity, not fear. "Why do you do this, Jackson? Why do you protect me like some dark guardian angel one moment, then try to get me thrown in jail the next?"

I slowly slide my hand over my neck, tracing my jugular.Hereyes follow the movement, our movement. I wantso badlyto reach out and do the same along her delicate neck, but I restrain myself.

"You said you trust me, Ava. You'resitting herewaiting for me to arrive, just like you knew I would. Tell me what my intentionis,because you already know it."

She leans forward. "You like playing games with me, don't you? Back at my foster home, I used to play something called the waiting game.I imagined someone elseout there in the world wasplaying it with me.For every second of pain I endured under that roof, it was a second closer to my savior bursting through the front door. All I had to do was wait. But guess what?"

"Tell me."

An exhale passes her lips. I'm rapt, fixated on every word and hooked by the cold look in her eyes that's masking years of pain.

"I was playing the game all alone. No one came. The pressure built up until I snappedandHarvey was gone." She clicks her fingers. "Then, a new game started. The running game. I tried for so long to outrun what I did and how it made me feel. That's how I ended up wearing a badge and a gun."

There's a dark intensity on her face. She leans closer across the table.

"Hawkins told me I was a suspect. From that second, I knew I was playing the waiting game again. Every minute I sat in here waiting, I was playing it. But this time felt different, Jackson. This time, I knew the person I was waiting for would arrive."

A crooked smile lifts my lips. "And here I am."

"Here you are," she echoes. "I see it now. You want me all for yourself."

I exhale. The restraint I'm showing by not grabbingherand fuckingherright here on the table should get me a goddamn medal. "You're sharp, sweet one. Sharp as a fucking knife. I'll never get enough of that."

"If the police don't trust me, I can't turn you into them.Not without firm evidence, and Ihave no way of gettingthat like this."Her eyes flit down to her cuffed hands.

"Exactly."

"But what's next?Are you going tojustenjoy visiting me at the women's county jail?"

I grin. "I'll give you an alibi."

Her eyes widen. "What?"

"I'll tell Hawkins you were with me exactly when Fields was unceremoniously snuffed out of existence."

"Will he believe you?"

"I'll make sure he does.He's very aware thathe owes me a favor for wrongly arresting me."

Her eyes narrow. "He thinks he does."

I laugh. "Same damn thing."

Her voice is still steady, but now it has an edge of fear. "Why woulddothat?"

I lean forward. "Because if I do, you have to come with me."

Understanding rolls across her face. She bites her bottom lip. My cock tightens at the sight of itandmy hands flex, trying to hold back from touching her.

"You convince them I'm innocentandthen I go with you. And what then?"

"Then the fun begins, Detective."

She leans back in her chair, waves of emotion passing over her face. Maybe she's making calculations, trying to predict my moves like this is agame of chess.Maybeshe's just trying to convince herself that she'drathergo to jail for murder than come home with me.

"What's your answer, little dove? Where do you want to spend tonight? In a jail cell alone or in my bed with my cock splitting you in two?"

Her face shifts upward toward mine. Fire burns in me as I see that her pupils are blown out. There's a hungerclearin their depths.

She breathes her answer. "Let's go, Hyde."