Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Dragon

Funny thing about me.

Even after all the fuckups I’ve made in my life, I’ve never been arrested before.

I’ve come close, for sure. God knows, when I was still drinking and on drugs, I drove way more often than I should have.

But I never got caught, never hurt anyone in the process.

Because I don’t hurt people. Well, not anymore.

I never hurt Griffin.

I heard her screams. I went to her room. I saw the bloody knife. I picked it up. Everything became a blur after that.

I’m not actually in jail. I’m in a holding cell at the police station.

After I got here, they took all my information from my driver’s license and fingerprinted me.

Apparently, for certain misdemeanors, including soliciting prostitution, the City and County of Denver has preset bail amounts based on the severity of the offense. They gave me a paper, showing me the schedule.

Needless to say, I couldn’t afford it, which is why I had to call Diana.

Not only is she giving me a place to stay for free, but now I’m going to owe her for this bail money.

Of course, I’ll get the bail money back, once I either cop a plea, have a trial, or, in the best circumstance, get the charges dropped altogether.

But they won’t release me from custody until someone pays the bail.

At least the person I’m staying with is an heiress with unlimited cash funds.

Man, I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d told me to get fucked.

I gave that hooker all my cash. All because she reminded me of Griffin.

What Griffin might look like today.

Fuck me.

I’ve thought about Griffin a lot. Especially during rehab. I didn’t have a choice. I had to face some shit about my life that I had stuck on the back burner for far too long.

Now that I’ve faced it? I wish I could shove it back into the corners of my brain.

This tiny holding cell smells like cat piss. There are only three of us in here, and I’m pretty sure the stench is coming from the guy with no teeth. The other guy is thin and agitated. He’s pacing the cell like he’s waiting for a bomb to drop.

I’m sitting on the bench, rubbing the ache in my forehead.

I guess I need an attorney. I can’t afford an attorney, but what the hell? Diana’s brother is a lawyer, but he’s on his honeymoon. Not that he’d represent me anyway.

I jerk upward when an officer unlocks the cell. “Locke?”

I rise. “Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

Thank God. Diana must have paid my bail.

The officer leads me to a small room where he gives me back my wallet, my phone, and my jacket. Then he makes me sign a paper guaranteeing I will come back for my court appearance in two weeks.

“You understand if you don’t appear, your bail will be forfeited, and we’ll issue a warrant for your arrest.”

I sign my name. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know how these things work.”

“Good.”

He rises. I follow him out into the lobby, where I see Diana standing with a man I don’t recognize.

“Hey,” I say.

“You ready?” Her voice is far from friendly.

I look the man up and down. “Who’s this?”

“Antonio. He’s a friend of mine.”

Antonio puts out his hand.

I shake it. “Charmed,” I say dryly.

“Let’s go,” Diana says. “The car is waiting.”

“Okay.”

I should thank her. And I will thank her.

Who’s this idiot she’s with?

I don’t like seeing her with a man.

She’s way too good for me, but still…

We end up home at her place, and she tells me to go on up.

I turn around and stare at Antonio. Glare at him is more like it.

It doesn’t seem to faze him. Finally, I head up, using my own keycard to get into the building.

Then into the elevator and up to her place.

I open the door with my key, flip on the lights, head to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of water, and then go straight to my bedroom.

What a fucking night.

I turn the shower on, ready to wash all the grime of this day away from me, when I hear a knock on the door.

I head back, open it.

Diana stands there.

“Hey,” I say.

She bites her lip. “Look, Dragon?—”

“Where’s your friend?” My voice is pointed. I don’t mean for it to be—after all, this is the woman who literally bailed me out of jail—but I don’t like the idea of Diana enjoying the company of another man.

“I sent him home.” She scratches her arm. “But we need to?—”

I put a hand up. “Hey, I’m innocent. I didn’t give that girl money for sex. I’m not pulling your leg, Diana. Do you really think I would do something so stupid?”

She takes a deep breath. “You gave a hooker money, Dragon.”

“Yeah, but not for sex.”

“But why?” She crosses her arms. “It could’ve been a sting operation. She could’ve been undercover.”

“If she’d been an undercover cop, I’d be fine. Because I told her it wasn’t for sex.”

She chews on her bottom lip. I’m right and she knows it.

She lets out a sigh. “I’m thinking it might be better if you found somewhere else to live.”

“Yeah, I figured you’d say that.” I look down.

“You don’t have to get out right away. But I think you should look.”

“Who was that guy you were with?”

She furrows her brow. “Antonio? I told you. He’s a friend.”

Recognition dawns on me. “He was at the party.”

“Yeah, he’s actually Teddy’s cousin. He owns a music store here in town.”

My eyebrows nearly fly off my head. “Does he?—”

“Before you say another word, yes, he employs instructors for vocal and instrumental music. But after tonight, I’m not so sure you’re what he has in mind.”

“I’m as good a drummer as anybody.”

“I certainly wouldn’t know.”

“Ask Jesse. He always said I was better than any of the percussion performance majors he knew in school. And I’m completely self-taught.”

“Dragon…”

“You know what?” I run my hands over my face and through my hair. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll be out of here as soon as I find another place to live.”

I close the door in her face.

I head back toward my shower when she pounds on the door.

No knocking softly this time. She’s pounding on it like her life depends on it.

I open the door. “Yes?”

Her hands are on her hips. “Damn it, Dragon. You will not close the door on me. You will not…”

She’s yelling, her cheeks red, her hands balled into fists.

And all I can think about is that my life is a piece of shit, but here stands before me the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

And she’s full of fire I didn’t know she had.

She’s yammering about something, her lips flapping like a hummingbird’s wings, and all I want is for her to shut up.

So I shut her up the only way I can.

I crush my mouth to hers.