Derrick moved around the table and stalked me across the room. I backed up, wary of the severity in his eyes. If I thought my explanation would soothe his ire, I was sorely mistaken. He’d been pushed too far. I wasn’t certain he was capable of hearing my side of the story.
“All this time, and you never told me about your shop. Why? Let me guess, Argus wanted information about the murder, didn’t he? And you were already in his back pocket.”
“No! I mean, yes, he did approach me at Ella’s memorial dinner, but that was the first time. I didn’t know he had an interest in the case, I swear it. I never planned on helping him.”
“It doesn’t matter! A known criminal asked questions about my case, and you kept it a secret because you knew I’d discover your connection to him. You talk about choices? Were you kidnapped and forced to visit Argus tonight, or did you choose to go?”
“I decided.” My shoulders bumped the stone wall, preventing me from further retreat.
Derrick took advantage, trapping me in a cage of arms, each one an iron beam on either side of my body. “You chose to hide your involvement with Argus and your knowledge of the men who’ve been following you. I asked you point-blank if you knew those men, and you lied.”
“Because you wouldn’t understand.”
“You never gave me a chance!”
“A chance?” Adrenaline pounded my ears. I shoved at the immovable wall of his chest. “Why should I? You charged into my magic shop on day one determined to tear me down. You were like everyone else, judgmental to the core. You kicked me out of your office when I told you about Ella. I had to fight tooth and nail to get you to listen, and when you finally started to look at me like I mattered, how was I supposed to tell you what I’d done? You would have thrown me off the case.”
The muscles in his shoulders bunched as he pushed off the wall and turned his back to me. A wrenching silence followed.
“That would have ruined all your plans, wouldn’t it?”
“My plans?” Dread coiled in my stomach. I felt out of depth, unable to follow his train of thought. Were things so murky between us?
“Why are you here, Tessa?”
“I…I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Why did you approach me and offer to help with the case?”
“Because I wanted to help Ella.”
“No.” He turned and wrapped his hand around my wrist, tugging me closer. “The truth.”
“It is the truth!” I tilted my head back, confusion knotting my brow. “She visited me as a ghost, and I wanted to make things right.”
“So, you offered your services out of the goodness of your heart? How noble.”
My jaw clenched. I realized what he was getting at. One final nail in my coffin. Might as well hand him the hammer.
“Fine. You win. I needed the reward money to pay back Argus. What’s wrong with that? Everyone doesn’t fit into your precise little boxes, Detective. You said my past didn’t define me, and yet you’ve made up your mind about my character, and it’s clear you don’t believe me.”
“Believe you?” His head dipped, voice scraping against my ear. “You’ve lied to me from the beginning. Did you think I wouldn’t figure out that you used me for information? Maybe you didn’t intend to feed it to Argus, but you had other motives.” He lifted my chin with his fingers and held me there, our stares dueling. “What I can’t understand is why that wasn’t enough for you.”
My heart pounded beneath his unflinching stare. “What wasn’t enough?”
Something snapped behind his eyes. Like watching a dam break loose, the restrained longing he’d held in swept over me, dragging me under.
“This.” Derrick angled his head and captured my lips in a punishing kiss.
I swayed backward at the force, but he banded his arm around my waist and lifted me up to sit on the table, then rocked forward, his mouth slanting over mine. Heat fired low in my belly. I locked my ankles around his waist and slid my palms up his chest, feeling the smooth fabric of his shirt and warm skin beneath. My fingers dug into his shoulder blades, drawing him closer.
Turmoil emanated from his body, and I absorbed it, let it sizzle through me like one of my spells gone horribly wrong. His kiss was an act of aggression that quickly turned desperate, both of us fighting without words, trying to explain, asking why.
He made a noise deep in his throat and cradled my head in his hands. The ruthlessness burned away. Our kiss gentled. There was something about the way his anger melted that made me want to sob. It was easy to battle against his fury—I had enough of my own at the impossible situation my life had become, and I could erect a hundred walls, fight fire with fire—but the ease with which he robbed me of that ability made my head spin.
I wanted more. All of him. This was different. It felt diametric, reverent. Derrick grazed his thumbs over my cheeks, breath shaky as his mouth pressed against the curve of my jaw. His tenderness didn’t belong in this holding cell where only misery had come before it. My eyes squeezed shut. There had to be a way to make him understand.
“Derrick, wait…”
