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“Then she’s more dangerous than I originally thought,” I finished as I glanced her way. “I know she has no qualms about destroying a person’s reputation and their self-esteem. She lies, steals, tricks, and manipulates. But this would be the first I’ve seen her actually cause physical harm to anyone.”
Gabby bit her lip. “Maybe she wasn’t involved in their disappearance, then.”
“But what if she was?” I countered.
“Then we’d be doing her a favor by getting her taken out of society.”
I sent her a questioning look. When she glanced back, she seemed to say that all this work I was putting into catching Lana doing something illegal wasn’t a bad thing, I wasn’t a monster, and there were good intentions behind all my actions.
Except I wasn’t sure that was enough. We all knew where the road that was paved with good intentions led. What if I was still headed in the wrong direction?
Exhaling, I pulled into an open parking spot in front of my complex and stared up at my building, wondering if all this would’ve been better if I’d just shoved my head in the sand, looked the other way, and pretended like I didn’t know how awful my mother was. That seemed to be Brick’s strategy, and he seemed happier for it.
But that wasn’t me, I guess. And if this path was wrong, then I guess I was going to be wrong. Because too many people I cared about would get hurt if I looked the other way.
Next to me, Gabby leaned forward in her seat to gape up at my home. “You live here?”
I nodded. It was a quieter place on the edge of town away from the hustle and bustle of things. Someday, when I had more time and wasn’t so preoccupied with justice and getting Kaitlynn her inheritance back, I thought I might like to find something out in the country, even further away from everyone else. But for now, this would do.
“Holy shit,” Gabby breathed, her mouth falling open. “This is—” She glanced toward me.
I furrowed my brow, thinking she didn’t approve. Glancing up at my building, I asked, “It’s what?”
“It’s fucking amazing,” she burst out. “I mean, I knew you had to be rich and everything, but Jesus, Hayden. We really come from completely different worlds, don’t we?”
Blinking, I took in the panic on her face, and I experienced a little anxiety myself. I definitely didn’t want this to scare her off. I didn’t want her scared at all.
“Hey, come on,” I teased gently, taking her hand. “Don’t get self-conscious on me now, Salazar. You’re the girl who was completely unimpressed by that generous tip I gave you at the café.”
She sniffed. “I mean, I wouldn’t say I was completely unimpressed,” she countered, probably just to be her contradictory self. “It did pay my water bill.”
I drew her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Just because we came from different places doesn’t mean we can’t end up in the same place.”
Her lips parted as she took in my expression. “Are you saying you want to—you know—go to the same place as me?”
“Hell, yes,” I murmured, watching her eyes darken with pleasure as I returned, “Don’t you?”
She nodded mutely, her head bobbing up and down more forcefully with each sweep.
Something enormous and filling burst open inside me. Nodding back to her, I squeezed her fingers. “Then let’s get started now.”
I opened my door and hurried around to her side, but she was already out of the car to meet me. We shared ridiculously ecstatic grins, and I took her hand to show her which apartment was mine.
Once I unlocked the door and followed her inside, I flipped on the light and reached for her, but she merely grinned and shook her head, backing away.
“We should look at the evidence we found first, before we—”
When she trailed off without finishing the sentence, I lifted my eyebrows mockingly. “Before we what?”
With a sniff, she rolled her eyes. “Come on, Carmichael. You know I’m not leaving this apartment any time tonight.”
Damn. I went straight-up hard, no slow build-up, just bam—ready for action. With a groan, I nodded. But my head wasn’t in it as I took her to my office and made sure my printer was full of paper.
Gabby was all business and already had her phone out. “Is this you?” she asked, twisting the screen of her phone around to have me confirm my printer name.
With a nod, I dug my own phone from my back pocket.
The printer whirled to life, and pages began to spit out. Gabby finished printing her sheets before I started. I decided to wait until I had all mine printed before picking up the stack.
