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“Why would you hold off?” Santos pondered, truly shocked by my statement.
“Because, as much as I hate you both, I don’t want blood in the streets over a fucker that’s not worth the shit on my shoes. I’d rather you two work this shit out between yourselves. And I’m going to give you an opportunity to do that.” I pointed to his chest. “As long as you stay away from what belongs to me. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Santos took a few minutes before he nodded and replied, “Yes, I understand. But there is no need. If she’s irrelevant, then we don’t have a problem. But I’ll spread the word.”
I clasped Santos on his shoulder and squeezed. “You do that.”
I turned and started to leave when he said, “Oh, and Sergeant, about the other one. You can consider that done too. I’ll make it a two for one deal.”
I knew who he meant when he said “the other one". Noelle. Of course, I didn’t believe him.
“And why would you do that?” I asked him.
It was his turn to shrug. “She’s not a threat. She doesn’t know shit. Whatever she told you is irrelevant. As long as you keep your end of the bargain, she’s just as safe as the other.”
Again, I didn’t believe a word he said. But I still acknowledged what he said with a nod. I turned and headed for the house but not before saying loudly, “You got twenty-four hours. Make it count.”
Ivey met me at the sliding glass door and, based on the look of hopefulness on his face, I knew he heard Santos’s declaration. He didn’t speak about it until we left the house and headed for the SUVs.
“Do you believe him? What he said about Noelle?”
I didn’t answer right away. I remained quiet as we climbed into my truck. I started it up and pulled out of the U-shaped driveway. I followed the line of police cars and once we merged onto the main street, I spoke.
“To be honest, I don’t believe shit he has to say. I think we need to wait. Let’s see this through. I have a feeling shit's not going to go as smoothly as we expect.”
“You don’t think he’s going to leave Miss Gates alone?”
“I don’t know. I told him she wasn’t a threat. We had our case without her. But he may still blame her for something. We’re going to still keep her close.”
Ivey didn’t reply for a few minutes. When he did, I could hear a hint of amusement in his voice.
“We’re going to keep her close. Is that something thatwecan handle? You know, with our case load being what it is.”
I looked over at him to find a huge smile planted on his bearded face.
“It’s overloaded, yes, but we’ll manage,” I replied, answering the last question. I ignored the first one as he expected me to. We both knew the answer to that question, anyway. First,wemeantme,and second, I wasn’t capable of handling shit.
It’s been a week since she’s been staying with me, and it’s been fucking hell. I wasn’t blaming Phoebe for the hell I was in. It wasn’t her fault. She was wonderful. She wasn’t messy or loud or intrusive. No, the fact that she existed caused me hell and my team knew it.
I hadn’t been a ray of sunshine as of late, using our overload of cases as a reason for my fucked-up attitude. I knew damn well it wasn’t work causing my moods. It was the torment of temptations that was driving me crazy. And the tormentor was Phoebe Gates.
I couldn’t have a relationship with Phoebe, which was something I had said repeatedly, however, I indulged in her gorgeous body every chance I could. Using the premise that we were both adults, and that she knew what I offered and she accepted it, as justification for the many nights we’ve spent together. That and I wasn’t working on her case. It was Ivey’s job to find Schindler, get the evidence needed to arrest him. I was free to indulge, to lose myself in this beautiful creature.
Things have changed unfortunately. I was now on the case; therefore, I couldn’t be with her. I couldn’t eventhinkabout touching her. I needed a level head and sleeping with her in my arms every night, fucking her until the sun came up, wasn’t something I could afford.
Did I tell Phoebe that? No. Instead, I kept my distance, using work as my reason for leaving her with one of my guys during the day and not coming home until well past midnight, all to avoid her.
It was fucked up; I know. However, maybe this was a good thing.
No matter the connection I felt towards her, I knew I wouldn’t change my mind about being in a relationships with her, or anyone else, and I don’t want to lead her on. She would be better off without me, without holding on to hope that would never come. I would tell her all of that and more, explain that it was better we went our separate ways, just as soon as I got rid of the burdens in her life, starting with the Santos family.
First and foremost, I wanted to make sure Miguel was booked and in custody. Second, I wanted assurances Santos wouldn’t come after her. He said he wouldn’t, but I didn’t believe it. Not until his lawyer saw the charges and knew we had his nephew by the balls. Once that happened, he would understand that Phoebe had nothing to do with the arrest and the conviction.
That left Byron.
I had a feeling that situation wasn’t going to end well. Even if the ski mask comes back with his DNA, he wouldn’t get much jail time. With a good lawyer, he might get off with a lesser sentence like completing community service or therapy. That wouldn’t work for me. A slap on the wrist wasn’t going to teach him a lesson. I would have to get messy.
A grin suddenly spread across my tired face. I didn’t have a problem with a little mess. If the result was Phoebe being free of him, I would do whatever it took to make that happen for her. She deserved it.
