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I can’t stop myself from rolling my eyes. “That doesn’t mean I was in there playing Boy Scout. I have no idea how it happened.” My voice rises as the reality of the trouble I could be in hits me.Now entering freak-out mode.“I wasn’t even home!”
“She’s been harassing me for weeks to break her lease,” Ronnie cuts in, nodding with each lying word.
“That means I thought scorching the place was a better option?” I wave my finger in Ronnie’s direction. “In case you failed to notice,liar,my stuff went up in flames, too. It would’ve been simpler for me to write a check for a few thousand bucks than lose all my belongings.”
Gage shoots a glance toward his high school best friend/I’m assuming now partner, Kyle. “I think she’s guilty. You?”
Kyle smiles in entertainment and narrows his green eyes at me. He’s the co-chair of my hate club. “I concur with you, partner.”
“I’ll take her in for questioning,” Gage tells them. “I know from personal experience that she enjoys seeing shit go up in flames.” His attention turns back to me, giving me a warning that I’m in for a ride from hell. “She’s an expert on obliterating shit.”
Ronnie rubs his hands together. “Appreciate it, Officer.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I shout when Gage pulls out the stainless steel handcuffs from the back of his belt. “Handcuffs, really?”
His amusement is gone, replaced with the look of a cold and calculated man.
He takes a step closer. “Turn around. I’ll read you your rights.”
I scoff, “Not a chance in hell.”
He looks to Kyle in question. “Should we add failure to cooperate to her charges?”
“Damn you,” I hiss, my stomach rolling while I do as I was told. The cuffs are cold when Gage slowly tightens them around my wrists. “I take it, you still hate me.”
Shivers run down my spine when the solid wall of his chest brushes against my back, and he leans in to whisper in my ear, his lips sliding along the lobe, “I’ll hate you until the day I die.” He grips my shoulder, turns me around, and jerks me forward. “Kyle, take the landlord’s statement. I’d better split, so we can get this pyro to the station before she does any more damage.”
Kyle chuckles while saluting him. “Sure thing.”
I throw out every curse word known to man and nearly trip over my own feet while he leads me to his car. “You sure you can handle being alone with such a criminal?”
A harsh laugh leaves his throat. “Oh, I can handle you just fine, sweetheart.”
Everyone’s attention stays on me during my profanity show. Gage opens the back door with one hand, pushes my head down for me to slide in without bumping it, and slams the door in my face. I scope out my audience, their phones recording my episode, and shift around in a seat that had to have been made from the same material as my childhood Barbie dream car.
“I hate you,” I hiss when Gage slides into the driver’s side.
He starts the car. “Good. I fucking despise you.”
I slump back against the seat. “You seriously don’t believe I started that fire, do you?”
“Intentionally, no. Although, knowing your crazy ass, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Then, why am I back here? At least let me ride passenger.”
“Nah, it’s more enjoyable, watching you throw your tantrum through the rearview mirror.”
I fight with the handcuffs. “This is abuse of power! I’ll be filing a complaint.”
“Don’t get me started onabuse of power,sweetheart.”
I sigh and shut my mouth. An argument is what he wants. There will be no falling victim to his game.
Yeah, that’ll really one-up him, Lauren. He won the jackpot in ex revenge today.
Silence takes over the ride, and my back stiffens when I notice we’re heading out of town.
“Wait … where are we going?”
