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“Yeah, I was a little distracted.” Aria pushes her hair away from her face, her eyes latched on something on the floor, and her breath coming in short gasps. “I have to go in.”
A stone settles in my stomach.
“Looks like you’re going to have to trust me a little bit longer, Devan,” she says. “Your girl isn’t going to let anything happen to herself. Not when she’s coming home to you.”
It’s my turn to swallow over the boulder in my esophagus.My girl. “You’ll get killed if you go.”
I loved the way it felt to hear her say it. I did. Even underneath the pure terror for Aria, I loved the warmth of admitting my feelings for her. They might be out there and far-fetched, given the fact that we are more than likely trauma-bonded. But it’s true. It takes more than a round of questioning to get to know someone.
What’s your favorite color, I think to myself as I drag on a pair of boxer shorts.
What do you like to do for fun?
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
Those are the surface-level things.
To be loved in return by someone like Aria would be a thrilling and dangerous adventure. The type of relationship designed to consume me down to ashes and bones.
I wasn’t sure a man like me knew how to actually love another person. I’m still not sure. But I know I want to try if Aria will have me. If we manage to get through this.
“I’m coming with you. There's no chance I’m letting you walk into headquarters by yourself. You’re out of your goddamn mind.” I slide my feet across the carpet for my sneakers and almost black out.
I’ve tried to play the tough guy for far too long. Aria’s right with the nickname. No pain meds since I’ve left the hospital, and the ones they’ve given me are on their way toward wearing off.
“Look.” Aria bends down beside me, although she’s still not at eye level. “We got you to the emergency room on time. We got you into surgery, and you pulled through, even though stomach wounds always bleed the worst. The professionals had him, they took care of everything. It’s what I kept telling myself. That Naomi and I did our parts, and you’re alive because we trusted the doctors to get you across the finish line. But really, it wasn’t just them. It was you, Devan. You got yourself there because I believe you have the will to live and pull through. And Broderick is dead.” She stops, draws in a great lungful of air. “I thought my part was done, and it’s not. All the work we’ve accomplished will unravel if I don’t check this out. Whoever it is, this is not Broderick.”
“Whoever it is will aim a gun straight at your head. You’ll never make it onto the property.”
“I’ll come up with a plan on the way there. The way I always do.” She shrugs complacently. “While I’m driving, Adam will have full access to my programming and will work on getting protocols in place.”
Adam bobs his head excitedly, and his glasses droop to the edge of his nose. “You got it, Aria.”
“Leave it to the Mistress,” she assures me.
“I’m not assured at all.”
“Then it’s too bad you aren’t in a position to follow me. You’ll be staying in bed, and I’m going off to save the world again.”
She kisses my chin and bolts out of the room faster than I’d be able to follow her on a good day, leaving me bellowing after her.
“You can’t let her go.” I grab Adam again. “Are you fucking crazy? She’s walking to her death.”
He’s torn, glancing between us. “I’m not sure what to tell you, buddy. She’s the one calling the shots now. Whether it’s a good idea or not.”
“It’s the worst fucking idea in the world!” Blood rushing to my head, I force myself off the bed and wobble on my feet. Pissed at myself for being in this position and even angrier at Aria for going off on her own.
“We’ve got our backs to the wall,” Adam insists.
“Then call the girls because we’re not letting her go. Assemble the troops…shit, get Bill to bring everybody we have at the precinct! We’re going after her.”
TWENTY-SIX
aria
I remember standingin the hallway at the hospital covered in drying blood with my teeth chattering even though I was not cold. Shock, the nurses would have said if they bothered to look twice in my direction. Shock and the inevitable crash from an adrenaline rush of the magnitude I experienced.
Everything has changed.
