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“Yeah?” I say through another yawn.
“Be careful. You're now Quinn for the foreseeable future. Remember that.”
I sigh and with a final chin lift and a wave, I walk out of the interrogation room and down the hall.
But all I can think about is the look on Aiden's face when he realized he'd been played.
That's something I don't think I'll forget in a long time.
Chapter 15
Aiden
A knock at the door a week later followed by someone calling out “delivery” stirs me from a fitful sleep. Ever since I found out Barrett is working the case with Marlee and that I may or not be back in Vegas for reasons unknown to me has had me overthinking and second-guessing, none of which is exactly conducive to sleep. Since I refuse to drink myself into a stupor just to black out and get rest, shitty nights seem to be it for me right now.
Seeing Barrett again along with that damn wedding band on his finger hit me harder than I thought it would. Not because of Lys, those feelings were dealt with a long time ago. It’s regret and pain, for what I’ve done and what I lost. The ring serving as a visual reminder of the consequences of my actions.
I lost Alyssa a lot earlier than I realized—if she was ever mine to begin with. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting to know they got their happy ever after and I screwed mine up. It never would’ve been with her though, and the main reason for that is sitting in an apartment of her own somewhere in Vegas right now.
When I left Vegas after fixing my screw-up and resigning, avoiding a scandal and disciplinary action by the skin of my teeth, I didn't look back. That's not to say I didn't wallow and chew myself out, but I blocked everyone else out of my mind because there was nothing I could do to make up for what I'd done.
“Enough beating yourself up already,” I mutter to myself as I swing my legs off my mattress and pull on some sweatpants. Moving out of the bedroom, I make my way to the front of my apartment, checking the peephole and finding the hallway outside empty.
I open the door to find a brown, non-descript box on the floor outside with “Lawrence” on it.
A quick check of the corridor and a firm shake of the box to satisfy me that it's nothing nefarious, I carry it inside and dump it on the kitchen counter. I leave it there while I turn on a pot of coffee since that's the only way I'll be making it through the day before my shift tonight.
I haven't heard from anyone about the taskforce’s case, and my job at the club has been uneventful. Justin was locked in his office again, Decker was nowhere to be seen, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. It was almost boring, which is not how I'd ever describe a night at Marquis.
I also haven't received anything other than a check-in email from Harry. No phone call. No text message. Just a simple two-line note telling me that everything’s fine and he’ll touch base with me next week.
The box vibrating on the counter jerks me from my pre-caffeinated thoughts, and I frown at the package, wondering if I cleared it too early.
Taking my mug of coffee with me, I stand in front of the box, taking a sip as I study it. When it shakes again, I sigh and put my cup down, grabbing a knife from the drawer and cutting through the tape around it. Opening it up, I find it full of shredded paper. When I delve deeper, there's a nondescript black flip phone sitting at the bottom and there's a post-it note attached saying “Use me.”
I roll my eyes and bring up the contacts, seeing just one number saved.
The sound of my pulse is deafening in my ears as I press the phone to my ear and dial the number. It rings once, twice, three times before it's answered.
“Aiden?” Marlee asks.
“Who else would it be? You're the one behind all this cloak-and-dagger bullshit. You could've just knocked on the door.”
“I can't be seen near your building. Quinn has no reason to be visiting you, does she?”
I lean a hip against the kitchen cabinets and grab my coffee for another hearty sip. “Guess not. So we're both stuck undercover now?”
“Yeah. Rookie mistake, I let Decker order me a car home the other night.”
“Marls...” I say, part sigh, part growl.
“Hey, I said it was a rookie mistake. But it won't be for long. I've just got to live the life of Quinn until we get Decker in cuffs.”
“Then you'll be looking over your shoulder for a while. You know that too, right?”
“This isn't my first rodeo, Aiden.”
“Yeah, I know.”
