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The rumble of an engine had me snapping out of my trip down memory lane, my gut twisting with nerves. I knew it was Zali before I even saw her baby. The Mustang was a work of art. A perfectly restored ’67, cherry-red fastback with a four-twenty-eight under the hood, it was a wet dream. It growled like a lion and handled like it was on rails. Watching my blonde bombshell behind the wheel was a thing of beauty. She was as fierce as the car and just as gorgeous.
With a few clicks, I navigated to our interview room booking system and blocked out the afternoon. I was going to need it, especially if she’d come directly from the university.
I headed down to the reception area, and I bit back a groan as I watched Zali stomp past Flynn in those sexy-as-fuck-heels she wore. She came to a halt when she spotted me, her legs spread shoulder width apart, her tiny shorts and scrap of material over her melon-sized breasts barely covering anything.
“You,” she seethed, pointing at me with a hard glint in her eye that I hadn’t witnessed before. “You’re in deep shit, detective.”
I greeted her with a nod. “Afternoon Ms Stephens, Mr Kennedy. Let’s head on into the meeting room.” I watched as she slipped off her red-soled shoes, unclipped her TAG watch from around her wrist, and dropped her phone and car key onto the tray before stepping through the metal detector. Flynn took off his white Chucks and dropped his phone into a tray, following in Zali’s wake.
I barely had the door closed before she was pinning me to the wall. I could have pushed her back—I was twice her size and trained in Krav Maga—but she needed this. When her ruby-red pointed-tip nail landed square in my chest, I knew she’d get physical if I resisted in the least, and I didn’t want to hurt her.
“Answer me one question, detective. Did you know?”
“Yes,” I murmured as shame festered in my soul.
“You bastard.” I wanted her to slap me, to take it out on me, but she didn’t. Instead, she looked at me like I was a piece of dog shit on her Louboutins. “I trusted you.”
I deserved it, I knew I did, but I’d done what it took to protect her. And I would do it again. It had been the only way. Knowing that didn’t make hurting her any easier though. I reached for her hand, trying to curl my fingers around hers, but she slapped mine away.
“No.” She shook her head. “Just no.”
My shoulders sagged, the weight on my chest sitting heavy. She’d always been more than a job to me. When I’d first come across her trail of destruction online, she’d been angry, trying to control a world that was uncontrollable. Much to my supervisors’ dismay, I’d recruited her. I’d tried to channel her talent, pull her onto a road that wasn’t as destructive as the one she’d been heading down.
As a teen, she had either been used for her body or targeted for it. She’d grown into a woman who had an even more polarizing effect—people were either envious or they despised her. But I admired her. I’d watched her grow up and mature. I’d watched her become successful and rich in her own right. I’d watched her take on the haters and overcome them. She made no apologies for who she was and what she’d achieved. She knew she was brilliant too, and she apologized even less for that.
She gave as good as she got; her blunt honesty was a trait I’d come to value. She was strong and beautiful and didn’t give a fuck what the world around her thought. She did her own thing, never bowing to pressure.
Queen’s moral compass might not quite point true north, but I’d always known where I stood and what to expect. Stay on her good side, and she’d move mountains for you. Fuck her over, and she’d bury you.
I’d betrayed her.
I might be a police officer, but I was powerless against her.
“How could you play us both like that?” Flynn asked, his lips turned down and his normally vibrant blue eyes a stormy grey. Disappointing him was like a punch to the gut. For as long as I’d known Zali, he’d been her sidekick, her dose of happy.
When he was younger, he’d been like a cherub. Blond curls that haloed his face, chubby cheeks even though he was as skinny as a runt, and a smile that always lit up the room. He still had the blond curls, was now more lean than slim, and still wore the smile.
Except right now it was a frown.
I’d done that. I’d hurt him.
I never wanted to do it again.
These two people—my queen and her angel—would be the death of me.
“He’s studying my mother, Detective Fraser,” Zali spat with venom in her voice and a derisive shake of her head. “Like a bloody lab rat. He’s going to pull apart every business decision she made and put her under a microscope. Then he’s going to talk shit about her. He’ll twist and turn the facts around to suit his agenda.” Her hand curled into a fist, and she thumped my chest hard. Her blow was nothing compared to the crack in my heart from knowing how much she was hurting.
Zali was like a cornered animal about to attack. Her hands shook and her eyes flashed, a mix of anger and fear invading her expression. “We all know how these things go, detective. He admitted that sensationalism is part of the appeal. And what, you thought I’d help him? You thought I’d break my father’s heart like that? You thought I’d dishonour my mother’s and brother’s memories? For what? What do you get out of it?”
“Nothing,” I mumbled. “I don’t get anything. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, Zali.”
“Well, you did,” she shouted, that fine thread of control she was holding onto with an iron fist finally snapping. Her face reddened, and she shoved me again, pressing me against the wall once more. “I had to sit through a lecture while Professor Arsehole there accused my mother of being a con artist. He said she stole nearly a hundred million dollars. He painted the picture of families losing everything just because they trusted her. He called her a thief, for fuck’s sake.” She threw her hands up in the air before spearing her fingers into her hair and gripping it hard. Zali tugged at the long tresses, letting out a growl and spinning away from me, kicking at the closest seat.
“Prove him wrong, Zali,” I murmured. Gripping her arms gently from behind, I squeezed them encouragingly. “Pull apart every one of his arguments. Find the evidence to prove that she didn’t do what he said. Learn about what your mum did, about the company she ran. None of us are perfect, and the GFC turned amazing companies into steaming piles of dogshit. She made mistakes just like all of us did and still do. Get to know your mum, Zali. Prove him wrong.”
“She’s innocent until proven guilty,” Flynn encouraged, coming to stand in front of her. He stepped in close, resting his hands on her hips and pressing their foreheads together. “Do what Ezra is saying—prove to Professor Reid that he’s wrong.”
I rubbed her arms as she gripped Flynn’s shirt and held him to her. The moment was intimate, one I knew I’d replay over and over with every possible ending. I ached to watch Flynn kiss her, to see his tongue slide into her mouth. I wanted to watch as he pulled down her top, baring her beautiful breasts, and licked them, sucking on her nipples until they were just like I remembered from her yacht. Then I wanted to watch him make love to her. I wanted to watch her come apart in his arms, to let him care for her in the way I knew he wanted to.
