Page 19 of Bad Boy in Her Bed

But her old wounds had left scars, and all it had taken last night was a single kiss to remind her just how easily those scars could shred open.

The one-hour mark was fast approaching when the door swung open and Torres walked out, Klaussen behind him.Both men had large evidence bags in their hands, stacks of papers and envelopes visible through the clear plastic.

Pausing in the doorway, Klaussen called into the home.“We’ll be in touch, Mr.Drayson.Mr.Baker, I suggest you have a long talk with your accountant.”

Drayson.

Baker.

Her heart caught in her throat as Birch walked onto the veranda, his hazel eyes hard until he saw her standing beside the patrol car.

“Okay, Ms.Carter,” Torres said, holding the door for her.“We’ll head back to the station and get these processed so you can start your work.”

She took a step toward the voice, unable to look away from the betrayal on Birch’s face she knew mirrored her own.She was unable to turn from the resigned slouch of his shoulders and the anger in his clenched fists.As she opened her mouth to speak, to ask him what he was doing there with the faint hope the puzzle pieces didn’t fit, he gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

Taking a steadying breath, she turned her back to him and got in the car.

Chapter Nine

Birch popped thelids off of two jars of pasta sauce and dumped the sauce into a pot of spaghetti, glancing at his silent phone just as he heard Grey’s old beater pull into the driveway.Taking the garlic toast from the oven he sliced it up, calling to his brother.“Wash up and come eat.Dinner’s ready.”

He set the table to the sound of rushing water, stepping back as Grey bound into the kitchen and heaped pasta onto his plate before he sat.“Damn this looks good.I’m starving.How’d your day go?”

“It went.How was your calculus exam?”Birch asked, placing his phone on the table and filling his own plate while Grey ran down the questions he aced and grumbled over the ones he struggled with.He choked down a couple bites before the message he’d been waiting for buzzed in.After reading it he got up, grabbing his wallet and keys from the counter.“Sorry, Grey.I need to head out for a bit.I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

His brother smirked at him.“Take your time and tell her I say hi.”

Walking to his truck, he got in and responded to Ryder’s text before backing onto the street.

He was no longer confused.

No longer worried.

No longer furious.

He was where he needed to be to deal with whatever shit storm Ryder and his uncle brought to his doorstep: thoroughly numb.

He learned early on in life to shut down all emotions when he needed to be at the top of his game.Raging and stressing only clouded his mind when he needed it most, and reacting on impulse almost always dug a deeper hole to crawl out of.

After pulling up in front of Ryder’s house, he idled his truck and watched as his partner’s hulking figure emerged from the backyard, his expression unreadable as he got in.

They drove in silence through the downtown area and out onto the southern highway, stopping at a dilapidated gas station that had seen its last customer twenty years ago.

“What do you know?”Birch opened, refusing to look over.

Ryder scoffed and rolled his window down, lighting a cigarette.“It’s a bullshit warrant.I talked with Trevor an hour ago and his lawyer is already filing paperwork to block anything they found at his house.”

Nodding, he stared at the lights of Epson.“And what did they find?”

“Nothing.”

Chuckling humorlessly, he glanced over at Ryder.“See, that was what I thought when I was getting everything ready for your uncle to review.I thought we had nothing.No missing receipts.No late taxes.No missing payrolls.Nothing to bring any heat onto Serpent’s Tongue.Because the thing is, Ryder, I can’t afford to have anything happen.Ineedit to be nothing.And now I’m wondering if there’s something.And if there is something, I better be fucking brought into the loop now.”

“Are you kidding?”Ryder snarled, flicking his cigarette out the window.“You think I want to go back to jail?Christ, Birch, I’ve been wearing a fucking halo since I got out.Just like you have.”Running his hand over his face, he sighed.“This is messed up, man.But Trevor promised that he’s dealing with it.He said our books will come back clean.”

Revving the engine, he tossed the truck in drive and tore back onto the highway.“Those books damn well better come back clean, Ryder.Because that’s how they went in.”

*

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