Page 62 of Wicked Sin

“You can’t help me with that,” I say, my words clipped. “And I don’t need you playing armchair psychologist. You know what I’ve been through. You know I can’t sleep in my own bed or go to my job, both of which are safe spaces for me. This?” I wave at his house. “This is your safe space. I’m a guest here. I’m on edge here. That’s fine. I’ll deal. But don’t pretend this is going to get better if we talk about our feelings and my crappy childhood. It’s not going to get better until we figure out who wants me dead.”

“Maybe nobody does. Maybe that was a warning shot.”

“What?”

“We got a briefing from the FBI Forensics Lab today. It was eye-opening.”

I try to pull my towel tighter around me. “What are you talking about?”

He swipes his own towel across his face and sighs. “I should have said something right away.” But he got distracted by my tits. Story of my fucking life.

I distracted him with my tits.

I scowl. “Get to the point now.”

“Your key fob wasn’t the trigger for the bomb.”

“Yes, it was. I kept pushing it.” Hysteria boils inside me. “You saw me, Luke. It didn’t work, and then I turned and pointed it at the car, and pushed it, and—”

The edges of my vision go black, then white, as I see it all over again.

21

Luke

I catchher as she sways sideways, and sweep her into my arms. The sob she lets out is heartbreaking, and she wraps her arms tight around my neck.

Taking her inside, I toss my towel on the couch and sink onto it before I draw in a rough, frustrated breath.

She’s so brittle, so angry, it’s easy to forget that she’s fragile, too.

Fragile and hurt. Fragilebecauseshe’s hurt.

And the last thing she wants is for me to coddle her.

I should have told her everything, and now I can’t because she—

No.

I can.

“Taylor,” I quietly murmur. “There’s more.”

She goes still in my arms. And then she pulls herself together, pushes herself off my lap, and sits next to me. A tight ball of brave fear. “What?”

“First of all, I’m now officially on vacation. I’ve handed over the case to Detectives McBride and Singh. I’m no longer investigating what happened to you.”

“Why?” Her eyes are big. Bigger than they’ve ever been before, and maybe that’s because she seems little for the first time since we met.

Too little, too scared.

She deserves the truth, but God damn it, I don’t want to scare her further. “Because I’m too close to you.”

Her nose twitches. That’s it. A slight nostril flare and nothing else.

Well, fuck.

Her chin lifts. “What else is there?”

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