Page 5 of Conflicted Lies

“No. Let me handle this one.”

“I don’t care if you have to use your charm on this one. Just get my wallet back, please,” he demands, then slams the door behind him.

I fold my arms over my chest, smirking.

I guess now it’s time to talk to her.

CHAPTER3

Hope

My foot bounces, and I know I’m sobering up.

Shit, how did I let her get me into this? Charlotte is a friend from school, and while I don’t see her all that often since we graduated, when I do, she always has some crazy scheme planned.

The door creaks open, and my gaze shoots to it. My hands are cuffed to the table, but if they were free, I’d fucking strangle this asshole’s neck.

They’re treating me like a common criminal.

And I wasn’t even the one who took the fucking wallet.

“Miss Ivanov.” There he is again, dressed in all black, his sleeves still pushed up, but this time, he doesn’t have the hat on. His dark hair is messy, with loose, short curls on top, and a distant memory returns of a time I once ran my fingers through it.

“Mr. Hero,” I sneer, now wishing I’d actually looked at the badge he flashed me in the park before taunting him that it’s fake. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t have been so surprised by my captor. He doesn’t smile as he approaches, then leans over and unlocks the cuffs.

“You can behave?” he asks. I nod and rub my wrists where I’ve hidden them in my lap. “I just have a few questions.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Those are the words that leave my mouth when I’d really like to tell him to fuck right off.

Those crystal-blue eyes pin me in place. “Did you not try to bribe me?”

“I…” Words fail to leave my mouth now, and all I can do is shake my head.

“If you want me to take this further, the next step will be a strip search.”

My jaw drops just as a loud knock comes on the door. We both turn as his partner enters the room. Braxton gets up and joins him. And after exchanging a few quiet words, both turn to look at me before his partner leaves and Braxton moves to stand next to my chair. He leans down, and I smell him, my nostrils flaring at his fucking intoxicating scent. I avert my gaze because I should not be attracted to a cop. That’s a disaster waiting to happen. I didn’t know he was a cop that night we spent together, and I wish I didn’t know now.

“I’ll be seeing you real soon, Shortcake.” He pulls away then and goes back to the door, holding it open. “Your father is waiting for you.”

My stomach drops.

“Oh fuck. Maybe you should arrest me,” I say, not getting up. It’s not that I’m scared of my father. It’s more that I hate to disappoint the man.

“You want me to arrest you?” Braxton raises a brow.

“If I hit you right now, would you arrest me?” I ask.

I notice the smirk he tries to hide as he leans against the doorjamb, expecting me to leave.

“Good night, Hope.” He nods to the door, and I manage to stand and force my feet to move in that direction. I contemplate hitting him. I really do. But I keep walking, and he follows right behind me. I pause as I reach the door that leads back into the main room of the precinct, and in a deadly serious tone, he says, “I’ll be seeing you real soon.”

I bite my lip.Shit. Did I just get in the bad graces of a detective? I think I did. His gaze flicks to my lips, and I remember how he bit them all those years ago.

Braxton is five years older than me, and he looks even better than when I last saw him.

I push through the door and find my father waiting with Rya Monti, one of the best criminal lawyers in Manhattan. They both turn to me, and my father nods toward the exit, not saying a word. Not that I expected him to. I don’t bother looking back as we leave, and when we reach the car, he thanks Rya.

I see her husband, Crue Monti, standing beside his car. I don’t even know what fucking time it is, but my father wasn’t messing around when he called the ex-head of the Italian mafia and his wife in.

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