Page 47 of Untouchable

“Well, we have about twenty identical witness statements saying just that. They’re just reaching for any angle they can to get out of it, but they’ve got cold-blooded murder on their hands and I won’t let them get off with any charge less than that.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Are you sure you don’t need us to come back? I mean, we’re?—”

He cuts me off and I’m not the least bit surprised that he does. “You’re exactly where I need you to be. Are the nimrods acting right?”

Better than me, surprisingly.

I laugh and nod, walking back towards the exit. “Yeah, they’re using their manners.”

“Alright. Keep my little girl close, Ace. We’ll be in touch.”

I feel my face get red from the guilt of justhow closeI want to keep her. “Do you want to know where we are?”

“Nah. The less I know, the better.” I wish I could master the stress-free way Lenny goes about life—even in the most undesirable situations.

“Understood.” The line goes dead and I walk back out into the blinding sunlight.

“What the hell, Ace? You make promises about a pool then leave me out here to scorch?” Katarina’s face is scrunched, fighting against the sunlight even behind her sunglasses, as she pops her hip out to the side. I just want to throw her over my shoulder, spank the attitude out of her, and carry her back to the hotel to strip her out of the clothes she keeps complaining about.

Instead, I force myself to think of her father and everything I owe him—shifting my focus back to the loyalty I have to him and how it has to outweigh my selfish desires for his daughter. Even if the scales are beginning to tip dangerously the other way.

“Sorry, Reaper. Let’s ride.” I slap her ass, leaving my hand on her back pocket just long enough to get her feet moving.

I guess I didn’t shift fast enough.

“Where to next?” Bodine and Mikey both walk up and throw their arms around Kat who is walking a few steps ahead of me now and I’m immediately put in a bad mood.

I wait to see how Kat will react, but she doesn’t. No ducking out of their arms, or telling them to get off of her because she’s too hot. She simply smiles brightly and tells them we’re heading back to the motel to go to the pool. I’m fighting the urge to pull them away, reminding myself that this is harmless and I’m overreacting due to my newfound obsession with the girl they’re making a sandwich out of, but when she wraps her arms around their waists I lose my own battle. I walk up behind them and slide my fingers into her back pockets, halting her steps as Mikey and Bodine continue walking, causing her to slide out from between them in the most ungraceful way.

“Ace, what the hell?” she squeals. I ignore her question because I couldn’t begin to explain to her my reasoning for doing this if I tried. I slide my right hand into her far-right back pocket and continue walking, catching petty glances from Mikey and Bodine.

“Exit’s this way.” I pull her to the left, passing the guys as she looks at them in confusion. Then she crosses her arms over her chest, and while I’m sure what’s happening is her having a silent attitude with me—because it wouldn’t be the first time—it also allows her to fit perfectly into my side.

“What did I tell you, Reaper?”

“That you don’t like wearing shorty shorts to the zoo?” Her sarcastic answer earns her a warning look from me. “I don’t know, Ace. What?” I slow our movements until we’re well out of earshot of the guys.

“You’re withme. So stop letting those guys think they have a chance with you.”

“What makes you thinkyouhave a chance with me, Hernández?” I swallow hard, squeezing her ass where I still have my hand in her back pocket. She gasps and I hate the way it does something to me.

“That’s the difference between me and them. I’m well aware you and I are never going to happen, they may not be so sure.” Her face falls, but I don’t allow myself the time to read into it before turning to catch up with Mikey and Bodine again. Then she rips my hand from her pocket and shoves me away and I know I’m in for it.

“Are you insinuating that I’m leading them on?” My brow raises and her eyes flare. “I amnot!They’re my friends. God forbid I have friends that I enjoy hugs from.”

“Friends,right.” I start closing the distance she put between us. “Friends…you look for in their old bedrooms? Friends who kiss you? Friends you seek out to sleep with you when you’re up all night?” The anger on her face from my insinuation is palpable, but I refuse to believe she and Bodine have only ever beenjust friends.

“Those are forehead kisses, and all of those are things I would do with Tabitha as well, so what the hell makes it any different if I do them with Bodine?”

“The very fact you only mentioned him, and not Mikey, proves my point.” She takes one step closer to me, putting us toe to toe.

“That proves absolutely nothing. Other than the fact that you might be jealous.”

My nostrils flare and the muscles in my jaw flex painfully. “I am not jealous.”

Lie. I’ve never wanted to punch my best friend more than I have since Katarina’s latest return home.

She nods her head slowly, the wheels clearly turning in her head. “Okay.”

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