Page 45 of Loved

I sighed and turned around. "Apparently the people they hired for the investigation need to talk to you."

"Why would they need to talk to me? We already told everything to the dean."

"I don't know. But it probably isn't good."

"That's not necessarily true."

I pressed my lips together. "Well, I guess we'll find out."

"How do you think they knew I was here?"

"Maybe they already tried your dorm room. It doesn't exactly take a great investigator to assume you'd be here."

A dinging noise sounded through the apartment. I walked over to the elevator door and gave a subtle nod toward the small camera mounted above it to let Ian knoweverything was fine. I pressed the button and the doors slid open.

Two men in suits stepped out. One looked about my age and the other was probably 20 years older or so.

The older one put his hand out to me. "James Hunter, I'm Detective Tim Reed. And this is my partner, Scott Turner.

I shook Detective Reed's hand and then Detective Turner's. "I still don't see why this is necessary. Penny has already talked to Joe."

"It's a formality, really. We just have a few questions."

I hoped that was true.

Detective Reed peered around my shoulder. "You must be Penny."

I hadn’t even realized I was standing in front of her. I couldn’t protect her from this. I’dcausedthis. I stepped to the side.

"Yes, hi." She didn’t offer them her hand. Instead she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You said you have some questions for me?"

I smiled. Maybe she could handle the paparazzi after all. Because it looked like she was ready to take zero shit.

"Right. Well, we're actually going to need to talk to you in private, Penny." Detective Reed turned to me.

Oh fuck off. I’m not messing with her mind.Penny was with me because she wanted to be. Not because I pressured her. And I didn’t like the insinuation. "I really don't see why that's necessary.” I didn’t bother to hide my chilly tone.

"Something has come up in our investigation. And we need Penny to be able to talk freely about your relationship."

For Fuck’s sake. I lowered my eyebrows. I was going to kill Tyler Stevens. "What has come up in the investigation?"

"We can't really discuss that with you right now. I'm sure Joe will be in contact with you shortly."

"I think that you both should leave,” I said.

"James, it's fine,” Penny said. “I'll talk to them."

"You don't have to answer their questions, Penny. Let me call my lawyer. He'll handle this."

"It's fine. I really don't mind." She gave me a stern look that I’d never seen her give before. It was fucking sexy. I knew she wanted to get this over with. And if she thought she could handle this…then I should let her. They’d never believe me. Besides, if I stayed in this room much longer, I’d probably end up punching a detective. And that wasn’t good for anyone.

I nodded. "I guess I'll be in my office then." I put my hand on her shoulder for a second and then walked away. I went into my office and closed the door behind me.

My phone immediately started ringing.

“Hey, Ian,” I said. “We have a camera in the living room, right?”

“Already adjusting the angles for you,” he said. “What do you think came up in the investigation?”

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