Page 82 of The Reluctant Siren
Her mom sighed and looked her way. “Are you sure you wanttwo, baby? This one seems nice and not that hard to handle.”
“I’d like to point out that I’m also her Dom.” Jensen didn’tseem to want to be left out. “Not the switch. Niall’s the switch.”
She turned to Jensen. “You need to take this moreseriously.”
Jensen sighed and moved into her space. “You’ll let me finda way to pay you back for the lawyer.”
She shook her head. “I have more money than I can ever need.I get to use it how I want.”
“I’ve already been paid,” Lucas admitted. “Your mom gave mea five when she picked me up from the airport, so that’s handled. I’m doingthis for the absolute joy of spending quality father/son time. He doesn’t wantto come home on a regular basis, this is what he gets. I think he’ll also findthat his mother is writing some complex characters who resemble him. Not sureif he’s the good guy or the bad guy. I won’t even go into how worried Aidan is.Jack is great at his job but he’s reckless, and he’s absolutely certain heknows what he’s doing. So I’m here to let him know he can’t avoid us forever.”
“And to make sure Jensen gets a good deal.” Her family dramawas going to kill her.
Uncle Lucas’s lips kicked up in a grin. “That, too. Comealong, Jensen. Let’s get this started. My son doesn’t do well on little sleep.I might be able to convince him to call the ADA in charge of the case. He’sprobably sleeping with her. He sleeps with everyone. I wish I could say thatwasn’t genetic. I had my own…phase.”
Jensen stared down at her. “You want me to do this?”
Did he even listen to her? “Yes, I want you to take thislawyer who will make sure you don’t say anything that might incriminate youbefore you have an immunity deal.”
Jensen nodded and leaned over, brushing his lips to herforehead. “Then that’s what I’ll do.” He turned and looked at the intimidatingmen dotting his childhood lawn. “Mr. O’Malley, I’ll follow your lead. Mr.Dawson, I hope we have a chance to talk. Unreasonable Dad… Sorry, that’s whatshe calls you when she’s not angry. Uhm, I think you’re cool and I’d like tohelp you figure out new ways to torture assholes who hurt her.”
Her dad’s smile was entirely predatory. “Sure. We can talkabout the things that scare you.”
Jensen nodded and then sighed. “He’s planning to torture me,isn’t he?”
“The first smart thing that kid has said all night,” her dadremarked. “I think I’ll sit in on the interrogation.” He turned and walkedtoward the house.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t cause a fight,” Papa said,slapping Uncle Lucas on the back. “Come on. Let’s get some of that coffee.”
Jensen followed the men, and he was halfway to the housebefore he seemed to realize something was wrong. He turned and looked to Niall.“Dude, she’s going to want to talk to her mom and she’s going to cry and say alot of shit about both of us, and she won’t care that you’re listening butlater on she’ll feel bad about it.” He winked Harlow’s way. “You say whateveryou need to say. She’s your mom. You get to cry on her shoulder all you like.”
Niall kissed her and jogged to catch up.
“Oh, baby, I like them,” her mom said.
“I do, too, and I think I have to leave them.” She turnedand her mom hugged her and it finally felt okay to cry.
ChapterFourteen
Jensen sat in the small kitchen where he’d eaten mostof his meals during his formative years and wondered when it started to feellike an interrogation room. Probably when he was surrounded by Harlow’s family.He knew the light above wasn’t brighter than it had been before, but the damnthing felt like a spotlight on him.
What the hell was he going to do about Harlow? Hamilton wasplaying hard if he was setting him up like this. If Hamilton was willing tolose a million dollars to make him look bad, what would he do if he realizedwhat Harlow meant to him? If Hamilton figured out that he would do anything forHarlow…
The thought of her in Hamilton’s hands made him want tothrow up. It would be his fault this time. He had worked his way into feelinglike maybe it wasn’t his fault Tommy died, but he would be serving up Harlow ona silver platter if he stayed close to her.
His gut clenched. How had his life gotten to this place?Where this man he had never actually met held so much fucking power over him?And he’d been the one to give it to him. He’d been a fool and gotten them allinto this mess. He should have done exactly what Niall had advised him to.Become a total pain in the police detectives’ asses. Done whatever it took tofind justice for his brother. Not revenge. Revenge was for him. Not for Tommy.
“Do you understand what Special Agent O’Malley is saying?”The lawyer—who looked like an older version of Special Agent O’Malley—had takenthe seat beside him while Niall leaned against the kitchen countertop wherethey used to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their lunches.Sometimes they stole jelly packets from the local diner because Mom forgot tobuy groceries or couldn’t afford them.
So many memories in this house, and they were all hittinghim hard tonight.
Harlow came from a different world. A world he might neverfit into. A world she would be safe in.
“Really, Papa? Special Agent?” Jack’s eyes rolled. He wasdoing that a lot tonight. Since his father had arrived, Jack had acted a bitlike a sullen teenager.
Lucas O’Malley, on the other hand, seemed chipper eventhough it was two in the morning. “I’m keeping it professional. You should callme counselor or Mr. O’Malley. Also, we’re not agreeing to any data transferuntil you give us a deal on paper signed by the ADA handling the case.”
Jack’s head swiveled, and he looked to Jensen. “He’s acorporate attorney, you know. He doesn’t do criminal defense. He checkscontracts to make sure his brother’s company doesn’t get fucked over.”
