Adverse Possession (The Anna Albertini Files #3) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,26

the bad news?”

I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees, salivating at the muscles illustrated across his chest. “Sure.”

Sweat dripped from his thick hair, down his angled face, to his shirt. “You made the paper.”

I groaned and buried my face in my knees. “How bad?”

The bed dipped and his scent of male, leather, and motor oil tickled my nose. “Not too bad. Just that Anna Albertini of the new Bunne & Albertini Law Firm is a person of interest in the murder of Sasha Duponte. Jolene’s article is pretty detailed about your fight at the bar, the argument in the alley, and then the death on your porch.”

I lifted my head. “How did Jolene find out about the fight in the alley?”

He grimaced. “She interviewed two of the women who were there that day.”

I chewed on that for a moment. “Wait a sec. How did she—”

“Jolene has good sources at Timber City PD, it seems.”

I jerked upright. Heat flashed down my torso. “Yeah. There are no good secrets in Timber City.”

“I’m sorry you’re involved with this.” Aiden rubbed his hand through his hair. “By the women talking, it strongly associates Sasha with the Lordes and douses questions. Hopefully that will protect her cover as well as mine.”

I studied him. That made sense. Oh, I didn’t like it, but I got it. “All right.”

Aiden cocked his head and that brilliant gaze wandered my face. He frowned. “You’re pale.” One knuckle nudged beneath my chin and he gently lifted my face. “You have that look. Did you have a nightmare?”

Butterflies winged through me. “Yeah, but I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry.” He leaned and kissed the top of my nose. “You usually don’t have nightmares after three in the morning, so I felt fine going for a run. I would’ve stayed otherwise.”

I leaned into his touch. “You know when I normally have bad dreams?”

“Yeah.”

It was sweet that he tried to be there when I was scared. That day, so long ago, had marked us both. We didn’t talk about it much, but I knew that Aiden was still trying to hunt down Jareth. The question was what would happen once Aiden found him, if he did. It seemed Jareth Davey was very good at staying off the radar.

“All right, sweet thing. I need to hit the shower and then head to the new offices in Spokane.” With a tug on my ear, he moved off the bed and headed for my master bath.

Hmmm. Aiden very often made a move in the morning, and the fact that he hadn’t lumped worry throughout me. He might still be dealing with Sasha’s death, or he might be giving me space.

Either way, it felt off. We felt off.

I’d never been one to let things play out, which might be a character flaw or maybe a good attribute. Who knew? I slipped out of bed and ditched my T-shirt and panties on the way to the bathroom.

Aiden was already in the shower, and steam filled the small room.

I opened the glass door and stepped inside. While I definitely wore rose-colored glasses with him, Aiden Devlin objectively had a body that I’d only read about in romance novels. Hard and angled, scarred and muscled. He faced away from me, his head beneath the spray of water. A tattoo decorated his shoulder blade, and I reached out to trace the dark pattern with my finger. I’d noticed it as part of him, of course, but I’d really never studied the jagged edges of a bald eagle over a design, including a gun and rocks. “Why an eagle?” It was odd we’d never talked about it, although it wasn’t like we’d had any downtime since we’d started dating.

He partially turned, letting the water hit my front. “An eagle for freedom and flying out of Idaho, the gun and rocks design for my first unit at the ATF. We know what it means, but anybody seeing it would not.” He cocked his head and grinned. “Is it weird you don’t know that?”

I relaxed and slid my hands up his chest. “Yeah. Kind of. Of course, we’ve been busy getting kidnapped and shooting people since we started dating.” Had it only been just more than one month? That was nuts. “It’d be nice if things slowed down a little bit.” What would we be like without all the excitement?

“Right. Slow down.” He reached for me, lifting me right off the ground.

Excitement and desire slammed through me. I loved his strength. My hands curled